Pony said:
In one of my rooms I have 4 outlets. All 4 are on the same breaker yet one
is getting around 123 volts while the other 3 are only getting 68. What
could be causing this problem? I am unable to use these outlets due to the
low voltage.
Thanks for the help!
If the system is less than 20 years old, then it is probably wired by
"daisey chaining" the sockets from the power source. This is done by
inserting the wires into holes in the back of the plug, instead of
tightening them under the screws. The wire to the next plug is inserted
into the second set of holes. Connection is made through the spring tension
contact within the plug and through some small "break off" jumpers that are
built onto the outside of the plug between the screws such that connection
is made from one wire to the next. Break-off because you can break these
"bridges" off and then connect separate circuits to the two outlets in the
same receptacle. I would guess you have bad "continuation" connection
through the first receptacle in the chain or bad connection coming into the
second. Depending on the quality of the connection you could get 0 volts,
or with some meters, a reading of a few volts at the downstream outlets.
The other post gave good advise: plug in a 60 or 100 watt light and see if
you get any glow. If not, then you effectively have a nearly open, corroded
and probably bad, circuit between the first and second receptacle.
Ghost