I have one of these Kill A Watt meters.

In the socket it is showing 120volts
I put a load on it, that is about 5 amps. I would not think the volts
should drop to 118?

Does this make sense?

"hombrewdude" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have one of these Kill A Watt meters.

In the socket it is showing 120volts
I put a load on it, that is about 5 amps. I would not think the volts
should drop to 118?

Does this make sense?

It is called voltage drop. Your cable has resistance, so it uses up some of
the energy.

Toller wrote:
"hombrewdude" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have one of these Kill A Watt meters.

In the socket it is showing 120volts
I put a load on it, that is about 5 amps. I would not think the volts
should drop to 118?

Does this make sense?

It is called voltage drop. Your cable has resistance, so it uses up some of
the energy.




The reason why I bothered to check...

We are having storms high wind in my area now.
The lights flickered like the power was off.
But this one particular circuit was actually off (my fish tank)

Could I have had a voltage drop in my entire house, then compounded with
the fish tank draw cause it to go out?

"homebrewdude" wrote in message
news
Toller wrote:
"hombrewdude" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have one of these Kill A Watt meters.

In the socket it is showing 120volts
I put a load on it, that is about 5 amps. I would not think the volts
should drop to 118?

Does this make sense?

It is called voltage drop. Your cable has resistance, so it uses up some
of the energy.


The reason why I bothered to check...

We are having storms high wind in my area now.
The lights flickered like the power was off.
But this one particular circuit was actually off (my fish tank)

Could I have had a voltage drop in my entire house, then compounded with
the fish tank draw cause it to go out?

Most unlikely. The voltage drop is pretty constant, unless you have a large
motor go on and it spikes. But it can't trip a circuit breaker or damage a
circuit. (it can damage a motor, but that's another story.) More likely
you had some voltage transients hit you with the storm. They could easily
trip a GFCI or less likely a circuit breaker. I would look around for GFCIs
that have to be reset.

hombrewdude wrote:
I have one of these Kill A Watt meters.

In the socket it is showing 120volts
I put a load on it, that is about 5 amps. I would not think the volts
should drop to 118?

Does this make sense?


is this a very long run?

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

Not really..

I ran 20 amp service about 50 feet



Nate Nagel wrote:
hombrewdude wrote:
I have one of these Kill A Watt meters.

In the socket it is showing 120volts
I put a load on it, that is about 5 amps. I would not think the volts
should drop to 118?

Does this make sense?


is this a very long run?

nate

homebrewdude wrote:
....[top posting repaired]... Nate Nagel wrote:
hombrewdude wrote:
I have one of these Kill A Watt meters.

In the socket it is showing 120volts
I put a load on it, that is about 5 amps. I would not think the volts
should drop to 118?

Does this make sense?


is this a very long run?


Not really..

I ran 20 amp service about 50 feet

What size wire?

--

12 gage



dpb wrote:
homebrewdude wrote:
...[top posting repaired]... Nate Nagel wrote:
hombrewdude wrote:
I have one of these Kill A Watt meters.

In the socket it is showing 120volts
I put a load on it, that is about 5 amps. I would not think the volts
should drop to 118?

Does this make sense?


is this a very long run?


Not really..

I ran 20 amp service about 50 feet

What size wire?

--

I really messed that up...

I ran 20 amp on another project.

My basement and garage were on the same breaker.
I ran wire to isolate the basement from the garage.
Now they are on their own 15 breaker.

The basement service with the fish tank is probably pulling 10 amp at
full load.
Fish tank, lights and TV



homebrewdude wrote:
12 gage



dpb wrote:
homebrewdude wrote:
...[top posting repaired]... Nate Nagel wrote:
hombrewdude wrote:
I have one of these Kill A Watt meters.

In the socket it is showing 120volts
I put a load on it, that is about 5 amps. I would not think the volts
should drop to 118?

Does this make sense?


is this a very long run?


Not really..

I ran 20 amp service about 50 feet

What size wire?

--