Outlet Mystery...

So I have an outlet in my living room which has recently stopped working.  I checked it with the voltmeter and it shows 90V output instead of the 120V AC which it should be normally.  The fuse that this is on is fine.  I also disconnected the plug behind the covers and tested at the wires themselves and it's still 90V.  So the problem is not at the outlet side but either in the wall or somewhere else?



Is there a way to debug this or is this even a more common problem?



Thanks!
      

In a 1950s home the electrical is being redone. Wallboard was removed in the kitchen and there is a kitchen sink drain/vent line (seems to be 1" to 1-1/2" pipe) in the wall which is made of steel. It runs down into the concrete slab and up through the roof. There is an old electrical outlet (which will be removed and replaced) next to it which has a 14/2 cable and a separate small ground conductor running to it. With a meter I measure 50V between the steel pipe and the steel housing of the receptacle. Once the old receptacle is removed and a new one is installed, where and how will the drain pipe be grounded? I am sure there are more steel drain pipes used in this house but not all of them are open and exposed. Will it be sufficient to ground this one steel drain/vent line? If yes how and with what conductor size?
      

I have 3 bedrooms on 15 amp circuits, 14 gauge wire. Original wiring is one bedroom is on one circuit and the other 2 bedrooms on another circuit. The wall switches in each switched the top half of an outlet in each room. I converted the wire at the wall switch to a 110V feed from the outlet and ran 14/3 from the switch to the ceiling for a ceiling fan. I replaced the outlets since the jumper was cut to isolate the 2 plug ins for switching. Is this whole scenario code compliant?
      

I posted this in the woodworking forum and I got a ton of rants so please spare me that please. I'm not an idiot and I intend on completely turning off all power before attempting anything.



So I've been researching adding a couple of electrical outlets to my garage (where the panel is). I want to run a new 120v outlet for the tablesaw (older craftsman 113 series) so that it is on it's own circuit and a 240v outlet for a grizzly G1029z2 DC on it's own circuit as well.



What amp 120 circuit should I add for my tablesaw? Will a standard 15a breaker be fine?



What amp 240 circuit should I add for my DC? The motor plate states 12 amps and the manual says the electrical is a minimum circuit size of 20. Should I just install a 20amp circuit or go with larger circuit?



Need recommendations on the gauge of wire to use on each circuit.
      

Tearing out a wall cabinet uncovered a hole in the wall which I think I can install an outlet on.  The problem is that the ground wires are to short to pull out far enough to attach to the outlet.



However, the box in the wall is metal, so there should still be an path to the ground from the outlet right?  Or is there something special about the green screw on the outlet which makes that the only safe spot to attach the ground to?



box I uncovered:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-v...s538/photo.jpg



fuzzy picture of the inside of the box showing the ground being attached to metal box:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-B...303_154810.jpg



The outlet I want to install... (although I dont know how to pick the right outlet based on the limited info on the wiring I have, so any help with that would also be appreciated):

http://www.homedepot.com/Electrical-...&storeId=10051
      

Hi, I have a problem where if I turn off my light switch on one side of the  room, it turns off anything plugged into the electrical outlet on the  other side of the room. For some reason, they originally wired that  outlet on the same circuit as the light switch. I would like to wire the  outlet so that it does not switch off whenever you switch off the light  on the opposite wall.



How do I go about doing that? Thanks.



(p.s. There are just the basic three wires in the electrical outlet; black/white/bare copper ground).
      

Came across this gem tonight:



  I know most people have  become or are aware of the importance of the use of audio grade AC wall  outlets. What most people do not know is the importance of using the  right AC wall outlet plate also. Most AC wall oulet plates are metal or  plastic. Replace all of your AC wall outlet plates in your audio and  your home theater systems with wooden AC wall outlet plates.



If you purchase finished wooden plates, lightly sand them with "rough"  sandpaper until the sound is to your liking -- the sound will go from  "thick" to "more harmonically accurate" the more you sand it. Sand  lightly at first, take a listen and if the sound is too "thick" to your  liking, sand some more until you get it to your liking.



The best thing is to start out with unfinished wooden plates, sand them  lightly with medium sandpaper and then apply a very thin, light coat of  "clear coat". Allow the plate to dry and cure for 24 hours and repeat  this procedure.



If done correctly, you will notice that your video picture will sharpen,  the colors will blossom and the sound will be more harmonically  accurate with better resolution and refinement.



  http://archive.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=36999&highlight=sanding
      

I have a 4 prong 220v outlet in my garage and would like to convert it to a 3 prong outlet for my welder and compressor.



Do I just put a wire nut on the neutral and tuck it back in the box?  Then install the new 3 prong outlet using the two hots and ground?



Thanks.
      

Hi,



I would like to wire a switch to be able to cut the power to the ceiling mounted outlets that feed our garage door openers. Running new wiring to them will be a bit cumbersome, so I am hoping to avoid that. The ceiling outlets are powered by light fixtures in the garage (one near by each outlet). There is a 3 wire romex cable running from the light switch to the first light and another one between the lights, and then regular 2 wire romex cables from the light fixtures to the outlets. The red wires in the 3 wire cables to the lights are switchable, the black wires are always hot.



I mainly want to be able to cut the power to the doors when we are away on vacation, and the reason for that is that one night both doors somehow opened up - I have no idea why. I'd hate for that to happen when we're away. Unplugging and plugging in the openers is a bit of a hassle due to the high ceiling.



I thought about wiring in a switched outlet so that I could just reach up with a long handle of some sort and switch off the power to the outlet. It would not be ideal, but definitely easier than getting the ladder out and unplugging the door openers.  However, there is possibly another option that I'd like some input on if anyone cares to comment. I believe I could wire in a switch on the wall next to the light switch that would allow me to cut the power to the black wires in the 3 wire cables. This would cut the power to the ceiling outlets and anything downstream from there (possibly an outside light, I would need to check on that).



My question is, are there any potential issues with this sort of wiring? Is there perhaps any code violation if both hot wires in a 3 wire cable can be switched off separately?



Thoughts?
      

I have an outdoor light fixture that I am trying to replace.  The house was built ten years ago.



When I removed the original lamp, I noticed one of the two leads was wired to the ground, and one was wired to the black wire, which is hot per my current sensor.  There are three wires in the box - black, ground (bare copper), and white or neutral, all from a single romex cable.  Unfortunately, I do not recall where the white was when I removed the original. 



I wired the new lamp per the instructions, something I have done many times before - black to black, white to white, and bare copper ground to ground.  Nothing.  The lamp and bulbs are brand new, and I have tried four separate bulbs.  I checked the black and neutral with my current sensor and with the switch on and the lamp installed this way, both show as hot. With the lamp not installed, the switch on, and the wires disconnected only the black shows as hot.  The switch is single pole, and appears to be wired correctly with a black to each screw on one side and a copper ground on the other.



Assuming the new fixture was bad, I reinstalled the old fixture correctly -  black to black, white to white, and bare copper ground to ground.  Still nothing. No light, and I confirmed the bulb is good by putting it in another lamp.   The only way to get it to light is to connect the neutral in the lamp to the bare copper ground.



I capped the wires, turned the circuit back on, and identified all the outlets, switches and fixtures on the same circuit.  I opened every one of them up (four lights and eight outlets) and found three (one switch and two fixtures in another room) where multiple commons connect.  All were properly connected.  My outlet tester shows all outlets as "correct".  I found no instances of grounds connected to commons or vice-versa.



Any ideas?  Is it proper to wire this thing the way I found it?



Thanks for any and all advice!