![]() In houses originally built without three-prong grounding, "poor-man" retrofits were often done by hooking the ground to the neutral. I personally think it's unlikely to be a hot-to-ground leak, because you'd be blowing fuses left and right, including when you get your electric bill. If you're sure it's not another live circuit in the box, the next most probable cause in a house built in the '70s is a neutral-to-ground short or swap. Once you know a set that is causing trouble, work them in half, repeat until narrowed down to one. You can do this by switching off (or on as the case may be) half the circuits at a time. If unplugging all devices from the circuit does not resolve it, the next step is to determine which other circuit is feeding the voltage, to narrow down what might be cross wired or shared. This may happen from a pair of interconnected devices on different circuits. First, unplug all other appliances in the house to see if any of them are leaking voltage back in to the circuit in question. Once a voltage sensor is showing the situation, it can aid in resolving it as well. It works better than a voltmeter because it avoids having to move and contact the wires. The proper use would have detected a "hot situation" and allowed you to avoid being shocked. ![]() This situation is one of many reasons why smart electricians use these. You need a voltage sensor device to begin with. Or another circuit may be passing through (such as alternating circuits between outlets). The receptacle may be a split type (the breakable tab between the screws is broken off). For example, a shared-neutral circuit would be operating from two separate breakers on opposite phases. You may simply have two circuits in the same box. A proper ground could, depending on the cause, complete a short circuit that would be tripped a breaker in the past when the real cause was established. A ground not really connected to ground will not, by itself, create a shocking situation.
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