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What can cause an open ground in an electrical circuit after a circuit breaker failure?
I have 5 receptacles, some overhead lamps, and a wall lamp on a circuit. They checked out long before with a 3-light plug tester.
The circuit breaker appeared to fail. The circuit breaker tripped and upon reset, the circuit breaker made a loud buzzing as if trying to trip, arced, and smelled like something melting for a bit. The circuit breaker was replaced and turned back on. But all 5 receptacles are showing open ground.
Specifically:
Hot->Neutral: 120 V
Hot->Ground: 37 V
Neutral->Ground: 25V
All other circuits' receptacles are correct with 120 V, 120 V, 0V.
Where can the open ground on the affected circuit be and how can it be fixed?
First off, this is a dangerous situation, with voltage appearing on the ground wire in all outlets.
Assuming the ground for this circuit is connected properly at the breaker panel (you'll want to verify that), you'll need to trace the circuit to (and through) each device and each outlet to see where the problem first appears. Since you have some overhead lamps on the circuit, that could be where the ground is being opened up due to a wire nut or other connector coming undone. If the ground is solid at the breaker panel, then it should still be solid at the first device on the circuit (coming from the panel) -- but if there's not a good ground at the first device, then something has become open in the wiring (rare). It's possible that something shorted in one of the overhead lights which caused the breaker to slowly fry, so you may be able to locate the root cause of the situation by examining all the fixtures and outlets. Since the overhead lights are on wall switches or dimmers, be sure you examine them closely as well. Dig into this and find it since it could cause you additional problems.
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