My meter was reading 120 volts but the appliance wouldn't run

I was troubleshooting a dead outlet at a house in Phoenix last Tuesday, and my Fluke was showing a solid 120 volts between hot and neutral. Turned out the neutral wire had come loose inside the panel, so there was voltage but no current path. Has anyone else wasted a whole afternoon chasing a phantom open neutral like this?

2 comments

2 Comments

casey_wood21d ago

Wasted a whole day on that exact same gremlin myself once!

susan_wright3422h ago

Oh man, I used to think an open neutral would just show zero volts or something weird. That one cost me a few hours before I figured it out too. Definitely made me rethink how I check for power now.