Wall outlet reading 10 to 15 volts near top of outlet?

Thread Starter

Ken Clark

Joined Nov 17, 2015
3
So recently a night light burned out in my grandparent's outlet. They just bought it, so I read the voltage across all points. Ground to neutral was about 0.68 volts, so that was fine. Hot to ground was 120 volts, so that was fine. Hot to neutral though, it reads 120 volts, but if I move the probe up in the outlet slot a tiny bit, the reading changes to 10 - 15 volts. Is that normal? Maybe the outlet is dirty near the top and is causing a lot of resistance? I have no idea what could cause it.
 

Thread Starter

Ken Clark

Joined Nov 17, 2015
3
What? Both probes are connected. Do you mean that inside the slot, there is an empty space on the top with no metal?
 

Thread Starter

Ken Clark

Joined Nov 17, 2015
3
I get it now. If there's an empty spot, it's just the magnetic field inducting a current or something. Sorry. I'm new to electronics.
 
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