Why 60 volt on a 240 volt circuit?

[Trent]

Wiring 220 circuit in my garage I have one circuit with 4 outlets that only registers 60 volts. The others I wired register 240. Ideas why?

Thanks.

Trent

[Jim]

A reason that comes to mind is that the miscreant circuit has the outlets wired in series. They should be wired in parallel.

Jim

[Doug Miller]

First idea that comes to mind is that the circuit is not powered on, and you're using a digital meter -- and measuring a microampere current that's induced in the line by current in an adjacent circuit. Connect a load of some sort to the circuit, and see what happens to the voltage then. I'm betting it drops to zero.

[Trent]

When I check my other outlets, on another circuit, they read 240 with a digital meter. It is just these 4 that register 60 on each one.

Previous post said they may be wired in series, how would that happen?

[Swingman]

Is that circuit on a separate breaker from the other 220 receptacles?

[Puckdropper]

Trent wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Turn off the power and take the outlets out of the box. Examine the wiring and make a note of how its wired. The only way I can think to have the outlets wired in series would require something to be plugged in to each one to complete the circuit. (I.E. When one bulb goes, all the lights go out.)

Should the outlets successfully been wired in series, I'd love to find out how that was accomplished! It's almost planned stupidity.

Puckdropper

[Mike Marlow]

Have you taken the circuit apart and looked at your wiring yet?

[steve robinson]

Check your wiring in the outlet are correct and tight , make sure you havent wired anythin in series within the circuit ,

Check for any possible earth leakage running to ground

[B A R R Y]

Does your meter "auto range"? You might be reading a very tiny, as in microvolts, induced voltage.

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[dicko]

An induced voltage doesnt have to be tiny. 60V is well within range of an induced voltage on an open wire with a high impedence meter.

You have an open wire somewhere up line from where you're measuring, as others have said.

Take a lamp and plug it into one of the dead outlets, turn it on and the voltage reading should drop to zero.

-dickm

[mac davis]

Ok.. I know I'm not an electrician, but are their 220/240v lamps?

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[Han]

mac davis wrote in news: [e-mail]:

That's not the point. The point is that supplying a continuity with a relatively low resistance should drop the voltage to zero. That would eliminate the "induced voltage that you saw. If you wired things somehow in series, the bulb would (on that 60 V) probably glow only faintly if at all.

If you put a lightbulb that is designed for 110V in a 220V circuit I assume it will burn, maybe brightly for only a short period of time. I think R is constant R=I/V, so maybe I will be half if V is twice, maybe not.

In Europe almost all bulbs will be 220/240V. I know that even with a transformer, our Dutch 220V sewing machine would not run on 110V. I can't check it anymore, since someone stole it.

[steve robinson]

American 220/240 volt is twin phase (two hot wires) in the EU its single phase (0ne hot wire) thats why the equipment is not interchangeable

In the UK both the Earth and neutral go to ground (neutral at the substation , earth eithr at the sub or copper point in the ground )

Our 110 Volt systems are used only on construction sites from a centre tpped transformer so you only get a 55 volt shock if you ground yourself out

[Han]

"steve robinson" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I was so naive as to think that inputting 110 V to a transformer with a220V out put would be able to power a sewing machine. It didn't. Why, I don't know - not enough amps to go through the transformer? 50 vs 60 Hz? But spouse got a made for (or in) US sewing machine and did make nice quilts and other things .

[Ken]

A series circuit would produce 120 volts from the leg to ground. To check for a true reading of 240 volts, you need to test from leg to leg. For 220 or 240, a test from the leg to ground can float a variable reading. Also a loose neutral wire can produce a low voltage from leg to ground. This is why we are to read from leg to leg on a 240 volt circuit, this is the true voltage.

[spaco]

in my experience, this can happen when the either the neutral wire in a

120 volt circuit or the 2nd leg of a 240 volt circuit is missing. If so, you'd probably get the same result if you didn't stick the neutral probe of the meter into the receptacle at all. Personally, I use a simple neon tester to figure these things out so I don't get confused by a digital meter.

Pete Stanaitis

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Trent wrote:

[Swingman]

"spaco" wrote

That's why I asked the question I did.

If he using a panel/sub panel that will take 1/2 height breakers, he may not be spanning both _legs_ with the 220 c'brk. IME, the 'position of the circuit breaker is important/necessary in these type panels when installing

220 breakers.

A WAG, but the fact the he took the time to use a voltage meter indicates to me that he tried to plug something into the receptacle and it didn't work, so out came voltage tester. The above scenario is not uncommon, even among some electricians I know.

[Tom Veatch]

Haven't read the posts following this one, but I'd like to point out that Ohm's Law is V=IR so that R=V/I and I = V/R so it follows that with a constant R, double the voltage means double, not half, the amperage. The equation for Power, P=IV, does imply that for a constant power, double the voltage implies half the amperage.

Tom Veatch Wichita, KS USA

[Han]

Tom Veatch wrote in news: [e-mail]:

You're so right. I hope my kids don't read this

[Tom Veatch]

I'd like to get a supply of those European light bulbs.

I've set all the machines that support conversion to run on 220V. Which means that the built-in work light on my drill press sees 220V unless I rewire the tool, adding a neutral conductor and replace the NEMA 6-15 plug and receptacle with a NEMA 14-15 configuration (the circuit is already wired as a 120/240 3+ground circuit). Or I could do as the owner's manual recommends, which I won't repeat here since it violates holy hell out of every electrical code I've ever heard of.

(I found some 220v light bulbs at Grainger, but they won't fit the cavity in the body of the drill press)

Tom Veatch Wichita, KS USA