What happens when we have a break in the neutral conductor?

This LearnElectrics video came about because of several posts on social media about testing electrical circuits that have a fault. In this video we will look at a situation that I had, a while back, in a domestic property with a radial socket circuit and how a broken neutral affected the test meter readings.

There are always many questions on broken neutrals, what effect will they have on the circuit, for instance or how can we spot a broken neutral and why are there different voltages around the circuit.

Moving on to a lighting circuit, I once had a message that when the lights are turned on, they don’t come on, but when the customer tried to fix it himself, he got a shock off the neutral – why?
And many more.

We will start off with a standard radial socket circuit with 5 outlets, and we will keep the explanations and reasons very simple, so that everybody understands.

In this video we will show you how the voltage readings can be affected, what makes the voltages change, and what these test voltages are telling us; the clues they are leaving us so that we can find the fault more easily.

And always remember to work safely, especially if carrying out live testing.

This is video number 205 and to view all our videos type in LearnElectrics all one word into the YouTube search bar.

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