Open Hot. Disconnect power to the circuit. If there’s a break anywhere in the path, you have an open circuit, and the current stops flowing — and the metal atoms in the wire quickly settle down to a peaceful, electrically neutral existence. Then, … A closed circuit allows current to […] Just got into a rental house and one outlet didn’t work, so I used my handy dandy circuit tester and none of the lights came on (supposedly that means “open hot.” ) (The circuit tester does work, it shows normal on other outlets.) Even the neutrals are hot. Hot & Neutral Reversed. Simply trace the circuit until the signal is lost; this is the location of the short. Problem is, the outlet is not working, GFCI receptacle tester is showing "open hot". You could buy, rent or borrow a thermal imaging camera to look for hot spots in each outlet/switchbox and circuit panel. In an electrical system, ground and neutral are connected together in one location only, at the neutral point.This connection is either at the power company transformer or in or near the main electrical panel of the dwelling (see Electrical Circuits).. Alternatively, a tech may choose to de-energize the circuit and use an ohmmeter to check for a path between the two points as is often done to test a fuse. Making sure the lights was dried out, i took and hooked up to another circuit … Open Neutral Wiring. With no lights on the tester at outlet #2 in circuit E or anywhere in circuit F, except for outlet #1 in circuit E that tests “Correct”, the Hot wire is open past the last outlet that lights it up—it could even be on the outfeed wire of that outlet—or before outlet #1 of circuit F (Figure 5). The voltage on a neutral wire is normally 0V (volts) on a live circuit. An open circuit is one that is discontinuous at a point preventing electricity from flowing through it. My HOT/GRD reverse was blinking, I shut off the power and pulled out the outlets to check for any loose wires. Finding Shorts and Open Circuits. I am almost 100% sure the issue exist in/at outlet itself. 4. Prepare the multimeter. Today I had my lamp plugged into the outlet and it blinked out, I was quick to unplug and test. First, plug the red lead into the port on the multimeter marked "Volt" or "mAVO." Although you can close and open a circuit at will using a switch, some open circuits may be caused by other reasons such as wire cut in the circuit or an accidentally blown fuse. Industrial Circuit Fault Finding. The camera are amazing at this. Open circuits are usually found by using a voltmeter, keeping one meter lead on a common point and “walking” the other lead through the circuit until voltage is lost. Without a continuous path back to the panel, and the neutral buss bar, the voltage has no place to go to complete the circuit. I powered up again and tested all outlets on the circuit, the first outlets test was correct the second outlet test gave a result of OPEN HOT. Locate the circuit breaker panel in the house, and flip the switch associated with that circuit to the off position. Yea we had one of the low profile covers, but due to the gage of cable we was using for the lights, during the storm it popped open and allowed water to get on the outlet. The fire department came to my house one day and helped me look for a smoke/"hot electrical" smell. I replaced the gfci outlet, and same issue. Having a map of your home’s electrical circuits can help you identify the source of a problem. My non-contact voltage tester shows the line coming into the outlet is hot, and the line going to the adjacent outlet is also hot. Now what? You need a closed path, or closed circuit, to get electric current to flow. The hot (black wires) were still connected and the breaker was back on, but without the neutral path the light won’t work, and the neutral ahead of that open splice will have power on it, the same as the hot wire. Electricity travels in a circle. ... One lead is connected to the hot wire from the circuit breaker, which must be turned off, and the other to ground.