Got stuck for a full day tracing a ground fault in an old Chicago apartment building.

The fault was on a shared neutral for two separate units, and my meter kept giving me weird readings because of some old knob and tube still tied in. Ended up taking 8 hours to isolate the right wire. Anyone ever run into something like that with shared circuits in old buildings?

3 comments

3 Comments

leotaylor1mo ago

Ugh, shared neutrals are the worst. I saw a video once where a guy had the same problem and his voltage readings were all over the place. Old wiring just hides problems like that forever.

allen.oscar17d ago

Remembered a house where the dining room light dimmed every time the fridge kicked on. Took forever to trace it back to a junction box in the attic, just a nest of old cloth wires all tied together. The neutral was basically shared with half the downstairs. You could watch the lights pulse, like a weird heartbeat. Felt like the whole place was alive and just barely holding on.

paulw661mo ago

Ever try pulling the main and checking each circuit one by one? @leotaylor is right about the weird readings, but that method finally got me there.