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Hot Ground

"a12vman" wrote in news:0uudnWrq1vwsCVPUnZ2dnUVZ_g- snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

Please tell me the name of your electrician so I will not hire him/her by accident.

Reply to
Han
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I have an issue with my grounding system in my home.

I had the cable company out last week to troubleshoot a Box that wouldn't work. The Cable Guy told me I had a ground issue, the cable wire sparked when he Disconnected it from the box then re-connected it.

I have a grounding rod outside my house, just below the Meter. The Phone, Cable, and Breaker Box are all connected to it. I confirmed that there was in fact 120v showing on my multimeter at the Grounding Rod.

I also noticed that the concrete floor in the basement was warm near the vicintiy of the grounding rod.

I disconnected the Phone & Cable wires from the grounding Rod. Still showing 120v on my multimeter.

I went inside the house and turned off the 200A Main Breaker. Checked the grounding rod and it is still showing 120v on my multimeter. Even better, the meter is still spinning even though I turned off the main breaker.

Any suggestions on what to do? Should I my electric co? I want to get this taken care of.

Thx in Advance,

-a12vman

Reply to
a12vman

how did you take the meter reading at the ground rod? One probe you touched to the rod, but where did you touch the other probe?

Reply to
RBM

120 volts between the ground and what? It is supposed to be 120 volts between hot and ground.
Reply to
EXT

Reply to
a12vman

It;s going to be next to impossible to diagnose this over the internet, especially given the complete lack of details. Given that the electric meter spins with the main breaker open, and if you're indeed not a troll, then I would call the electric company as a first step.

Reply to
trader4

Reply to
RBM

OP using a digital meter? you can get all sorts of flakey readings from digital meters.

try lighting a light bulb.......

ground loops can generate voltage between grounds.

I would start by calling power company, how old is the bservice entrance?

Reply to
bob haller

*Yeah that happens. A few thoughts come to mind.

1) The cable wire is coming in contact with a live wire somewhere.

2) You have a loose or separated neutral conductor somewhere such as your main panel, the electric meter, your service point of attachment at the top of the house or at the pole. 3) One of your neighbors has a loose or separated neutral conductor somewhere such as their main panel, the electric meter, their service point of attachment at the top of the house or at the pole.

The fact that the meter still spins with the power off is not much help. Sometimes they do that. What I would do is put an ammeter around the main grounding conductor to see if there is any current flowing. However in your situation I suggest that your first step is to call the power company and have them take a look.

Do you also have a water pipe ground connection at the water meter location? I would check the current flow on that too.

How close is your house to the power company's transformer?

Reply to
John Grabowski

You have an open neutral situation. (on the feed side)

Reply to
Steve Barker

I agree. The OP should call the utility company. However, if the fault turns out to be on his side of the demarc, they may shut off all of his power until he can get it rectified.

However, chances are high that it's a utility problem and they will likely fix it promptly at no charge.

Reply to
Malcolm Hoar

On Sun, 29 Mar 2009 00:42:44 GMT, against all advice, something compelled snipped-for-privacy@malch.com (Malcolm Hoar), to say:

If this were my situation, I'd be OK with that. I'd have it fixed, and then I'd try to find out who set it up like that, and give him the bill for the repair.

Steve "Today on Judge Judy" Daniels

Reply to
Steve Daniels

I can't figure out how a meter would spin with the main breaker open. If the neutral current was being measured I could see a possibility, but far as I know utility meters don't. Meters don't even have to connect to the neutral.

Other that that, I agree with what about everyone has said, including it could be an open neutral for the OP, or with a water pipe ground an open neutral at another house. Also that it could be a troll.

Reply to
bud--

Thanks for all the responses! Let me try to answer all of the questions that came in...

I measured the 120v AC on an analog multimeter. This was measured between the disconnected cable box ground wire and the connector on the cable box(connects to the ground on the splitter). I know the voltage isn't coming from the cable side since there is no current present after I disconnect the groundwire.

Most people on my street aren't grounding to their water pipes since we use wells that have black plastic pipe coming into the house.

Reply to
a12vman

Neighbor has a hidden tap; after the meter and before the breaker.

Reply to
HeyBub

eve

Again, this is about as clear as mud. I've yet to see a cable box with a "ground wire". You probably mean you're measuring between the cable box coax connector and the metal of the the connector on the end of the coax cable, but who knows. Given weird things are going on, you sure wouldn't be the first person who had some crazy wiring scheme going on.

Again, totally unclear what exactly this means and how you are measuring it.

Call the electric company before something bad happens to someone.

While you may have other problems causing the situation, the one thing that does seem certain is that there is a ground problem here. The AC system ground and the cable ground should be tied together near the service entrance. And if they are, then you couldn't be getting 120V between the cable coax ground and the AC ground.

Reply to
trader4

if 120 is coming from the cable line thats sa serious hazard, call cable company immediately its their job to find isolate and fix

Reply to
bob haller

If that is actually what is happening I would disconnect cable at service entrance then see if the problem goes away. WEAR INSULATED GLOVES. If it does follow Bob's advice above.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

Here is a shot of the cable box with the Ground, Time Warner uses this box for every house on my street. I have to cable lines coming in, both are attached to the grounding rod in the attached photo.

http://98.30.111.32/pub/ground.jpg

Again, this is about as clear as mud. I've yet to see a cable box with a "ground wire". You probably mean you're measuring between the cable box coax connector and the metal of the the connector on the end of the coax cable, but who knows. Given weird things are going on, you sure wouldn't be the first person who had some crazy wiring scheme going on.

Again, totally unclear what exactly this means and how you are measuring it.

Call the electric company before something bad happens to someone.

While you may have other problems causing the situation, the one thing that does seem certain is that there is a ground problem here. The AC system ground and the cable ground should be tied together near the service entrance. And if they are, then you couldn't be getting 120V between the cable coax ground and the AC ground.

Reply to
a12vman

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