| Author |
electrical neutral
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| sparky 2006-02-24, 12:21 am |
| I have been having problems with electrical service. When I turn on
lights or use power from a outlet lights dim. I have been told that I
may have bad neutral on my end by the power company. I have checked the
panel box and I have 120v 240v when there is no load on but when
something is turned on it changes. I need to know how to check to see
if neutral is bad. Can't aford electrician for about a week.
Thank You for help
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| buffalobill 2006-02-24, 12:21 am |
| lights dim + no money = call your electric company for diagnosis.
if they came out as they do right away and told you their power to the
meter is fine, you need an electrician whether you can afford one or
not.
"One moderately safe approach is to connect a 100W lightbulb
between hot and the ground you wish to test. The lamp should
light fully. If you have a voltmeter, test the voltage between
the ground and the neutral. You should see less than 2 volts.
If the voltage is much higher, or the lamp dims, disconnect it
quickly - the ground may be overheating somewhere. The ground
should be checked for poor connections."
so it says where there's more for you to read about NEUTRAL and GROUND
at faq:
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/electrical-wiring/part1/
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| Kevin Ricks 2006-02-24, 1:21 am |
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"sparky" <ooosparky@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1140753307.126654.146870@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
>I have been having problems with electrical service. When I turn on
> lights or use power from a outlet lights dim. I have been told that I
> may have bad neutral on my end by the power company. I have checked the
> panel box and I have 120v 240v when there is no load on but when
> something is turned on it changes.
Changes to what?
I need to know how to check to see
> if neutral is bad. Can't aford electrician for about a week.
You need to make sure all of the set screws for the neutral (white wires)
are tight. You MUST turn off the main power before doing this!
I would check everything while you are at it. All hots & grounds. Again turn
off the main breaker before doing this.
The main service lugs need to be checked also but if your main breaker is
inside the same box with your other breakers then don't attempt to tighten
these yourself as you won't be able to shut the power off on these without
pulling the meter.
If you have newer home where the main breaker is on the meter base outside
and the main panel is somewhere else then you can check the main lugs in
your breaker panel after turning the main off.
If that does not fix the problem then you must trace it down somewhere else
in the circuit(s). Could be a loose wirenut or bad connection or bad outlet
etc, anywhere in the affected circuit(s). You would have to open up each
outlet box, light fixture box until you find the problem.
Kevin
> Thank You for help
>
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| If this "dimming" happens at all or many outlets and light locations in your
house, it is most likely a bad neutral connection at one of the "main"
locations of your service. First have the electric utility check their
connections outside, if they are good, you need to check the connections in
your service panel. You're looking for loose or corroded connections
"sparky" <ooosparky@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1140753307.126654.146870@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
>I have been having problems with electrical service. When I turn on
> lights or use power from a outlet lights dim. I have been told that I
> may have bad neutral on my end by the power company. I have checked the
> panel box and I have 120v 240v when there is no load on but when
> something is turned on it changes. I need to know how to check to see
> if neutral is bad. Can't aford electrician for about a week.
>
> Thank You for help
>
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| hallerb@aol.com 2006-02-24, 9:21 am |
| What kinda lamp is the outside one that dims?
some dim a lot normally like shop fluroscents...
other like ones with ballasts and fancy ones can begin dimmeing as they
age.
turn power off to outside light and check voltage there, with a VOM and
see how much it changes
might just be a bad lamp or fixture outside!
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| Rich256 2006-02-24, 12:21 pm |
| sparky wrote:
> I have been having problems with electrical service. When I turn on
> lights or use power from a outlet lights dim. I have been told that I
> may have bad neutral on my end by the power company. I have checked the
> panel box and I have 120v 240v when there is no load on but when
> something is turned on it changes. I need to know how to check to see
> if neutral is bad. Can't aford electrician for about a week.
>
> Thank You for help
>
What "changes" did you get at the panel box?
A bad neutral on the power line outside the house will usually result in
some lights dimming and others getting brighter. I had that. Measuring
at the input to the house I sometimes measured 130 volts on one line and
110 on the other. The ground stake was being used as a return. The
power company verified it. They then found a defective piece of heavy
duty aluminum in the area distribution.
If only one circuit dims it could be a poor connection somewhere in that
line, either power or return.
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| Chris Lewis 2006-02-24, 5:21 pm |
| According to RBM <rbm2(remove this)@optonline.net>:
> If this "dimming" happens at all or many outlets and light locations in your
> house, it is most likely a bad neutral connection at one of the "main"
> locations of your service. First have the electric utility check their
> connections outside, if they are good, you need to check the connections in
> your service panel. You're looking for loose or corroded connections
The classic and definitive sign of a loose neutral is when some lights
dim, and some brighten when you pull a big 120V load.
That of course only happens if you have lights visible on both sides
of the main.
Absent brightening, it's probably a loose hot.
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.
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| PipeDown 2006-02-24, 5:21 pm |
|
"Chris Lewis" <clewis@nortelnetworks.com> wrote in message
news:11vuqbdkga1s616@corp.supernews.com...
> According to RBM <rbm2(remove this)@optonline.net>:
>
>
> The classic and definitive sign of a loose neutral is when some lights
> dim, and some brighten when you pull a big 120V load.
>
> That of course only happens if you have lights visible on both sides
> of the main.
>
> Absent brightening, it's probably a loose hot.
> --
> Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
> It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.
If you can run a 240V load like a dryer or range and see no effect on the
120V lighting, that also supports a bad neutral connection theory. If it
(the bad connection) is not at the pole (or underground) or at the service
entrance splice, then it might be behind the meter where the SE conductor
attaches inside the panel. You need to break the seal and pull the meter to
inspect these terminations on most panels (The first connections are always
concealed so you can't jump past the meter and steal power).
The power company should go that far for you (afterall it's their seal).
Tell them you think there may be a dangerous situation and they will be
there same day as long as they are not handling other weather related
emergencies. Remember, you already pay them.
Is your service underground or overhead? Is your panel combined with the
meter or is it seperate? Do you know the brand of the panel, it should be
marked on the breakers. Have you visually inspected the interior of the
panel especially above and around the main breaker where the SE conductors
attach?
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| sparky 2006-02-26, 3:29 pm |
| Sorry I have been away from home. Thank you for every boby that
helped the power company has came back out again with a different
service man and had found problems on their end this time and has fixed
the problem. It was the neural on power co. lines.
Thanks Again
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| sparky 2006-02-26, 3:29 pm |
| Sorry I have been away from home. Thank you for every boby that
helped the power company has came back out again with a different
service man and had found problems on their end this time and has fixed
the problem. It was the neural on power co. lines.
Thanks Again
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