On Mar 16, 10:39*am, "RogerT" wrote:
RBM wrote:
"Aaron" wrote in message
...
On Mar 15, 10:50 pm, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:
"Aaron" wrote in message

....

I have been trying to trace down where a circuit starts showing
voltage between my ground wire and neutral wire. I found the a
receptacle on the circuit that is correct where the neutral and
ground show 0V, and then a box which I believe is the next
receptacle that shows 120V between the ground and neutral. I have
looked in both boxes and everything looks correct.

1st Box
H-N = 120V
H-G = 120V
N-G = 0V

2nd Box
H-N = 120V
H-G = 0V
N-G = 120V

What can cause the above scenario. A short? A broken wire?
Also, is this dangerous? I think it has been like this for awhile.

It looks like somewhere the neutral and the hot wires have been
reversed. While you are probabaly not in danger of a meltdown, do not use
the
socket that has the faulty wiring.
Also something else I just thought of. *Downstream from the bad box,
there is a light and the switch leg shows voltage between the neutral
and the ground when the switch is off.
More evidence that the black and white wires got reversed. This
switch is now breaking the neutral, and the hot is going directly to
the fixture.

I am just curious....,

If I had a situation like that (I don't), would one way to try to figure out
where the wires got switched be to use a continuity checker?

In other words, turn off all of the power and then use a continuity checker
with a long wire and alligator clip attached, and try to trace which wire
from the first box has continuity to which wire in the second box, etc.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I agree. Since you are just guessing this is the downleg box you
really don't know. Power it all down, disconnect the wires and start
checking continuity with an ohm meter or continuity checker. If it
looks like a wire leaves the box as one color and shows up in the
other box as another color that means there is a box between the two
you have not found. Or a splice buried in the wall.