Perhaps you should tell us whether or not you knob and tube wiring,
and what the age of the house is. It your wiring is K&T, then it is
definitely possible that a junction inside a wall/ceiling area is bad.
Otherwise, everything shared by others should be considered. --Phil

Peter wrote:
Help and expertise desperately needed....

My kitchen lighting circuit is not working.

Circuit breaker checks out and I have a ceiling/fan and receptacle in
another room on the same circuit that works. When checking the romex
cable coming off the receptacle to the first kitchen light..the black wire
has continuity, but the white (neutral) does not. I disconnected the wire
pair at both ends, (fixture and receptacle) and connected wires together.
Tested with no continuity.

Final test.... I ran another neutral from the panel to the first fixture and all the
lights are working.

So it looks as if the neutral is defective. But it's about 15 feet away
from the fixture, traveling inside a wall and through the ceiling.

How does one replace a cable run in the wall. Does this mean
tearing down the sheetrock both on the ceiling and in the wall???

Are there tools or meters available that test out a break in a wire ???

I'm thinking that hiring an electrician might be a good idea ??? Can they
do this job faster than a DIY'er and approximately what would they charge ??

Thanking you in advance for your help and recommendations !!!

Peter

--
Phil Munro Dept of Electrical & Computer Engin
Youngstown State University
Youngstown, Ohio 44555