Lost neutral on single branch circuit

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GoldDigger

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Placerville, CA, USA
Occupation
Retired PV System Designer
Trace the neutral from box to box. Start at the midpoint if you know the route the wires follow.
Look carefully at backstabbed feed through wiring, since it may turn good when you pull the device out of the box.

Tapatalk!
 

augie47

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Tennessee
Occupation
State Electrical Inspector (Retired)
What type of devices are on your branch circuit ?
I agree with Golddigger in that if any of the devices are "stab-wired" that would be by far my first suspect.
On occasion I have found the "tie" between connecting screws burned in two, especially on cheap outlets and heavy loads.
 

ceb58

Senior Member
Location
Raeford, NC
Trace the neutral from box to box. Start at the midpoint if you know the route the wires follow.
Look carefully at backstabbed feed through wiring, since it may turn good when you pull the device out of the box.

Tapatalk!

Had a call for the same thing last week. Found bad backstab 2 receptacles upstream of the receptacle the customer called about. She didn't know the others weren't working.
 

Little Bill

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Tennessee NEC:2017
Occupation
Semi-Retired Electrician
Can anyone help.....I've encountered this problem on
2 seperate occasions....how do I fix this problem

More info would be helpful.
All the answers given are good but may not answer you're specific situation.

Is the entire circuit neutral lost?

Or...

Just one light?

Just one receptacle?

Or is part of the circuit working such as some lights on, some off, some receptacles working and some not?
 

darekelec

Senior Member
Location
nyc
I remember it is confusing to use volt meter when looking for open neutral. I used a pigtail and light bulb to test wiring for open or present neutral.
 
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