Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] Will a popped circuit breaker ground the hot wire?

From: Brian Kemp <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 17 Apr 2016 14:36:35 -0700

Jim - Is there anything in the circuit that might be creating the path 
to ground?  Maybe you are getting continuity through an incandescent 
light bulb.

I would test the switch out of the circuit.  There should never be 
continuity between either of the hot wire screws of the switch and the 
ground screw.

If you look closely at the switch, you will probably see the word "TOP" 
stamped on the metal frame of the switch.

Brian

On 4/17/2016 11:50 AM, Jim Franklin wrote:
> I'm adding some wiring to a circuit, and while testing the new Decora switch to see which way was up, I noticed there was conductivity between the hot lead and the grounded electrical box. Is this how it should be with the circuit breaker off? Googling this seemingly simple question gets me answers to all kinds of other questions :-\
>
> I undid all the connectors back to the origin of my work, so it isn't anything new unless I pierced a wire in the wall with a sheetrock screw...
>
> (There's also conductivity between the hot & neutral, which I expected given the ground-neutral bonding in the main panel)
>
> thanks,
> jim
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From: Jim Franklin <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 17 Apr 2016 17:59:46 -0400

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On Apr 17, 2016, at 5:36 PM, Brian Kemp <[email-masked]> wrote:

> Jim - Is there anything in the circuit that might be creating the path =
to ground?  Maybe you are getting continuity through an incandescent =
light bulb.

Yea, just realized (when I reset the breaker to get the ultimate answer =
:-) ) that the oil burner is connected to the same circuit. It fired up =
so the circuit is clean. Sure cost me a whole bunch of hours though.=20

>=20
> If you look closely at the switch, you will probably see the word =
"TOP" stamped on the metal frame of the switch.

I looked, nothing there. It's a double switch that I'm mounting =
sideways, something maybe they didn't account for?=20

jim=

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<html><head><meta http-equiv=3D"Content-Type" content=3D"text/html =
charset=3Dwindows-1252"></head><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; =
-webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: =
after-white-space;"><br><div><div>On Apr 17, 2016, at 5:36 PM, Brian =
Kemp &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email-masked]">[email-masked]</a>&gt; =
wrote:</div><br class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote =
type=3D"cite"><span style=3D"font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; =
font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; =
letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: =
start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; =
widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: =
none; display: inline !important;">Jim - Is there anything in the =
circuit that might be creating the path to ground? &nbsp;Maybe you are =
getting continuity through an incandescent light bulb.</span><br =
style=3D"font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; =
font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; =
line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; =
text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: =
0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"></blockquote><div><br></div>Yea, =
just realized (when I reset the breaker to get the ultimate answer :-) ) =
that the oil burner is connected to the same circuit. It fired up so the =
circuit is clean. Sure cost me a whole bunch of hours =
though.&nbsp;</div><div><br><blockquote =
type=3D"cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type=3D"cite"><span =
style=3D"font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; =
font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; =
line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; =
text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: =
0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; display: inline =
!important;">If you look closely at the switch, you will probably see =
the word "TOP" stamped on the metal frame of the =
switch.</span></blockquote></div><br><div>I looked, nothing there. It's =
a double switch that I'm mounting sideways, something maybe they didn't =
account for?&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>jim</div></body></html>=

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