On a service call one time;
The Homeowner was remodelling the den in the back of the house and had just unscrewed the Baseboard heat from the wall when someone noticed that Lights and outlets in the next room didn't work.

When I got there and tested the outlets there was no neutral. Everything looked OK at panel, started opening up outlets and got to one where the Neutral feed (from the panel) was not hooked up. And it was Capped!

I asked the man if he had changed anything he said no. (??? - huh?) I did a bunch of head scratching and a little more digging and I figured out that the person who had originally hung the Baseboard had used very long screws and had made contact with the white wire in the cable between outlets.

For all these years that circuit was using the Baseboard Heat enclosure and water pipe as a return (neutral) wire. It's obvious that the 'Electrician' had known something was up because he capped that wire. - More of that 'can't see it from my house' attitude I guess that gets my goat sometimes. [Linked Image]

Bill

[This message has been edited by Bill Addiss (edited 08-23-2003).]

Bill