I've been having issues with one circuit in my house. The power to lights and outlets on that circuit are only getting 60 v instead of the 120. I've pulled and checked the outlets and changed them to new. I've changed the breaker from 15 to 20 amp. I've pulled and checked the lights and light switches. Everything seems fine. Are there any more ideas? Yes I've switched the main breakers on the pole and in the panel on and off. All the 220v breakers and units like stove, well pump and water heater area working fine. I'm hoping for an obvious, simple solution. Thanks, Ross
Electrical – Circuit problems
electrical
Related Solutions
It sounds like you may be mistaken as to how this is wired, or that perhaps I'm just not understanding your explanation. As others have mentioned, it's not possible to get 240 volts from a single pole in a 120/240V split phase system. Each tandem breaker provides 2 120 V circuits, this is true. However, if you measure between the terminals on a single tandem breaker, you'll get 0 volts. This is because the terminals are both powered from the same leg, and so are at the same voltage potential. If you measure from a terminal on the top tandem breaker to a terminal on the bottom one, then you'll measure 240 volts. This is because each breaker is connected to a different leg, which are each one half of a 240 volt circuit.
With all that said. For this setup to work, one appliance would have to be connected to both breaker. Something like this...
Notice that each appliance circuit has one wire connected to each of the tandem breakers. In this situation, you'd need a device like Speedy Petey shows.
Which ties the breaker handles together, to provide common trip characteristics.
Notice how the inner handles are tied together, and that the outer handles are also tied to each other. This way if either trip (or are turned off by the user), the entire circuit is shut off.
If this is wired the way you've explained, where the dryer is connected to the top tandem and the heater is connected to the bottom. Then there's some magic going on in those breakers.
For this to work, the two single breakers must pull power off each bus leg to give you 240VAC. If they pull off the same leg, you only get 120VAC (parallel feed). Check to make sure they use alternate bus connections when they're side-by-side.
If the breaker handles have a hole, I've seen a cut nail used to link them. They must be linked so both legs shut off for the obvious reason.
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Best Answer
First, turn the circuit breaker off, and plug a nightlight or other small load into every receptacle that does not have power since you turned the breaker off. This may include "working" receptacles or outlets. Don't just do the ones you think are dead. Make sure the light etc. is on. Incandescent is preferred, this is why I use dollar store night lights. (NOT with light sensor).
The reason for the above is to suppress what's called "Phantom Voltage", which tends to fool cheap DVMs into indicating voltage that isn't actually present.
My money says all your "60V" indications will go away, and hot-neutral will now read 0 volts. Now you have a normal problem to solve. I hope you're also checking hot-ground; this will tell you which one is broken. Yes, neutral can break. 99% of the time it's broken at a termination, unless you've recently been driving nails into your walls.
Panel
Now, in the panel, measure from the breaker's output lug to the neutral bar. That, at least, should be 120V. Do this with the 20A still in there, and before you swap back to the 15A. It's a good time to check for changes. A problem here is highly improbable unless you mixed breaker brands or types -- you must not mix breaker brands, they do not physically fit properly. It's not a brand loyalty thing, it's fitment issue.
While you're swapping breakers, take a close look at the breaker lug, where the breaker clips in. Is it scorched or burnt? That lug is energized so don't touch it. Scorched or burnt lugs is what happens when you mix breaker brands.
Anyway, we should now have solid 120V between breaker lug and neutral bar.
Now shut off the breaker (important!) and pull neutral off the bar. Look for anything weird there - loose wire, corrosion etc. Is it double-tapped onto a single lug with another wire? Look at the panel's labeling and see if that's allowed. If it's not, fix it.
While the neutral's removed and the breaker is off, set the voltmeter to "Ohms" and measure between the neutral wire and the hot wire. It should give a reading between 10 ohms and 25,000 ohms. Those would be the loads you plugged in earlier. If it's infinity, then the problem is between here and the first place you plugged in a load. Put the DVM back to 200V range before you forget.
Rest of the circuit, one step at a time
Now we get into guessing the route of the circuit from the panel. Try your best to find the first receptacle. Your goal is to troubleshoot only between the breaker panel and this first receptacle, and keep the rest of the circuit out of the troubleshooting (because it's too much). If you can get this first receptacle working, it's downhill from here.
So take a guess. There will be 2+ cables coming into that receptacle box, separate them. Power up and test which side is energized. That's the supply. Push the non-supply wires aside, and attach the 2 supply wires + their ground to a spare receptacle.
Pay attention to what you're doing with receptacles, particularly if it is a split receptacle.
If you're using "backstab" connections, stop. They are notorious failure points. Use the side screws and use best practice there (found here, on YouTube, etc.)
I suspect you should be able to get this working. Then you can extend to the next receptacle, etc. At some point the whole circuit will just come back, and you're done, except for fixing any "split receptacle" issues previously added.
If you just can't get the first receptacle working, shoot some photos and edit this question, or ask another.