How to tell if your AC wiring needs an upgrade

Thinking about this some more, I'd say the most common error you'll find is an outlet with the hot and neutral reversed.  In that case the n-e will show 118 V or so.  Easy to fix.

The higher the neutral voltage the lower your outlet voltage (assuming you don't have something else wildly wrong).

Can you explain this above?

I did the test with a multimeter on kitchen outlets with nothing connected. I measured 0.9V. I plugged in a 25W incandescent lamp and the voltage dropped to 0.4. Was the 0.9 noise?

@deludedaudiophile - Things get a little complicated, since the V on the neutral may be the opposite phase of your circuit, but if you assume everything else in the house is off, the Hot to N is usually <= Hot to ground. As your circuit draws more current, the N voltage will rise, the Hot will drop, and the V drop across either will balance.

Try the same with a coffee pot instead! :)

Rude? I wasn’t being rude. But your response certainly is. What is your problem Eric?

Stating "FALSE" by itself is actually pretty rude, it’s also false when you aren’t really reading my statement, you are answering a problem/statement I haven’t made.

Also, my name isn’t Eric, so that’s another problem right there.

I was being honest in my response. Not just for your benefit but for others reading your thread. Too much disinformation is given about the purpose and what the electrical service to earth connection is for...

And that’s why you are not reading my posts accurately. What the purpose of the ground is in terms of the NEC and basic electrical installations is not the same as what we can measure and why we can measure these values. The first is about how a home should be built, but I’m talking about the physics of electricity and what we can infer.

We can measure the voltage on the neutral relative to ground and use it to tell us something without opening up the service panel because one has current and the other does not. That’s not false, that’s physics. It’s also a lot safer than opening up a panel for the average consumer.