Steve, first check neutrals, then grounds, be careful if hot is going to ground the ground could be live. Low voltage can be caused by an unbalanced breaker box(too much draw on one side).
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Thanks for the advice’s. This house was bought very much as-is.
WAS built new to code back in 1986. Four owners since so now much wrong has been done. Plus overall usage wear and tear.
The panel circuit labels are all gone except for the two years ago newly installed (breakers added) two Mitsubishi duct-less systems. Had no inspectors sign off on that.
And why now the missing labels?
Why the opposing corners with code no-no, tamper-proof, install heads broken off panel cover screws?
Wife will not let me mains shut off and do a cover off circuits one-by-one discovery and breakers re-lableling… AS far as she’s concerned things mostly work now . . . why my fussing? Just get the non-working fixed one by one. And quit my moaning.
So unworking switches, reversed switches!, broken outlets, upside down outlets, worn loose outlets; I’ve been doing hot . . . carefully.
Oddness found are like a modern new dimmer switch trying to feed an overhead florescent for the multi-purpose room. The dimmer was clearly labeled “Not for Florescent fixtures”.
120VAC I do not mind too much working hot. 240VAC I mind a lot.
I’m just going to have to drill out and get that face panel removed. To look and see. Map out.
On a mid-week day without the females there. Next summer with 12 hours sun and not needing heatings.
I’ll need a cool-head safety buddy present.
Waiting to find who in the three neighbors would be reliable.
One oldster old Vietnan Vet was supposedly an electrical and plumbing Code Inspector.
But . . .but . . . is he cool with not perfects??? Is he a burn-out? I don’t wanna’ see one more, anymore! (Me about a lot of automotive electrical stuff now!!)
I miss much my best buddy B-I-L who was an industrial electrician. He died after 13 days in intensive care August 2019. 2-3 different rapid onset cancers. He’d been annual spraying lot of herbicides on his 20 acres for a couple of decades to keep the weed-Nazis off his ass.
Or maybe 30 years of supersized cola drinking.
The good news is all I’ve found is proper sized copper wiring. No reversed hot and neutrals. No open grounds.
S.U.
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Steve, what’s the difference between a neutral conductor and a grounding conductor? Neutral comes from the mains and the distributor is supposed to provide 0V potential, and grounding is your protection. It often happens that the potential of the neutral conductor is 50V and more, especially at the farthest points of consumption, the electricity distributor often connects its neutral conductor to your earthing and thus easily burdens your protection, it happens that high currents galvanically destroy your earthing , be careful, disconnect, measure and examine your electrical wiring.
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Good Morning.
Again, I thank all for the different approaches advices.
Tone, your in-English explanation was very understandable.
Gives me five approaches to my problem to pursue:
Grounding rod and connections
Left/Right panel loads distribution
All in distribution panel connections re-tightening (neutrals especially seem to age-in-use become loose)
Pull the three-speed ceiling fan not working since the GFI install early last summer out of the circuit
Ha! Last then call the Public Utility District mains supplier about the 1/2 mile up the lane re-occurring low spot flooding drowning a far neighbors in-ground household split out transformer (mine and all other neighbors, stays high, and well drained)
Regards
Steve Unruh
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Steve, when we mowed into this 1946 house 26 years ago, all the upstairs electric wires were still the “tar paper” covered type, inside thin steel pipes - aged an brittle. I replaced all the old wires, switches and sockets.
Several years later i was running barefoot up and down to the basement using the little bandsaw. Suddely, standing on the concrete floor touching the saw, I felt a little tickeling. I blamed the bandsaw.
Later on I was welding outside. It was wet and I wore rubber boots, but I felt a little tickeling under my feet. I blamed the welder.
Next was holding one hand on the downstairs sink and touching the washing machine with the other. It bit me.
So, I started to get the picture. One of my outlet sockets in the basement was combined with a light switch and the cable going there was one wire short. The 1946 electrician apperently took a shortcut and jumped neutral and ground inside the socket to get the job done.
When I reconnected the basement to the upstairs main supply I had obviously switched hot and neutral, both initially tary black. It shouldn´t matter. But - including the 1946 error, it meant any plugged in equipment in our basement were connected to a hot ground for years during our small children period 
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And what about a earth leakage circuit breaker?
