i did some small add on wiring in my home and decided to check with the plug in (3 light) tester to make sure it was done right...to my surprise it told me i had an open neutral..so i disconnected the circuit and started cking other outlets through out the home and every outlet came up open neutral?? the house is only 12 years old...can this be possible?? how would i begin to solve this problem?? thanks for all replies!!
nothing (plugged in) should work if the neutral is open. perhaps your tester is bad.
Has the tester EVER shown a good ckt? Sounds like the tester has a problem, especially if you really mean open 'neutral'. Try it on a neighbor's plug.
Nothing except the tester.
They will show an open neutral on a grounded circuit. Now whether they work or report on an ungrounded circuit I can't say.
Does anyone know how these things are wired to do this? Strange I was thinking about this just this morning.
Colbyt
A 3 light tester is nothing but 3 neons wired in a delta around the 3 prongs on the plug. Normal condition, only the hot to neutral and hot to ground will light.
Appreciate what the test does. It can detect a defect but cannot confirm a good circuit. It can report a problem but does not provide sufficient information to say why a problem exists. Confirming those tester readings with a digital voltmeter can also provide numbers that will better target reasons for the problem. Voltmeter taking measurements Hot (black wire) to Neutral (white wire), Hot to ground (bare copper), and ground to neutral. Readings taken both with no load on the receptacle AND during a major load (ie. steam iron) on that 'under test' receptacle.
With those numbers, others can better identify suspects.
An > i did some small add on wiring in my home and decided to check with the plug
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