Dave wrote:
Question for the gurus. I just tested my housewiring (at the wall
outlet) and found that I have 120V AC between the hot and return,
only I can't tell which of the top two "slots" is hot and which is
return. They both show 59.4 VAC with referrence to the third (GND) terminal,
on the bottom. Huh? Anyone have any idea what might be going on with my house
wiring? It's an old house, built in '49 or '50, and has had numerous
pieces added and modified. I was in the attic once, installing the
wiring for a bathroom outlet, and got bit by the *white* wire, which
should have been my first clue something was wrong. When I asked
someone else about that though, was told that it might be normal,
depending on what had been put in place. :/
Any ideas or feedback are welcome. Hoping someone can explain this. Also
hoping I don't have to rewire my house...

Floating ground. It is likely that there is no ground wire at the outlet, and
that the origional 2 prong outlet was replaced with a "grounded" outlet, even
though there was no ground wire to connect to the ground connection.