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dpb

On 11/03/2015 2:19 PM, wrote:
On Tue, 03 Nov 2015 09:59:20 -0600, wrote:

Yeah, see my followup that apparently crossed in the ether...but it's
got to be in the path from the box back to the feed, not in front as all
circuits inside the barn are affected. Hence it almost has to be that
connection I didn't want to have to get up to (but I do have a manlift
so it's not _that_ hard to get up there; it's just close to the feed and
there's no isolation w/o cutting off the house, too, which I was hoping
not to have to do again.

Not sure why had the brain cramp that neutral; I suppose because I
just wasn't thinking of the support cable also serving as the neutral
conductor.

I have a similar setup. There is a main disconnect on the meter pole,
and from that panel, there are three power lines.

*One to the house, (underground)
*One to the barn, and some sheds. (overhead triplex)
*One to the garage and some sheds nearby. (overhead triplex)

Quite similar with a total of five here; I left of a couple of others to
the other group of sheds and the machine shed (this is a operating
farmstead, not just a few acres outside town).

Some years ago, my garage power went bonkers. It began when I could not
run a Skil saw. It turned real slow or just hummed. While several
lightbulbs burned out as well as my destroying a radio and my cordless
drill charger. A meter indicated my lighting circuit was getting 240V as
well as the radio and charger outlets. Yet, the outlet where I plugged
in the Skil saw was only getting (under 120V), which varied by turning
on other loads. Yet, the 240V well pump is connected to the garage, and
it worked fine.
....[part of story elided for brevity]...
Since I'm not comfortable going up on the poles, I called an
electrician. He checked everything on the meter pole and said that was
OK. Then he went to the garage pole and found the neutral connection was
loose and corroded. He replaced that connection and I asked him to check
the other two wires too. (they were fine).

Problem solved!!!!

This has to be one of the two connections, yes. Altho had no neutral in
the well house years ago when we moved back after Dad passed away;
turned out it was an actual break on the top of the last pole before the
feed went underground in the neutral pigtail going down; apparently wind
fatigue had finally done it in; probably had had a knick from the day it
was installed. That run probably dated from the initial REA run in 1948.

I had the manlift by then so didn't have to actually climb the
pole...most convenient!

By the way, you said your ground wires goes to the weatherhead. That's
not right. Your ground rod should have a #6 bare wire that goes from the
rod, directly into the panel. You normally just drill a 1/4" hole in the
wall, and run that wire indoors to the panel. Then caulk around that
wire where it goes thru the wall, to prevent water from coming in.

It's not convenient with the layout to do that; Dad simply routed it up
under the eaves and down the weatherhead instead of thru the wall and
inside. The route is ok...

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