Re: [IRCA] Off topic-electrical problem

[Charles A & Leonor L Taylor <calltaylor@xxxxxxx>]

Patrick Martin wrote:

>I know this is not the place to post this, but I need help. Are there
>any electricians  on the list? I noticed something odd tonight. The
>light on my circuit surge protector was blinking. How long is has been
>doing that I don't know. My thought was the protector was bad, so I off
>I went to buy another one. I plugged that one in and no green light came
>on, just the red light. I thought I better check out the oulet. The
>outlet is normal with to outlets. The ground in the center is supposed
>to be neutral, correct? In otherwords if you take a VOM and go from one
>side to the ground, you should get zero volts. Well, I get voltage going
>from ground to one side. The other side I don't. Tomorrow I will call an
>electrian. No circuit breakers have blown or anything, but something is
>wrong. Any ideas?  Any help would be much appreciated.  Thanks.
>  
>

Patrick,

Yes! And you can possibly fix it. You probably have something you can 
fix yourself. You could have a partially open neutral wire or broken 
one. This can be fixed by undoing the outlets and looking at all the 
wires and tightening the screw connections. Trip the circuit breaker off 
course FIRST, or you could be joining Robert in the great Radio World in 
the sky.

You should get zero volts from the wider slot to ground. Upon opening 
the outlet, the wire connecting to that slot slot should be white. Other 
side, black = 115-120V to ground. Then the round slot on the outlet 
connects to green, which is GROUNDING wire. Should be 0V to 
white/neutral. If not, you have problems.

The white wire is GROUND. The green wire is GROUNDING. White wire 
carries current back from the appliance connected to the black 
wire/phase. When conditions are normal, green/grounding wire carries no 
current. In the event of a black/phase wire touching inside of outlet 
box, phase wire shorts to green wire and the circuit breaker trips. 
However, if neutral wire opens no path back to power line exists and 
circuit conditions get unbalanced. If it shorts to outlet box and all 
other conditions are normal, then nothing should happen without the 
ground-fault detector. White wire joins green wire at the circuit breaker.

White wire carries return current.

Green wire carries no current except under abnormal conditions. It is 
there for safety.

Black wire carrier 115-120 V to the outlet. "Hot" wire.

With the circuit breaker tripped for sure, you can look at the suspected 
outlet with a multimeter on AC 200V range (or whatever). If properly 
deenergized, you should see 0 volts between all prongs.

Next you can run a long wire to your multimeter and look for 0 ohms (or 
very low ohms) between each slot and the corresponding slot on outlets 
on that same circuit coming from the circuit breaker. Anything other 
points to that wire as being open which looks to be your case.

Or not exactly open or 0 ohms, but something in between. That points to 
a wire having a loose connection inside the wire run or at the outlet. 
The latter is most likely and most common.

If you do find one, most cases can be fixed by just tightening the 
screw(s) at the outlet. Or reattaching the broken wire which now touches 
the outlet's metal case. (If a plastic case, then at least a loose wire 
won't burn up anything

In any case, chances you can fix the problem right now and save the 
extra charges devolving from calling in a licensed electrician after 
hours/emergency.

But still need the electrician to come within a reasonable time frame 
and double check your work and charge you big buck$. Don't take chances 
and go the Donnie Erickson route. You WILL smell bad and you will NOT 
hear any more 1 kW Filipinos. Your insurance won't be paid to anyone. 
Your mobile home will have to taken out and disposed. And no more DX 
Monitor reports from you. Bad all around. Since you have no widow, no 
way we can console her with beers and in other ways. Double bad thing!

Let us know!

Charles


>73s,
>
>Patrick
>
>Patrick Martin
>Seaside  OR
>KAVT Reception Manager
>
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-- 
         
          ------
Charles A & Leonor L Taylor
Greenville, North Carolina


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