On Apr 2, 2:52*pm, "Bob F" wrote:
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.

So how do you explain the potential difference between the other 2
wires and ground?