Wiring Problem

[Alan]

Hi,

I had two outdoor lights at opposite sides of my house with a switch inside. They used to both work fine. Now, one light works and the other does not. I have replaced the fixture and no luck. I used my electrical sensor and it beeps on the hot wire when the switch is on. However, if I use my volt meter, it shows a weak current, whereas if I plug my volt meter into a house electrical outlet, it pegs the meter.

Any idea what is happening here? I recently underwent some home renovations outside (new siding, etc.) and am wondering if that had anything to do with it. However, I would think a break or a nail through a wire would give me no reading whatsoever.

Any help? Thanks.

Alan

[RBM]

The power may go from the switch to one fixture, and from there to the second fixture. If the siding contractors removed the fixtures to install siding, I would bet one of the wires going from the first fixture to the second has come loose.

[Charles Schuler]

Good advice. Check the wiring in the box where the fixture is working and you will likely find a bad connection to the fixture that is not working.

[Pat]

In the house I grew up in, we added an addition. I was sweaty as I leaned on the addition and got one heck of a jolt. Of course, now I was wide awake and halfway across the room wondering what had happened. It took a while (and a few more shocks, I guess I didn't learn quickly) to determine that the nails holding the siding on were all electricified.

When the addition was being put on, a nail somewhere hit a wire in the existing part of the house. We speculate that the nail also hit the alum backing of the insulation, electrifying the whole outside of the house so all othe nails were "hot".

It seems like an incredible chain of coincidents, but I remember it vividly. It's not something one forgets.

So could a nail have hit a wire. Yup. Could have happened.

Alan wrote: