What does it mean when a neutral is hot?

If the neutral is disconnected anywhere between the light bulb and the panel, then the neutral from the light to the point of the break in the neutral will become hot (and the device will be unpowered, because no current will be flowing through it).

What voltage should I get between hot and ground?

You have to measure neutral-ground or hot-ground. If neutral-ground voltage is about 120 V and hot-ground is a few volts or less, then hot and neutral have been reversed. Under load conditions, there should be some neutral-ground voltage – 2 V or a little bit less is pretty typical.

Why is there 120 volts on the neutral?

A neutral not connected somewhere can cause a reading of 120 volts on the neutral to ground. The voltage flow through any device that is plugged in. The device does not work because there is no current flowing.

What happens if neutral and hot are reversed?

This happens when the hot and neutral wires get flipped around at an outlet, or upstream from an outlet. Reversed polarity creates a potential shock hazard, but it’s usually an easy repair. This wire is commonly referred to as the neutral wire, and it should always be white.

What should the voltage be between neutral and ground?

Can neutral and hot be connected together?

You can have multiple separate loads between the hot and the neutral. Each of them is connected to the hot side and the neutral side. When no device is working (drawing power), no current flows. There is never a direct connection between the hot and the neutral wires.

How many volts does an outlet have between hot and neutral?

Trying to fix a inop kitchen outlet in a 30 yr old mobile home. I removed the outlet and am only getting 60 volts between hot and neutral. Voltage between hot and ground is 120 volts. This is the first outlet in the circuit I believe.

Is the neutral wire the same as the hot wire?

The neutral wire shows open while the hot and ground wires check good. Not sure where to go from here. I guess I am looking at running a new wire from the panel to the kitchen outlet unless anybody has any other ideas. Do not understand the 60 volt thing.

What is the neutral to earth voltage ( N-E )?

Neutral-to-earth voltage (N-E), sometimes called “stray voltage,” is a condition that results when an electrical current flows through a neutral conductor. Most (110 volt) electric lines contain three wires- one “hot” or powered, one neutral and the ground wire. Traditionally, the hot wire is black and the neutral white.

What should the neutral voltage be on a 120V circuit?

NEC recommends (but does not require) that there is no more than 3% drop on a branch circuit. On a 120V circuit, that would be 3.6V, which would be split across the hot and the neutral, so you wouldn’t want to see more than 1.8V on the neutral.

Is there a no voltage hot to neutral?

No voltage hot to neutral but 120v hot to ground. No voltage hot to neutral but 120v hot to ground. This may seem like a stupid question but I want to be sure.

What’s the difference between a hot wire and a neutral wire?

Like the neutral wire, the ground wire is also connected to an earth ground. However, the neutral and ground wires serve two distinct purposes. The neutral wire forms a part of the live circuit along with the hot wire. In contrast, the ground wire is connected to any metal parts in an appliance such as a microwave oven or coffee pot.

Is there an outlet between hot and neutral?

Next I removed all three wires from the panel and with the kitchen outlet still unhooked I used a 20 ft jumper to go from the kitchen to the panel and checked for continuity. The neutral wire shows open while the hot and ground wires check good. Not sure where to go from here.