Old house with ungrounded circuits? Bleed-through an old switch? Got knob & tube in the house?
A:It was only when using my digital multi-meter and trying to find the correct circuit breaker that I discovered this.
If you have a small incandescent lamp (perhaps using a bare socket with alligator clip wires) connected across the two meter probes, does it light up dimly or does the voltage measured go to zero?Phantom voltage reading. Common when using high-impedance input digital testers.
I thought that might be it, but I checked and it's a simple 2-way switch. I went ahead and replaced it on the chance it might have been faulty, but no change.I believe the switch is wired incorrectly. I did it when I wired my recessed lighting in my living room on a 3 way switch. Recheck and test.
J-Daddyshammer
In your description you say you have 60 V in the ceiling box with the switch off and 120 V with it on.I'm in the process of replacing an old (1950s) ceiling fan and light assembly. Here's the problem. The ceiling box is "hot" with 60 volts even with the wall switch off. Wall switch on- all normal at 120 volts.
With the circuit breaker off, it goes (not surprisingly) to zero voltage.
Could do someone well who's looking now, that's why I came on now, 11 years later. I'm just glad someone started the topic11 years too late for this thread but I was going to say that the OP's problem was probably that someone wired the switch to the neutral.
Andy.
he has a switched neutralDang-- I should have read the posts to see that this was an old thread...