What should be suspected if voltage drops under load?

When voltage drops under load, one primary suspect is a poor connection. This condition can occur when there is increased resistance in the electrical pathway due to loose or corroded connections, which causes voltage to decrease as the load increases.

In a healthy circuit, the voltage should remain stable when the load is applied. However, if there is a poor connection, it can lead to significant voltage drops because the connection’s resistance adds to the total resistance of the circuit. This results in insufficient voltage reaching the load, which could lead to it performing poorly or not operating at all.

While the other options are associated with various electrical conditions (defective loads could also cause power issues, an overloaded circuit might draw more current than the circuit can handle, and a short circuit would drastically change voltage and current behavior), the immediate concern of a voltage drop under load is most directly linked to the integrity of the connections in the circuit. Thus, when diagnosing voltage issues, checking for poor connections is a key step in the troubleshooting process.