66Volts to ground.

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LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
The neutral is not open, there is an impedance someplace in the neutral, there would be no drop across the load if it were open and full voltage would be seen between neutral and ground.
If it's a high-impedance voltmeter, it could be reading phantom voltage. With the light connected, it should read zero.
 

quinn77

Senior Member
The neutral is not open, there is an impedance someplace in the neutral, there would be no drop across the load if it were open and full voltage would be seen between neutral and ground. There has to be current flow before there can be a drop in voltage.

It is possible the neutral conductor is open but the current has found an alternate path from this point through a poor conductor such as an incomplete or ungrounded metal raceway in contact with earth.

Isolate each section of conductor (between lights, junctions, etc) and meg each neutral to ground to find which section of conductor is defective. If all lights on the circuit are experiencing this the problem is between the first light and the source.

pardon my terminology fellas... thanx for correcting my bad habit of calling it an OPEN neutral. :cool:
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
It is easy to just say 'it must be an open neutral' because of experiences like that with MWBC' services or multiwire feeders. But the same does not happen in a two wire circuit, current has to have a divided flow someplace to get the unusual or unexpected voltage.
 

quinn77

Senior Member
It is easy to just say 'it must be an open neutral' because of experiences like that with MWBC' services or multiwire feeders. But the same does not happen in a two wire circuit, current has to have a divided flow someplace to get the unusual or unexpected voltage.

absolutely kwired...thanks for calling me on it. i understand the theory and comprehend what is happening, just doesnt come out that way sometimes.
the more i hang out here the better my terminology gets!!!
 

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
But the same does not happen in a two wire circuit, current has to have a divided flow someplace to get the unusual or unexpected voltage.
And, with phantom voltage, the meter and (usually) capacitive coupling form the voltage divider.
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
And, with phantom voltage, the meter and (usually) capacitive coupling form the voltage divider.

But in the OP's case if the neutral - ground bond at the service is present and both conductors are continuous then there will very little difference in potential between them. With the load not operating there is ideally no difference between them.
 
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