Low Voltage on Home Outlet

Right on!!!

I agree with charsley99 .

Since you have only one outlet that does not provide full voltage across hot and neutral then this outlet is a branch end. So unless you have an illegal hidden junction box or the very unlikely broken neutral wire, the bad neutral connection is happening at the outlet upstream of this one going back to the breaker distribution panel. This outlet might be on the other side of the wall or along the wall in the direction to the breaker panel.

A common problem that fits your symptoms was that at one time outlets were permitted to have spring loaded knife edges to make a connection to a bared wire. Over time these springs would fatigue and stop making a good connection. This design did save an electrician a little time in wiring a house. But over time these weak springs could and have started more an electrical fire.

If you have a hidden junction box though, then you will likely have to remove some sheet rock.

CR4 Admin: Deleted Post

Vulgar/Rude/Improper Behavior: This post was deleted because it did not adhere to the behavioral policies of the site. Please review Section 14 of the CR4 Site FAQ and the CR4 Rules of Conduct.

Hi Folks, Since the multi-meter reading shows low voltage, drawing virtually no current, could it be that the attachment of the ground and one of the other wires has been reversed? Trace wires as much as possible to confirm correct connections.

Great suggestions. I'll report back when I have a chance to chase the wires.

It's very good you have copper wiring in your home!

I've been called to many homes and businesses with aluminum wiring installed in the early to the late 1970's when it was allowed to substitute as a cheaper replacement for proper copper wiring. This greatly helped electrical contractors to save money as aluminum was roughly half the cost of copper.

It then was immediately withdrawn and not available to purchase in electrical supplier's warehouses anymore, after it was proven that homes and businesses were catching on fire and burning down, including losses of life, due to faulty aluminum wiring installations and practices at that time.

Aluminum wire has a nasty habit of developing a whitish, powdery aluminum oxide residue on or about it's exposed to air contact area, due to it's chemical characteristics. For example, when the thermoplastic insulation is removed by 'stripping'.

This aluminum oxide develops over time while being exposed to the oxygen in the air, and may eventually become resistive when connected to joints or device connections, if not properly protected against exposure to the air, and more critically, when joined together with differing dissimilar metal at an electrical connection point. These connection points can get very hot, and start fires.

Something to ponder - Loupy.

I liked your comment.

GA from me.

You wrote:-"f you were to connect a load to the receptacle in question (such as a portable lamp), I am sure that the voltage measured between the "hot" and "neutral" would go to zero."

Or the faulty connection(s) might just get very, very hot if something is plugged in, so don't do it!! A possible source of fire cannot be completely ruled out either......