You either have faulty open neutral (white wire) or you have a switch that's
open in the neutral wire and it controls the electric socket. The bare wire
is ground. You should get a reading between the black wire (hot wire) and
neutral and between the black wire and the ground.Look for a switch. If that
fails, look for an electrician.
Ron

"Chuck Yerkes" wrote in message
news:8nmMc.16844$eM2.14764@attbi_s51...


Larry wrote:

I have an old house.
I am trying to put in an electric socket where one existed before.
It has a white wire, black wire and one with no insulation.
The only combination of wires that light the light on my tester, is the
black wire and the one without insulation. This does not seem right to
me,
but like I said, I am a moron when it comes to electricity!
Is this outlet unusable?
If so, what is the proper way to hook it up.

Go get a cheap ( $15) volt/ammeter).
and a neighbor/friend/handyman who knows electricity.

You need GROUND, neutral and hot.
No insulation would suggest GROUND.
The neutral is attached to ground at the pole.
But don't freely swap them. One is for electical
conductance, the other is for safety.