Hi I have a house hold circuit lost power. ie. no lights and power to outlets. It was all working, previously. Unplugged everything from the line.
Used a 3 prong tester in the out lets on the circuit and it shows "hot ground reverse". Breaker did not trip. Checked breaker/repaced. Could this be a flourescent light fixture, there are a few on the line, one older in bath. Have to disassemble to remove.
Please advise on how to begin the troubleshooting of this circuit.

 

A hot-ground reverse on one of those plug-testers usually means that you have an open neutral. Likely, the neutral wire from either the receptacle that you're testing, or one upstream from it, the neutral wire has gotten loose. This tends to happen more often with back-stab devices where the wire is just pushed in to a hole in the back of the device.

You (or an electrician) will have to check each receptacle and switch on the circuit and ensure that all the wires are securely attached. If there are devices with back-stabs, now is a good time to replace them since it will likely happen again as they get older.

 

As already stated the problem is an open neutral.
If you know the routing of the cable the problem is in the last working device or the first not working device. It could be in the main panel as well if the entire circuit is dead.

 

Found one and repaired (Hot Ground Reverse, loose wire). Still no lights on the circuit, the 3 prong tester shows it is a working circuit. But, the center ground light is looks weak.
Any ideas?

 

Are there any GFCI outlets in the string? bathroom, kitchen,Basement....? Possibly out in the garage also?

Plug checkers are good, but you are much better with a "PRIMITIVE" two wire neon tester. At half the price of a "Plug Checker" I highly recommend grabbing one.

For right now, grab a Table lamp. Go to the first receptacle in the string, and plug the lamp in, If it works, go on to the next, and so on..... Find the first recept that doesnt work. check that one and the one before it. Keep in mind, the wiring may route to overhead lights , other outlets, and possibly even another room.

 

There are no GFCIs that I know of the circuit, it does jump all over, lights and rooms, ect. Metered I am finding voltage between some tabs. 120. on one all tabs.

I will try the lamp test, eventually I will replace all the outlets. Just need to get it working for now.

The bad outlet I found just landed on the floor as I was pulling it out. Even the ground came loose. Could not beleave it?

I appreciate all the help.

 

Could be more than one problem with the circuit. If all the receptacles are of the same type they could all be in the same shape.