Any electricians out there? I need some outdoor outlet help!

Not sure what is causing the plug-in to give that reading. I used a volt meter and checked the terminals and got nothing back-no power.

 

Make sure

Test on a known live circuit other than that problem one. Make sure your meter is set to the correct setting. You should have 120v or there about between white and black, and bare and black. Zero between white and bare. Sounds like there's a bad neutral connection somewhere. Test at wire to remove device from equation

 

Here are the readings from a volt meter. What are your thoughts?

Hot to Neutral: 15v
Hot to Ground: 121v
Neutral to Ground: 112v

 

Sounds like it but also may have some hidden Jerry rigged shit. At this point it may be faster and safer to have an electician show up in your area. Its very hard to tell/ fully diagnose via interwebs.

 

Neutral is floating somewhere.....

 

^^^ Yep. Time for an electrician. These can be very difficult to correct.

 

+1 on this.
Sounds like you have a neutral that pulled out of a wire nut.
Pull your neutrals apart and re-wire nut them. The neutral might have a load on it so make sure to kill that circuit. Could get sparky on ya!

 

Absolutely. Kill the breaker feeding said outlet and find each on the same circuit. Once breaker that feeds is found pull devices and check that Nuet conductor on each. You'll find it with patience.

 

Definitely dropped that neutral. Plug a cheap radio into that circuit and crank it up. Grab your plug tester and plug it into other receptacles in the area and garage. Wiggle it around inside each plug and listen for the radio. You may get lucky

 

Dang, @JimboSlice413 that shit is old school but will work if the Nuet isnt completely disconnected. Not gonna lie, a pretty good damn way to go without pulling devices

 

Resi guys like to run those circuits in and out of the receptacle instead of pigtailing behind it. This leaves the load on both the hot and neutral running entirely through the receptacle, its especially hard on the first device in the circuit and causes those cheapo home receptacles to heat up and fail prematurely. Its a real good place to look in homes if you've lost a circuit

 

I second the meter. Gotta identify those wires. Disconnect the wires from the outlet before testing. The outlet may be fried if it got wet.

 

Agree 100%. I specialize in commercial but have my fair share if residential service changes and remodels. In the older homes usually they are never pigtailed..... Hot/neutral - in/out on devices. Most the time devices not working lose that Nuet, burnt out receptacles/switches etc..... I always pigtail those that are in my scope,b tell the owner other existing are more then likely wired with that same method..... Which will eventually fail in the older homes

 

Update: Outlet works!

I checked all of outlets close the bad one and they were all either working properly or controlled by another gfci in the kitchen. I left the plug-in tester and started to flip breakers to see which one turned it off. The outlet ended up being tied to the kitchen lights. I was afraid I was going to have to open up each recessed light and check the wiring. So I opened up the light switches first and there was a single neutral wire with a wire nut, but it wasn’t connected to anything. I found the other neutral wires and tied them all together. I flipped the breaker and prayed for the best. Haha. I tested the wires and received:
Hot to Neutral:120v
Hot to Ground: 120v
Neutral to Ground: 0v
Power!!!!

It appears the builder messed up/rushed on the wiring at the light switch.

Thank you so much for all of your help! I was able to fix two bad outlets with completely different issues, because of everyone’s input. I also saved a bunch of money too! More money for mods!

 

Fucking awesome! Good work @Ron_Pro . You've been working hard and fast at this judging by time between responses lol.

 

Lol. I was on a mission to fix these damn outlets! I was literally just about to give up and call an electrician too. Thank god for the members on this forum!

 

Hell yeah!
$100+/hour should add up to some decent mod money

 

Great job! You ever been nicknamed Bulldog?

 

Awesome!!

 

Glad you figured it out.
If it was my house, I wouldn't have been able to rest until it got figured out.

There are a lot of good helpful people on this forum..
It's awesome that we can ask each other for help on anything, not just Tundras...