It saved the live of our youngest when he was a baby. Touched a wire somewhere he was not supposed to reach and pulled the circuit breaker.
I am thinking of using that with the different generators/ batt packs. Usefull or useless?
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Ground fault equipment can be finicky-picky, but will save your life. USA Code for swimming pool filter pumps and such. Also USA code for indoor outlets where no safety ground is available, such as older homes, and outlets near sinks on newer construction 
and @SteveUnruh Yah, better get that panel cover so you can take it off for your private inspection (with a friendly helper) before you show it to a former code inspector!! 
EDIT: I personally despise security screws, and would never put them on anything other than to make something dangerous very-young-curious-child-resistant. To a real inspector, they would say to you: I will give you a minute to take that panel cover off, or I fail you now! 
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Kirchoff’s law says that the sum of the inflows into a node is equal to the sum of the outflows, if we take our house installation as a node, then it must allow this, otherwise something is wrong. The element that controls the state of the node is the FID switch.
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Yes, If I had one it should probably have popped.
I think safety ground close to sinks and such and ground fault beaker outdoors.
As far as I know our codes are more of the recommendation type. I’m not aware of any inspectors - apart from the chimney sweeper 
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Earth leakage is a must in houses, as well as workshops. Trigger level in industry can be a liitle higher, I dont know the axact numbers. I think max four groups on a breaker. I am no electrician, but very happy with this. Shop and our house is from 2007, so all wiring is new and there are no problems. Now starting with generators off grid and so I have to keep in mind it is not the same safetylevel.
Thanks, I will order a few. Better safe then sorry.
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Nope, it’s your wife.
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JoepK,
I currently live in a house originally 1912. Added onto in the 1920’s. Then again early 1940’s.
Ceramic “knob” drilled trough the studs with old rubber/tar paper wrapped wiring. Late 40’s minimal inside plumbing brought in. Toilet and tub in one corner of a small bedroom. 600 square feet ->> 900 square feet. In 1995-96 we had it all gutted out remodeled and added onto, out to 1300 square feet.
ALL new code wiring. All new code plumbing.
FIVE ground fault detection circuit interrupter branch outlets. Safe; no tingles even. But I’ve had to replace out the bathroom GFCI outlet three times in 27 years.
Wife has long, long hair. Her pride.
She physically wears out, overheats and burns out 1-2 electric hair dryers a year. The GFCI saves her, I am sure. Forced to operate they soon self-sacrifice themselves.
Ha! Buy spares. They are not cheap.
Then face my decisions often . . . . just give the Wife her outside Christmas lights outlet here at our new location? Quick, easy by going back to a dumb-dumb outlet? Ha!
Nope! I’ve been warnings tingle too many times in decades past, in other houses, in the wet drizzling, with outside Christmas lighting.
“There are Old Pilots, and Bold Pilots. Never any old, bold Pilots”
Gravity always wins in the end.
Steve Unruh
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Yes, that is what I see, looking in the mirror. 
Jokes aside, I think you will have to do the same job in your new house?
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Wife and I spent a little time at the neighbors last night . Plenty of food ,fun and fellowship .
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Thanks For taking the time to kind of step away from the party, to video a couple of minutes for us. You can’t imagine how envious I am (and I’m sure others on here). If anyone just came across this video on YT they might think it was videoed in the early 1900’s. I am impressed by how so many people play stringed insturments. I kind of expect if you weren’t so busy videoing, we might have seen you with an empty jug and adding a little of what would probably be called “be-boping”"now days. TomC
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Hello Mr. Tom.
The folks in the video were just filling in while the pickers and singers were eating. 
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Mr Wayne, I can understand that. I did get a glimpse of the food that was set out. But even the “second string team” sounded good to me. TomC
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I called Bob Mackey today. He advised that he has been busy playing in the snow with family and just put wood stuff on back burner for a while
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Was getting curious how he has been and what he was up to, glad him and family are doing well. Enjoyed his bird watching videos the other day, pheasant sure are pretty birds
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Hi everyone happy holidays to you all. Just checking in , I have been very busy with the family.
I haven’t been working on any DOW projects lately. Lots of snow on the ground now and it to cold to hold on to tools to work.
I want to wish everyone a wonderful season where ever you live. Peace to you all.
Bob
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