On Sat, 03 Apr 2010 11:21:15 -0600, Tony Hwang
wrote:

wrote:
On Sat, 03 Apr 2010 09:52:55 -0800, David Nebenzahl
wrote:

On 4/3/2010 5:45 AM spake thus:

On Sat, 03 Apr 2010 00:17:08 -0800, David Nebenzahl
wrote:

On 4/2/2010 10:50 PM Evan spake thus:

Most cheap digital multimeters are intended to be used on small
electronic circuits and circuit boards and not for use on testing long
wiring runs like you would see in houses (feet compared to less than
an inch/es on a circuit board)...

Then explain why my cheap DMM gave *perfectly accurate readings* on
my long wiring runs. I'm listening.

It all depends on how the wires are terminated. If one is solidly
grounded and the other has no connection at all you have an antenna
and a high impedance meter will register voltage. The amount of
voltage will depend on how well the wire gets coupled to the fields
around the house.
Cheap really has nothing to do with it. Our $300 Fluke meters had the
same problem. Guys who were used to the Tripplets we had called them
"random number generators".

Well, OK, but I cannot believe that a DMM is going to pick up a false
reading of *59 volts*. 59 millivolts, sure, but the OP insists that his
meter is telling him there's 59 volts between each of hot& neutral and
ground. This cannot be due to stray induced voltage.

Yes, it can. Let's say there is a ground wire connected at the outlet
but disconnected at the other end of a long piece of romex. There is
a small amount of capacitance between that disconnected ground and hot
as well a the same amount of capacitance between that ground and
neutral. That would effectively create a voltage divider and show 50%
of the voltage on the ground wire.
Hi,
Proving whether it is real voltage is simpe, just hook up a light bulb.
If it lights up it is real voltage if not, it is nothing.
If it doesn't light up visibly, but the voltage is still there (ANY
voltage) it's still a problem. If the voltage is ZERO, it most likely
is not a problem - just inductive or capacitive coupling.