Need help with short in circuit

I have a outdoor light pole that has recently been blowing the circuit breaker when turned on.

I replaced the light socket in the pole and it still does it.

I isolated the wires that go out to the pole from inside and hooked a OHM meter up to the wires.

I have continuity between the black wire and the bare copper wire.

Between the White and copper and black and white I have no continuity.

I pulled the bulb out of the socket and still have a connection between the black and the copper.

Is this right or is it telling me I have a short some where in that wire from the house to the pole.

I would like to know before I dig that wire up and replace it, that's going to be a big job.

Any other thoughts of what it could be would also be helpful.

Thanks,

Reply to
shadowmica
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yeah theres a short.

does your pole light have a light sensor? for auot off on in darkness?

just disconnect all wires in pole light, the black and white ones, and check resistance again.

if its still shorted get out your shovel:(

hopefully the socket is bad.

Reply to
hallerb

Hmmm, White is neutral which is tied to ground(copper). But it maybe thru GFCI.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

Sounds like you have a short between the black and copper wire. You can cheat by twisting the copper and black wires together at each end, then using that twisted pair and the white wire for 110V. the only problem is now you don't have a ground going out to the light pole. One way to get around that is to put a GFI switch/outlet combo where the switch is, or perhaps a GFI breaker for the whole circuit.

Reply to
Mikepier

i would be concerned with why the wire shorted, many pole light wiring is too shallow not buried properly.

if its shallow and got damaged somehow it could be a shock hazard and would likely trip a GFCI

Reply to
hallerb

Ouch, thats not the only problem. Now the white wire would be hot. I feel sorry for the next guy to work on that lamp.

Reply to
dnoyeB

How would the white wire be hot? The OP said he has an open between the white/hot and the white/copper.

Reply to
Mikepier

Not having a ground is no big deal. Except for the rare case the OP has. Had there been no ground the light would work fine. Just don't touch the pole as it would likely kill you one wet morning.

Not having a ground stops many nuisance trips.

Those GFCIs are also over rated.

Reply to
metspitzer

*You should not have continuity between the black and bare. That seems to be the short. The difficult part is locating it in the ground. A good place to start is at the base of the pole.
*Good!

*You could try removing the entire fixture and see what happens.
Reply to
John Grabowski

Update,

I pulled out the sensor the bulb was screwed into and checked the wires again.

Open between all, thought it was fixed.

Hooked circuit back up to switch in house and turned on.

Immediately blew breaker.

With the breaker off and the wires to the switch still connected to pole,(in Junction box in cellar), I tested circuit again and black to copper was open but white to copper now had a reading back up the circuit to the switch.

I took a extension cord and put the wires from the pole in it and plugged it in and the light came on and worked fine.

I must also mention that the switch for this thing gets it's power from a row of 4 switches near my front door.

There are 4 switches the pole one being the last in line.

They are wired as follows,

The switches all have the black wire to them and the bare copper then in the switch box the white wires are all twisted together, none of the white goes to the switches.

As far as I can tell, even though it seems unlikely is the wires from the pole switch to the cellar jct box must be shorted.

Note also I can turn the pole switch on and off as long as it is disconnected from the pole light wires in the JCT box in the cellar with no problem.

Reply to
shadowmica

*That may be normal as the white and bare are bonded in your main panel.

"As far as I can tell, even though it seems unlikely is the wires from the pole switch to the cellar jct box must be shorted."

*Remove all of the switches from the box, but do not disconnect the wires. Turn on the circuit and see what happens. I've seen it happen a couple of times over the years where a short between the bare and a switch contact happens. I don't know why, but I surmise that they were in close proximity from the original installation and over time vibration and building movement caused them to make contact. The front door location is subject to a lot of vibration from the door opening and closing.
*That is contrary to your above statement (In quotes). You need to pin it down. Does the feed for the circuit come into the junction box or are those wires just a continuation from the four gang switch box?
Reply to
John Grabowski

you might have problems measuring lighted switch handles. you need to feed from a gfci or arc fault breaker your test feeds for safety. get a helper who knows how to resuscitate you.

Reply to
buffalobill

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