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	Subject - faulty circuit m. l. this am one of the circuits in the house stopped working. there are three plugs on the circuit. the circuit breaker seems fine. it did not trip off. there is 120v coming from the circuit breaker, and the neutral wire seems intact. there is 70v between hot and neutral at the first plug, and 120v between hot and ground. there is 120v between the hot wire of the affected circuit and neutral on a separate circuit. there is 110v between hot of a separate circuit and the neutral of the affected circuit. there is a small current between hot and ground of the affected circuit with the circuit breaker open- about 10v. any ideas? thank you, m. l. JimmyDee Sure looks like you have an open neutral on the circuit. Perhaps at a junction box before the first receptacle? Splices will sometimes go bad and by being loose can cause similar problems. Splice through receptacles are good for this also. A switch box or light fixture could also have the first splice. These can sometimes be hard to find. Jim cs409 at least your ground is in tact LOL.......... as Jimmy was stating, sounds like you need to check some connections ..... how old is this system your speaking of? m. l. thank you very much for your kind responses. i will begin checking all circuits to find the problem with the neutral wire. i believe that the wiring is about 15 years old. it appears "modern", and all wires are copper, single strand. once again, thank you for your responses. Ryan_J Although illegal, some people used to switch the nuetral instead of the hot at switch locations. You might check that as well. m. l. the circuit has only 3 separate plugs, no switches. the circuit seems to work fine when using a neutral from another circuit. thanks m. l. lctrc789 Many times in homes the romex can be broken in the walls or around corners. If you are not sure if there is some type of junction somewhere from the 1st recpt. to the breaker box, I would suggest you check for that 1st. It sure sounds like you lost a nuetral wire though. Good luck in finding it. m. l. unfortunately i will need to take paneling boards off the wall in the kitchen to have access to the wiring. probably will need to do this eventually if no other obvious fix. once again, thanks for the help and suggestions. m. l. Dave H I have encountered your problem before. The high and low variations in voltage are caused by a "flaoting neutral", but it is not necessesarily a neutral on any of the circuits you're reading voltage on. It is possible your problem is in the service neutral conductor. I found this very problem in a home and traced the problem to a loose split bolt at the power company transformer. Scott Vickrey When you say "there is 70v at the first receptacle" This says to me that there is in fact no real voltage at the first receptacle. Often digital multimeter's will indicate a lesser voltage because they are sensitive enough to read induced voltages and present no load to the circuit to drag this trace potential to zero. When troubleshooting 120v ac circuits it's best to use a meter that pulls a load like a wiggy or a simpson. If you have to troubleshoot a 120 volt circuit with a digital you should view a reading of less than 100 volts as practically zero. Here's a quick test for you. Get a lamp and plug it into the first receptacle. If it truly has 70 volts then the lamp should be dim but visible. I'll bet California that the lamp will not shine. Pierre Belarge When removing the paneling, you may find a nail that has penetrated the 'neutral' conductor. I am curious to see if you have found the problem yet? Pierre Scott Vickrey In guess we will never know. m. l. once again. thank you for your kind replies. i have been away. california is a safe bet. no power at the "70" volt plug. the light does not light. i have temporarily "borrowed" another neutral and everything appears to work fine. my alternative will be to take the paneling down and rip through very old masonry wall. (about 75 years old). so presently i will continue to borrow neutral. i will let you know if i find the problem. to Dave H- i suspect the main neutral is ok, as all other circuits seem fine.