What is an open ground? Also, why would there be 50 V in the neutral and ground wires? I have replaced all outlets and switches and still I have no light.
Electrical – an open ground and why would the neutral wire measure 50v
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Best Answer
When you see a phantom voltage like that, it's the hallmark of a sensitive meter. Though sensitivity sounds like a feature, most cheap meters have it too. Disregard.
Well, we can read a few things from the tea leaves.
You know this wire runs near a "hot" wire for a little bit of distance - enough to pick up an SLF radio signal from the adjacent wire. If you've ever built/used a crystal radio that uses a tiny earpiece and is passively powered (from the AM airwaves themselves), you understand tiny amounts of power can be induced from radio.
You know this wire is rattling i.e. not connected to any supply. You know in a North American panelboard you have 4 wires: L1 that's 120.4 volts to ground, L2 that's 119.6V to ground, neutral that's 0.4 volts to ground, and ground that's 0.0V to ground. (assuming a 0.4V neutral-ground drift; YMMV.) You know two things from the rattling/floating wire.