DIYbanter - View Single Post - Excessive voltage drop at outlet cause induction cooktop to not work

Todesco

On 1/23/2021 9:41 PM, wrote:
On Sun, 24 Jan 2021 01:00:59 +0000, jay
wrote:

I have an outlet with excessive voltage drop when I plug in an induction cooktop (1000 watt). The outlet measures 120 but the voltage drops to 105 when the cooktop is plugged in. The cooktop stops working because of the low voltage. This does not occur in other outlets.

You have a bad connection somewhere between there and the panel. I
would start with the receptacle right there and then try to trace it
back one at a time until you find the bad one. If they are back
stabbed, it is far from unusual. You may see signs of overheating. You
are creating about 125 watts worth of heat in that bad connection.

One place you might want to check is the push-in type outlets. I have a
15 amp circuit in the livingroom. At Christmas I used to have a tree
with several hundred C7 incandescent lights. Some were 7 watts and
others were 4 or 5. I was getting a huge voltage drop. The tree lights
were about 5 outlets from the line to the breaker. All used push-in
connectors on the outlets. I found the outlets before the Christmas
tree were warm to the touch. After using wire nuts and the screws
connections on the outlets, the voltage drop verturally dissappeared.
All a mute point now as the C7 lamps have all been replaced by LED C7s.