I am re-wiring some of the boxes in a 30's vintage cottage. The old
rubber
wiring is crumbling in the steel boxes. Currently the house has the
original
ridgid conduit and some romex from a previous owner.



After installing a new recepticle and grounding the recepticle to the
steel box
which is connected to conduit to the panel, I am only getting 83 volts
across
the ground and the hot.



A plug in detector indicates the recepticle is installed properly.
Voltage
between the hot and neutral is 123 volts.



What are the suspected problems and how can I identify where that
problem(s) is?

Thanks so much for yuor help,much obliged

T

Looks like your ground path is not in good shape. How about pulling a
grounding conductor through the conduit and attaching it to the ground buss
in the panel and the box at the outlet. There should be plenty of room after
replacing rubber covered conductors with THHN


"travelingart" wrote in message
oups.com...
I am re-wiring some of the boxes in a 30's vintage cottage. The old
rubber
wiring is crumbling in the steel boxes. Currently the house has the
original
ridgid conduit and some romex from a previous owner.



After installing a new recepticle and grounding the recepticle to the
steel box
which is connected to conduit to the panel, I am only getting 83 volts
across
the ground and the hot.



A plug in detector indicates the recepticle is installed properly.
Voltage
between the hot and neutral is 123 volts.



What are the suspected problems and how can I identify where that
problem(s) is?

Thanks so much for yuor help,much obliged

T

"travelingart" wrote in message
oups.com...
I am re-wiring some of the boxes in a 30's vintage cottage. The old
rubber
wiring is crumbling in the steel boxes. Currently the house has the
original
ridgid conduit and some romex from a previous owner.



After installing a new recepticle and grounding the recepticle to the
steel box
which is connected to conduit to the panel, I am only getting 83 volts
across
the ground and the hot.



A plug in detector indicates the recepticle is installed properly.
Voltage
between the hot and neutral is 123 volts.



What are the suspected problems and how can I identify where that
problem(s) is?


It sounds as though you have a bad ground connection somewhere. I would
start in the fuse box (Or do you have circuit breakers?). You should check
your ground connections and also make sure the conduit connections are
tight. You should have a bond between ground and neutral in the fuse box.
This can be in the form of a screw or a jumper wire or strip to the fuse box
metal frame. Check that connection. If you have a separate main fuse or
main circuit breakers the bond connection may be in there. It is also
possible, though least likely that the bond between neutral and ground is in
the electric meter socket.

While you're doing all this you should also check your ground connection to
the water pipe. Make sure that it is clean and not loose or corroded. If
it is in bad shape you should replace. Sand the pipe down to clean metal
before installing a new water pipe ground clamp.

If those connections are all good, then you need to check all the ground and
conduit connections downstream. Make sure all locknuts are tight. Hit the
locknuts with a light hammer and a screwdriver to tighten them.

That 83 volts indicates an open or missing ground. It's kind of a long
story involving meter impedances, but anything but 120 or therabouts and
ground is going to be what they call a "phantom" voltage - induced voltage
from nearby electrical fields.
It's surprising a 30's age house has rigid conduit, but conduit,
especially when it's THAT old is very unreliable as a ground conductor. Not
all conduit is designed to be used as a grounding connection. Most likely
you need to run a ground wire and don't forget to connect it to the metal
boxes if the switches, etc., don't make that connection for you.
Also good idea to check with your local code office for known-good
advice.

HTH

Pop`


travelingart wrote:
I am re-wiring some of the boxes in a 30's vintage cottage. The old
rubber
wiring is crumbling in the steel boxes. Currently the house has the
original
ridgid conduit and some romex from a previous owner.



After installing a new recepticle and grounding the recepticle to the
steel box
which is connected to conduit to the panel, I am only getting 83 volts
across
the ground and the hot.



A plug in detector indicates the recepticle is installed properly.
Voltage
between the hot and neutral is 123 volts.



What are the suspected problems and how can I identify where that
problem(s) is?

Thanks so much for yuor help,much obliged

T

John Grabowski wrote:
"travelingart" wrote in message
oups.com...
I am re-wiring some of the boxes in a 30's vintage cottage. The old
rubber
wiring is crumbling in the steel boxes. Currently the house has the
original
ridgid conduit and some romex from a previous owner.



After installing a new recepticle and grounding the recepticle to the
steel box
which is connected to conduit to the panel, I am only getting 83
volts across
the ground and the hot.



A plug in detector indicates the recepticle is installed properly.
Voltage
between the hot and neutral is 123 volts.



What are the suspected problems and how can I identify where that
problem(s) is?


It sounds as though you have a bad ground connection somewhere. I
would start in the fuse box (Or do you have circuit breakers?). You
should check your ground connections and also make sure the conduit
connections are tight. You should have a bond between ground and
neutral in the fuse box. This can be in the form of a screw or a
jumper wire or strip to the fuse box metal frame. Check that
connection. If you have a separate main fuse or main circuit
breakers the bond connection may be in there. It is also possible,
though least likely that the bond between neutral and ground is in
the electric meter socket.

While you're doing all this you should also check your ground
connection to the water pipe. Make sure that it is clean and not
loose or corroded. If it is in bad shape you should replace. Sand
the pipe down to clean metal before installing a new water pipe
ground clamp.

If those connections are all good, then you need to check all the
ground and conduit connections downstream. Make sure all locknuts
are tight. Hit the locknuts with a light hammer and a screwdriver to
tighten them.

And check with your local code enforcement office: Conduit may not be
acceptable for earthing connections.

Pop`