The Daring Dufas wrote:
E Z Peaces wrote:
Mark wrote:
On Nov 15, 7:43 pm, E Z Peaces wrote:
Smitty Two wrote:


- Show quoted text -

use an old fashioned voltmeter like a Simpson 260 to make your
measurements. The new digital meters are so sensitve they can pick up
and register a voltage just because two wires are near each other even
though they are not actually connected. This can give a beginner
confusing readings. Or use a small 120V light bulb as a tester.
Mark


Now that I think about it, I agree with you that the 43 volts probably
comes from capacitive coupling between the neutral conductor to which
apparently the ground is (wrongly) bonded and the hot of that other
cable. If that other circuit gets its power from the other phase and
the neutral isn't continuous to the neutral bus and that cable is a
lot longer than the refrigerator cable, 43 volts sounds reasonable.

I agree that an old fashioned VOM can be handy in a case like this.
At the 250VAC range, mine has the same 1.25 megohms as a Simpson 260.
In this case I would expect a reading of about 5V if the voltage is
coming from capacitive coupling.

With proper wiring, resistance between N and G should be 10 million
times smaller than a Simpson 260. I don't see how any meter could
find voltage between them unless one is not wired properly back to the
breaker box.

Old school usually works best in these situations. I sold
a lot of these back in the early 1970's:

http://www.mytoolstore.com/klein/69115.html

TDD

I would like to see a DMM with a light on a momentary switch to check a
circuit under a small load, like a solenoid tester. The old advantages,
price and durability, aren't so big these days as they were in 1913.

Solenoid testers have shortcomings. They show only approximate voltages
and can produce spikes in lines. Electricians used them to see if
circuits are energized, but they aren't foolproof. A hazardous voltage
could be below the tester's threshold. A voltage may be above the
threshold, but if it's coming through a high impedance, the load of the
tester may pull it below the threshold.