hot neutral found on part of house inspection

[Dennis McAuley]

I inspected a home last Sunday and while not confused, some of the inspection had me wondering. I used the GFI receptacle tester on a majority of the outlets. My question is, on the northeast part of the house the tester indicated a hot neutral both upstairs and main floor. All other receptacles indicated normal with good ground. The main electric panel looked normal and there was no secondary panel. What could have been the cause of this? There was a GFCI in the downstairs bath that did not function properly, could this have been part of the problem? I did mention in the report to have a qualified, licensed electrician investigate and correct. Thanks for the help on this.

[brian winkle]

A receptacle that has a hot neutral but will not show 120 between hot and neutral indicates the neutral is open somewhere on that circuit, if the receptacle shows 120 then it is just reverse polarity.

[Greg Fretwell]

The GFCI could easily be the problem if they are controlled by it. Try tripping and resetting it a few times.

[Dennis McAuley]

I did try to trip and reset a number of times, but it would not trip or reset to begin with.

[Richard L. Bennett]

Not a time to Easter egg the problem with maybe this or maybe that

1. There is a problem
2. There are only three conductors in the problem
3. It is a safety issue
4. It is not your problem

______

If you want it to be your problem start taking things apart and doing some measurements. --- HOT --- NEUTRAL --- GROUND must all be good and wired to the right points. Starting at the breaker box and ending at the last receptacle in the home. Do not forget to check junction boxes in the basement or attic

Let us know what you find if you continue to check this out

rlb

[brian winkle]

by the way Dennis, I was born at the McHenry County hospital in Woodstock many many years ago.