More on the home wiring front...

So, I started yanking out ceiling panels to follow the wire; while the guy that built the place may not have wired it logically, he hung the celing tiles high and tight and piled in the insulation batting. When I checked the commons at the panel, three were tied down by the same screw- the offender and two others. When I tugged, the ones above it got sparky so i tightened everything. The offending common, at the panel when pulled off the crew, read 120.
I tracked the wire up the drywall and up parallel to a for joint and under ducting-- I could infer that it was heading towards an outlet on the other wall ( which wasn't working.) while I was in the ceiling I fould a random gfi box nailed to a loose 4" piece of 2x4 - when I pushed that button it solved a different problem I'd been having upstairs.
I opened up the box and there wer three pieces of Romex wire nutter together an to the outlet, pulling them apart everything tested 0 but one black (120 to ground) and one white (120 to ground) I assumed this was power in . Assuming an open common between the outlet and panel, I pulled a piece of well wire from the common on the panel to the outlet, and got 120 between the black and the well wire. Thinking I now know the problem, I hooked the other two circuits to the well wire and black, flipped the breaker, and... Nothing. I un- nutted everything, and read zero between black/ well wire and zero from both to ground.
So- I pulled a piece of Romex from the panel breaker and common and hooked it to the two circuits that didn't seem to be the feed- worked great, but I still had one outlet and two lights not working when I also hooked what I thought was the feed wires up, it power up everything.
So - I'm assuming I have a bad piece of Romex between the panel and the outlet that's burnt through both the white and the black. I'm also assuming there's another junction between the outlet I,m working with and the panel, I just need to find it in the ceiling. I figure ill be pulling some wire though the walls tomorrow, for now I'm gonna put the mental gymnastics behind me and mindlessly cut some grass - freezer and poop pump powered up by extension cords.
Am I on the right track?

I didnt read your thread below yet, but you are going to pull new wire and do this all right, right? Well pump wire, hidden junction boxes, jointed wire not in a box, possibly burnt through wires..... It's past it useful life, with the walls open you are starting over right? Please say right?

Paul

When I re-do it, I'll do it right. The well wire was just a test, as was the romex across the floor. For the life of me I can't figure out the hidden gfi, the circuit it's protecting doesn't require one, it 4 regular wall outlets, so ill be eliminating that. Home was built by the previous owner over a period of several years, with them living in various parts of it thru the duration.... Their long passed, so no one knows what I'll turn up.ive been here almost 10 years and turn up new secrets every week

Cut out the old, run new and don't worry about it. I have been battling wiring nightmares in my family's old 1864 farmhouse with original nob and tube 1937 wiring.

Why are there junction boxes with GFIs in them up above ceiling tiles? It is unlikely a wire went bad from point A to point B . If you are getting a reading at the neutral bar when removing a neutral then that circuit has a load one it and is returning current to the bar. Nothing is wrong with that. I think you are at the point where you should call an electricisn to troubleshoot and fix the code violations at the same time. It will be money well spent.

Sure sounds like you"re getting there. A bad wire is uncommon, but not unheard of. Every time I thought I had that issue it turned out to be something else. My guess is you have another junction somewhere, and as was said earlier if you have 120V on neutral, then it has a load on it and is looking for a path to ground. Sure is nothing like trying to fix someone else"s half azz fix .

You may want to check/replace your outlets too. One switch in my house wasn't grounded. When I did add the ground the fan attached (bathroom exhaust) would work. The switch was bad causing a ground fault. Gave me a pretty good shock when trouble shooting it. Replaced the switch (old one busted when I hit it with a hammer) and it worked fine with the ground.