Electrical – Old wiring into appliance has 60V neutral to hot and 120 either to ground

electricalwiring

I have an appliance (stove hood) and it is hooked up to wiring that supplied the previous stove hood. It isn't working and the voltages measure 62 volts between neutral and hot, but 120 volts between neutral and ground. It was working, and an electrician put the wires back in a box (they had been left hanging by the installer) and put the ground wire back in the wire nut to ground.

What is causing this?

Best Answer

Maybe hot miswired to neutral somewhere and your hot wire's connection is somewhere open and floating.

Panel      Fubar         Box

Hot --------.   -------- Hot                    <--.
             \                                     |
Neutral ----  '--------- Neutral     <--.          | 60V
                                        | 120V     |
Ground ----------------- Ground      <--'       <--'

The 60V is probably an induced "ghost voltage".

Typically this voltage reading may be as high as 50% of the energized voltage in the same proximity.

If things change radically when you move the wires in in the box, it might be that you have a loose connection in a wirenut or similar, plus some goofy connections.

A low impedance meter (e.g. one with a "low-Z" setting) might help with the diagnosis. I think I'd be turning power off and remaking the connections in the box and at any places upstream toward the panel.

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