Joseph Meehan wrote:

jlatenight wrote:

My wife SWEARS that her hair dryer gets hotter when she uses it at
other people's houses. I seem to think that our George Forman grill
doesn't get as hot as I've seen in others' houses. Is this a
perception thing, or is there something with the power in our house
that would cause appliaces with heating elements to not get as hot as
other places? Is it something with the ol' W = V x A equasion? Could
there not be enough Amps to create enough Wattage to properly power
these types of devices that require a lot of Wattage?? Help!! Thanks
so much to all who respond!!


It certainly is possible.

It is easy to check. Any good volt meter will tell you what voltage you
have. I suggest measuring at the same outlet that the hair dryer and or
grill are plugged into. Measure with out anything else on and with the
dryer or grill on. You should be seeing about 120V with the devices off and
something a little less with it on. I am going to let someone else suggest
how much of a drop is acceptable for that kind of load.

If it is below 120V without a load, then you may have a wiring problem
in your home or a supply problem. If it is within your home it could be
dangerous. Maybe a floating neutral. It would be wise to have it checked.

If the voltage drop is related to the use of the equipment and is
greater that it should be, then it is almost certainly in your home and it
is dangerous, including possible bad connections, aluminum wiring issues.




And, heed Joseph's words regarding using a "good" voltmeter. I still
prefer to trust my 40 year old Simpson 260 analog VOM when I want
correct RMS ac voltage measurements.

The $9.95 digital VOMs (Sometimes even as cheep as $4.95 at Harbor
Freight.) will give you a reading, but the indicated voltage can be
thrown off a fair amount if there is a bit of spikey noise on the ac
line you're measuring. If you're hunting for a few volts of line voltage
difference between your home and another location, try and make sure the
meter is not going to fool you.

Like with so many other things, you sometimes get what you pay for, but
almost never do you get more than you pay for.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"Truth exists; only falsehood has to be invented."