I have power coming off of one lead and when i cross the leads the light still wont work. If there is a single switch in the circuit then yes there should be no electricity present.
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If light switch is off is there still power. It is generally safer to turn off the entire circuit in case someone comes in and flips the switch to give you some light to see what you are doing. However there is very little energy transferred so the phantom voltage is usually not dangerous because it can produce almost no current. Very common a big misconception with deadly results. That is why when dyis want to add a receptacle next to a switch it does not work. Test the circuit again by putting your test leads on the two screws that attach the wires to the. As i stated i changed the switch but the light stays on constantly even without being connected to the switch as long as the breaker is onthe box has three set of wires blackwhiteground from the fixture a blackwhiteground and a blackredwhiteground.
See the details below second and of a greater concern to us when the outlet is off a lamp plugged into it turns off with the switch there is still power going through the outlet. The switch actually breaks power in the hot or black wire between the circuit breaker and the light. Last night the light just came on by itself. The light and switch single pole have been in operation for 15 years. One possibility is that the switch is wired on the neutral side and there is a ground fault between the switch and the outlet. Also a three way light may always have power in the box depending on switch layout.
Just to recap a phantom voltage is where a wire from a switch to a light or outlet runs next to a permanently live wire when the switch is off the ac voltage in the other wire can induce a voltage in the switched off wire. The switch does not work. If the light is off no power there a very standard configuration is power to the light then a switch leg to the switch. I recently had a dimmer switch go out on me and i replaced it with a regular switch. That doesnt mean you should do it. Light fixture troubleshooting question.
When the switch is on you get full voltage but when the switch is off current flows from hot through the switch and into the high resistance ground fault.
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