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Question about possible 'floating neutral'
The problem is more likely in the house wiring itself. You said there were
other switches in the box, suggesting that there is possibly more than one circuit in the box. If there is a circuit connected to the opposite leg of the 220, and if the neutral wires are tied together for both these circuits in the box (they should not be, but I found some pretty ugly wiring errors in my old house), then a weak connection for one of the neutral wires back in the circuit panel would let that neutral float to some extent. I imagine the electrician will inspect the inside of the box that is involved and trace all the wires in that box--he should, at any rate. "Dolchas" wrote in message om... Greetings all! I recently posted a question about a problem I encountered in which a bulb was burning suspiciously brightly for a while, and then when it blew out, it seemed to blow out not only its own switch, but also the two other light switches that shared that box. The circuit breaker for this area was not tripped, and my question sought advice on how next to proceed. Someone mentioned that I could have a 'floating neutral.' I call our electric company right away, but could not get home from work in time to meet with the technician who came out to the house. I PRESUME the dispatcher gave the technician an accurate account of the problem, but of course this may not be the case. The technician tested the voltage where it comes into out house, and (in a note he left, and a phone message) declared it to be fine (he left a box to monitor it further). My question is: If the voltage was reading "fine" where the power enters the house, does this mean we do not have a floating neutral? Or does it sound like this guy didn't really test for a floating neutral (since, as I said, we didn't get a chance to directly describe the problem for him)? Or is it the case that the voltage may read fine where the power enters the house, but perhaps the floating neutal problem is an 'inside the house' problem? We will have an electrician come out on Monday, but I'd like to know as much as possible about this scenario before then. Thanks! Chuck |
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Question about possible 'floating neutral'
"Dolchas" wrote in message om... Greetings all! I recently posted a question about a problem I encountered in which a bulb was burning suspiciously brightly for a while, and then when it blew out, it seemed to blow out not only its own switch, but also the two other light switches that shared that box. The circuit breaker for this area was not tripped, and my question sought advice on how next to proceed. Someone mentioned that I could have a 'floating neutral.' I call our electric company right away, but could not get home from work in time to meet with the technician who came out to the house. I PRESUME the dispatcher gave the technician an accurate account of the problem, but of course this may not be the case. The technician tested the voltage where it comes into out house, and (in a note he left, and a phone message) declared it to be fine (he left a box to monitor it further). My question is: If the voltage was reading "fine" where the power enters the house, does this mean we do not have a floating neutral? Or does it sound like this guy didn't really test for a floating neutral (since, as I said, we didn't get a chance to directly describe the problem for him)? Or is it the case that the voltage may read fine where the power enters the house, but perhaps the floating neutal problem is an 'inside the house' problem? We will have an electrician come out on Monday, but I'd like to know as much as possible about this scenario before then. Thanks! Chuck The term "floating neutral" can have different meanings depending on who you're talking to. Suffice to say, that in your case, what is being referred to is that there is a _loose_or bad neutral connection somewhere in your electric system. Understand that a true neutral does _not_ exist in 2 wire circuits (single cables with black, white and bare wires). So.....the most likely places to have a loose or bad neutral connection is in the service equipment or in a true multi-wire circuit (for residential wiring, usually a single cable with black, red, white, and bare wires). There can be a loose or bad neutral connection in the meter housing or at the neutral connection in the main panel. Once those connections are checked (best to de-energize the entire panel first), start looking in the main panel for cables that contain black, red, white, and bare wires (these are true multi-wire circuits)......if you have any multi-wire circuits, first check for a loose or bad connection where the white wire is connected to the busbar.......then check the neutral connections on that multi-wire circuit. |
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