Wiring question for bathroom light/fan

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Brian.Hoard

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Hi,
I'm remodeling a powder room and installing a new ceiling light/fan. I have all the wiring in and connected and before I turn the breaker on, I wanted to ohm out my wiring to be sure there are no shorts. Since getting all the wiring tucked in the fan box was tough, I don't want to have a short in there.

So I'm surprised to see that my wiring, the neutral wiring is showing 0 resistance to ground and the box metal housing. Not sure if this is normal or not. The black/hot wires don't read to ground, but the white/neutral ones do. Is it okay to turn on the breaker? Is it normal for neutral to have 0 resistance to ground?

Thanks for any help.
 

Nukeman

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That's normal. The neutral and ground wires are connected together at the main panel. This is the only point in the system where the neutral should be tied to ground (don't connect neutral to ground in any of your boxes, etc.).
 

Jadnashua

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I'm surprised it is zero ohms, but it should be a small number. The wire itself has some resistance depending on its length and gauge, but definately should be close to zero.

If you are using the audible 'short' warning, it will trigger at a low reading, but does not necessarily mean zero. Then, many low-cost meters aren't all that accurate, either.
 
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