DIYbanter - View Single Post - Strange electric situation

Doug Miller

In article , wrote:

Ok, first off - the problem is with the original house wiring, not
with what I did so "starting over" is not really an option. Like I
said, what I installed works perfectly, it's the old wiring that is
confusing. Second - I am testing the lights by flipping breakers and
seeing if the lights get switched off, not using a meter - what
benefit might using a meter gain me?

Nothing. The reason the question was asked, though, is that if you had
been using a digital meter, you might have been reading induced voltages at
very low current ("phantom" voltages), and misled into thinking that the
circuit was on when it really wasn't.

Third - I will test the output
of the breakers to see if one is perhaps bad, maybe that is the
problem. I did shut off all 240V breakers, but that's really only the
AirCond system as all my other appliances are gas - but still no
luck! Also, the house is only 10 years old, and there is NO other
subpanel (I'm 99.9% sure of it). Could it be that two circuits are
tied together - improperly - feeding these lights, such that killing
power to only one at a time doesn't cause the lights to turn off?

Yes, that's possible, maybe even likely.

Other suggestions?

Physically trace the wiring from the lights back to the breaker panel.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.