Sometime recently I noticed that an outlet out on my deck lost power. There are no breakers thrown in the panel. I checked the outlet itself with a multimeter, and sure enough it was dead. I then tested the incoming wires to that outlet to see if was possibly just a bad outlet, but the wires too were dead. I then traced back the wiring to a junction box in the joists in the basement. In that junction box, I removed the wire nuts that joined the suspect wires to the source wiring.
This is where it gets puzzling. I am seeing approximately 158-160 volts AC at those wires! Now, that obviously means that there is power to that junction box, which seems to indicate a bad/exposed/shorted wire somewhere between that junction box and the outside outlet. Ok, that is about a 20 foot run, so it should be easy to test/replace.
My bigger question is around the voltage in that junction box. Why would it be 160 volts?? That is too much for 110 service, but not enough for 220 voltage. I'm no electrician, but that seems very odd to me. See pictures below. I tested both the hot (black) to neutral (white), as well as hot (black) to ground (bare copper). Results were the same.
Any thoughts on what is going on here, or if I am misunderstanding something?
Thanks,
JA
