My lights and outlets went out in the half bath of my home and also the two recessed lights in my hall just outside the half bath.
I believe there are two feeds, one to the hall lights and one to the half bath light and outlets all on the same circuit. I had a plug tester read an open neutral though it was not positively an open neutral as the first yellow light lit but very dimly.
I checked all the outlets and switches for loose wires, etc., but found nothing.
I pulled all the outlets and switches so I had bare wires everywhere. With a multimeter I checked all the hots by touching the blacks and grounds they all read 120V. But when I check any of the neutrals with the meter – one on hot, one on neutral – they drop to nearly nothing ( like .2volts ) so I assumed the open neutral was the problem.
I went to the breaker box and pulled the neutral from the bar and tested the black coming out of the breaker by touching one probe to the black and then to the bar and I read 120. So I assume the breaker itself is OK.
But when I test it with one probe on the black and the other to the now free neutral, I get nothing. So again open neutral somewhere in the circuit, right? I can't seem to find the open neutral anywhere and it's driving me crazy. 🙁
Am I missing something? Maybe a junction box somewhere?
Best Answer
It sounds like you have a pretty good handle of the problem. Hidden junction boxes do exist but it could also be a failure along the cable.
If you've 100% ruled out all known junction boxes then you need to narrow down the problematic section of cable and go hunting between with a cable tracer. With each section of wiring (ie: junction box to next junction box), test continuity of the cable. You should eventually find the two points where the fault exists between. Once you have this, use the cable tracer to look for hidden boxes and other fun stuff. A flexible scope might help you look in stud cavities. If that fails you might have to open up the wall to get a better idea of what's the problem.
Also inspect all visible wires for nicks, oxidation or other damage.
There comes a point too where it becomes easier to just run a new wire versus trying to find the exact fault location.
If you do find the issue, it would be worth thinking about if it is likely to occur elsewhere and if so, how you should deal with that (replace all the wiring, redo connections in junction boxes, etc.)