Why does my outlet tester say open ground when things work?
An outlet tester can indicate an open ground even when plugged-in appliances work normally, causing confusion because a bad ground in home wiring behaves differently than in automotive electronics. This leaves people unsure how to properly diagnose the circuit, interpret low voltmeter readings, or reconnect the ground wire inside a tight electrical box.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Treating the ungrounded outlet like a two-hole receptacle
- 2Opening up affected and upstream switches and boxes to look for loose or bad connections
- 3Consulting a handy neighbor for assurance
- 4Asking questions on an online forum for electrician advice
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I checked with voltmeter. I have 38 volts if put my leads between hot wire pin to the painted center screw on the plastic outlet and also same reading if I put lead on center ground receptacle . at a known good I got 124v.”source ↗
“I did install spacers as I had new drywal installed and moved the electrical boxes but the contractor installed them too deep I may have fuck something up as it was a tight fit.”source ↗
“My question is that I get an “open ground” reading with my outlet tester.”source ↗
“If I just use some spare wire to attach the ground wire in the box to the green terminal screw, will that fix the open ground issue?”source ↗
“I was checking my outlets and found 2 in the master room with the ground open but everything that I plugged into it works fine.”source ↗
“As an auto technician good at electronics home electrical confuses me as an auto technician if you have a bad ground nothing will work”source ↗
“Any advice on how to diagnose this circuit ? Do I check the copper wire or the green wire?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 12How to replace two-prong outlets with three-prong without rewiring
- 4Why does my electrical outlet only work sometimes?
- 6Is a melted electrical socket safe to leave until morning?
- 3Is this outlet backstabbed or backwired?
- 3Is this copper wire broken?
- 4How to trace an intermittent short circuit in a car wiring harness