Extremely low voltage on 120v line

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Extremely low voltage on 120v line

Hi, I’m not an electrician but my home has 20 amp breaker that has only one outdoor outlet on it with a GFCI. I had a low voltage lighting transformer as the only thing plugged into this outlet and I noticed that the lights were off and not coming on. I checked and found that the GFCI had a red blinking light. I tried pressing the test button but noticed that the test button was stuck in and could not be depressed. I assumed the GFCI has failed and needed to be replaced. I checked the breaker and tried turning it off and on but this did not resolve the issue.

I used my multi meter to test the GFCI and found I was only getting about 8-10 volts with the breaker on . I disconnected the GFCI and checked the wires directly and found I was still getting the same low voltage. I checked the breaker and found I am getting 120v to the breaker and 0 volts when I turn the breaker off. I removed the breaker and tested it for continuity and it had continuity in the on position and no continuity in the off position. After reattaching the breaker and checking the voltage on the line again I now am getting about 6 volts.

The house is about 11 years old and this outlet has been working fine for a while with no issues. I’m not sure what the problem could be other than the wiring itself but I’m not sure what why the wiring suddenly would become an issue. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions anyone could provide.

 

[Megawatt]

Extremely low voltage on 120v line

Hi, I’m not an electrician but my home has 20 amp breaker that has only one outdoor outlet on it with a GFCI. I had a low voltage lighting transformer as the only thing plugged into this outlet and I noticed that the lights were off and not coming on. I checked and found that the GFCI had a red blinking light. I tried pressing the test button but noticed that the test button was stuck in and could not be depressed. I assumed the GFCI has failed and needed to be replaced. I checked the breaker and tried turning it off and on but this did not resolve the issue.

I used my multi meter to test the GFCI and found I was only getting about 8-10 volts with the breaker on . I disconnected the GFCI and checked the wires directly and found I was still getting the same low voltage. I checked the breaker and found I am getting 120v to the breaker and 0 volts when I turn the breaker off. I removed the breaker and tested it for continuity and it had continuity in the on position and no continuity in the off position. After reattaching the breaker and checking the voltage on the line again I now am getting about 6 volts.

The house is about 11 years old and this outlet has been working fine for a while with no issues. I’m not sure what the problem could be other than the wiring itself but I’m not sure what why the wiring suddenly would become an issue. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions anyone could provide.

Sorry for the late reply but somewhere but it seems like you need to try and inspect the whole cable from the breaker to the GFCI receptacle. I have seen staples nailed into the cable and it not show up for a year or so or some other damage. Really that has to be the problem. Good luck and welcome to the forum.

 

[pc1966]

As above, check the whole cable run and look for damage or any junction boxes that might have trouble inside them.

Water getting in is a common fault, but I guess less of an issue in Texas than Scotland! However, loose terminals are also common reason (not correctly tightened originally, or subject to a lot of vibration or thermal cycling that frees them), or wire badly stripped so conductors nicked and fracture with vibration/thermal cycling.

Occasionally you get cable with an internal manufacturing fault, but not so common. However, if you have eliminated everything else then replacing the whole run might be your solution.