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Old 11-23-2017, 09:27 PM
 
Location: Lone Mountain Las Vegas NV
18,058 posts, read 10,229,041 times
Reputation: 8828

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Silliness. Got a connection with some large impedance. If you check with a load the voltage will tend toward zero. Go check the voltage with the load on and see if you get 120 at the breaker. If so you got a bad connection somewhere between the breaker and the outlet.

Search and ye shall find.

Most likely is a wirenut or some twisted wire connection.
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Old 11-23-2017, 09:31 PM
 
Location: Louisiana
806 posts, read 869,818 times
Reputation: 1248
I suggested he check the voltage with load connected two pages ago . No response yet .
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Old 11-23-2017, 09:36 PM
 
Location: Raleigh
8,168 posts, read 8,463,820 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by selogic View Post
I suggested he check the voltage with load connected two pages ago . No response yet .
OP may not be able to figure out how to measure voltage at, for instance a lamp, while it is plugged in. Nor of the current, either. We can all safely estimate the current flow of a lamp that does not put out any light when plugged in is minimal. Voltage might give a serious tingle though, eh?
"Shocking, I know"
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Old 11-23-2017, 09:39 PM
 
Location: Lone Mountain Las Vegas NV
18,058 posts, read 10,229,041 times
Reputation: 8828
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crashj007 View Post
OP may not be able to figure out how to measure voltage at, for instance a lamp, while it is plugged in. Nor of the current, either. We can all safely estimate the current flow of a lamp that does not put out any light when plugged in is minimal. Voltage might give a serious tingle though, eh?
"Shocking, I know"
Run the meter probes in on the plugs on the connector. They will show 120 with the lamp off. Then see what they say when the lamp is on...likely less than a volt. You now know you got a bad connection somewhere in the circuit.
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Old 11-23-2017, 09:45 PM
 
Location: The Ranch in Olam Haba
23,709 posts, read 30,594,489 times
Reputation: 9985
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cheesesteak Cravings View Post
Doesn't matter.

Electrician would check neutral connections first. Toning out the circuit and checking for a loose neutral (commonly the white wire) would make the most sense. Most home owners won't have a toner, so he can isolate the circuit by turning the breaker off and identifying what turned off and checking the connections within the box, and leading away from that box first.

This can still be dangerous as depending on the age of the house, multiple circuits may be using the neutral as a return path so there could still be current present from other sources so much care should be taken when

Somebody had an issue before, as the OP said, the wires were just nutted off in the box. If it's an older house, this could lead to crawling in an attic, or under the house to find out where the other end is. I definitely suspect an open circuit.
I stated the same conclusion much earlier in the thread that it's most likely a open circuit.
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Old 11-23-2017, 10:21 PM
 
Location: The Ranch in Olam Haba
23,709 posts, read 30,594,489 times
Reputation: 9985
Quote:
Originally Posted by selogic View Post
Ok sport , let's try this another way . You plug in a fan to his circuit . It doesn't run . How much current is flowing through that circuit ? You yourself stated that there may be a problem with his amperage . Yeah , there is none . But that isn't the problem , it's the result .
Really bad example as there may not be enough Amps to run it, but there still may be Milliamps in the line and thus having a high Resistance.

Look up a ammeter and how to use one. Past that this conversation between us is now over.
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Old 11-24-2017, 05:16 AM
 
Location: Louisiana
806 posts, read 869,818 times
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You can't have current in an open circuit . . Make up your mind which one it is .
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Old 11-24-2017, 08:01 AM
 
Location: Raleigh
8,168 posts, read 8,463,820 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by selogic View Post
You can't have current in an open circuit . . Make up your mind which one it is .
True. The consensus here is there is a high resistance connection in the circuit so that the meter reads line voltage but not enough current flows to power anything. It is enough be a shocking source.
"Thanks for the lesson"
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Old 11-24-2017, 08:11 AM
 
15,154 posts, read 7,179,655 times
Reputation: 19044
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pruzhany View Post
You have no clue on how a multimeter works.

V=IxR. What do you think the I stands for???

https://tezimagazine.com/2015/07/07/ohms-law-explained/
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pruzhany View Post
Really bad example as there may not be enough Amps to run it, but there still may be Milliamps in the line and thus having a high Resistance.

Look up a ammeter and how to use one. Past that this conversation between us is now over.
Where do you come up with this stuff? Ohm's law only applies to circuits. It does not apply to every situation involving electricity. Do you think that a battery with nothing connected to it has no voltage differential between the positive and negative connections?

Voltage is a measure of electrical potential, and can exist without any current flowing. Current requires voltage, and a flow of electrons. If the voltage source collapses under load, there will not be any current. In OP's case, the voltage without a load is within normal values. Applying a load drops the voltage (which OP hasn't measured yet), and implies that there is a bad connection somewhere in the circuit. Assuming good connections, the voltage will not collapse, and current will flow.
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Old 11-24-2017, 09:07 AM
 
Location: The Ranch in Olam Haba
23,709 posts, read 30,594,489 times
Reputation: 9985
Quote:
Originally Posted by WRM20 View Post
Where do you come up with this stuff? Ohm's law only applies to circuits. It does not apply to every situation involving electricity. Do you think that a battery with nothing connected to it has no voltage differential between the positive and negative connections?

Voltage is a measure of electrical potential, and can exist without any current flowing. Current requires voltage, and a flow of electrons. If the voltage source collapses under load, there will not be any current. In OP's case, the voltage without a load is within normal values. Applying a load drops the voltage (which OP hasn't measured yet), and implies that there is a bad connection somewhere in the circuit. Assuming good connections, the voltage will not collapse, and current will flow.
First of all, self discharge rates of batteries have nothing to do with this topic as they will go dead after a certain amount of time has passed. Here's your reading material:
https://www.livescience.com/50657-ho...ries-work.html

Secondly, even this poster states there is some current in the line:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Crashj007 View Post
True. The consensus here is there is a high resistance connection in the circuit so that the meter reads line voltage but not enough current flows to power anything. It is enough be a shocking source.
not enough current does not equate to zero current. And thus here is your other reading material:
https://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~...l_current.html
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