Outlet Tester has all 3 lights on

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gksmith6

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In replacing a hot water dispenser at my kitchen sink, I used an outlet tester to test the circuit. All 3 lights come on! This is not shown on the guide that tells what the lights mean. On one of the outlets, the middle light first came on, indicating an open ground, but then all 3 lights came on. They are the same brightness, too. I tried the tester on other circuits and it seems OK. A voltage tester shows 110 volts.

This is an older house built in the 20's. This outlet is on an older circuit, but was installed by an electrician. This outlet is fed by Romex cable, but I know that portions of the circuit closer to the entry panel uses wire fed through flexible conduit.

The hot water dispenser burned out, but it was after several years of use, so I do not know if there was any relation to the electrical situation.

I am thinking of replacing the outlet with a GFI outlet. Would this be a good solution to the problem?

Thanks in advance!
 

Jimbo

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Off hand, I can't explain the three lights. These tester have very simple logic circuits in them, which can be "confused" when they find a circumstance not in their "program". They are known to indicate an open neutral as "hot/ground reversed". I would not change anything until you find out the reason. If the manufacturer name is on the tester, you could try to find a phone number and call them.

Other wise, the next step would be for an electrician to verify the power, neutral, and ground connections. Unless your tester is just a lemon, the electrician can figure out what if anything is wrong on the circuit.
 

gksmith6

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In doing further testing, I think I found the problem. Using a neon tester, it came on dimly when testing for the ground at the outlet. However, when using a copper pipe under the sink for the ground, it came on normally. So, I think a weak ground caused all of the lights to come on. The neon tester showed no other abnormalities. In tracing the cable to the junction box where the Romex is connected to the older cabling, I discovered the ground wire cut off very shortly, never intended to attach to anything. I am guessing that the flexible conduit is not grounded, thus there was no ground to easily attach to. I am surprised that an electrician would do this!

I am considering clamping a ground wire to the copper pipe and running it to the outlet in question. In addition I would use the the GFI for further assurrance. I understand that a GFI works properly with an open ground. It would be quite difficult to run a proper ground to the outlet. Does this solution seem feasible?

Thanks again!
 

Jadnashua

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If you feed the device from the gfci outlet, you do not need the ground. The gfci would detect any power 'leaking' (i.e., everything that goes through the black should come back through the neutral - otherwise, there is a ground fault - power going where it is not supposed to).
 
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