lakee911
Senior Member
- Location
- Columbus, OH
Hi All,
I was called out to troubleshoot a system yesterday. 240/120V, 3W, 200A commercial install. Customer complains that when he turns off the 240V water heater, the lights go off. Also, exterior motion detector causes inside lights to flicker. Everything appears to be wired properly. Water heater and A/C do not work.
Main CB closed. Voltages read were L1 to N: approx 120V; L2 to N: approx 120V; :L1 to L2: approx 1.2V :?
Opened the meter enclosure. Line side of meter voltages were L1 to N: approx 120V; L2 to N: approx 120V; :L1 to L2: approx 240V
Main CB opened. Voltages read (on line side of main CB, load side of meter) were L1 to N: approx 120V; L2 to N: approx 21V; L1 to L2: approx 94V. :?
I told the customer that he likely has a problem with the meter and to call the utility and let them know that he has either lost one of the two legs or the neutral. I figured likely the first and not the latter. Everything from the transformer on the pole to the meter, from the meter to the main CB, and all branch circuits looked just fine.
By the way, the building has two services and the other works just fine.
Customer sends me an email stating, "The problem with the box was that it was not in service. I had not started an account for that one. Why it was getting any power at all is a mystery to me." Why it was getting any power was a mystery to me too. The meter was installed--one of those new digital ones.
Any idea what's going on here? I'd assumed that if the meter was present it would work. Are the new digital ones capable of interupting service, and if so, could it be faulty? I couldn't fully check, but i'm ruling out a cross connection between the two services.
Thx,
Jason
I was called out to troubleshoot a system yesterday. 240/120V, 3W, 200A commercial install. Customer complains that when he turns off the 240V water heater, the lights go off. Also, exterior motion detector causes inside lights to flicker. Everything appears to be wired properly. Water heater and A/C do not work.
Main CB closed. Voltages read were L1 to N: approx 120V; L2 to N: approx 120V; :L1 to L2: approx 1.2V :?
Opened the meter enclosure. Line side of meter voltages were L1 to N: approx 120V; L2 to N: approx 120V; :L1 to L2: approx 240V
Main CB opened. Voltages read (on line side of main CB, load side of meter) were L1 to N: approx 120V; L2 to N: approx 21V; L1 to L2: approx 94V. :?
I told the customer that he likely has a problem with the meter and to call the utility and let them know that he has either lost one of the two legs or the neutral. I figured likely the first and not the latter. Everything from the transformer on the pole to the meter, from the meter to the main CB, and all branch circuits looked just fine.
By the way, the building has two services and the other works just fine.
Customer sends me an email stating, "The problem with the box was that it was not in service. I had not started an account for that one. Why it was getting any power at all is a mystery to me." Why it was getting any power was a mystery to me too. The meter was installed--one of those new digital ones.
Any idea what's going on here? I'd assumed that if the meter was present it would work. Are the new digital ones capable of interupting service, and if so, could it be faulty? I couldn't fully check, but i'm ruling out a cross connection between the two services.
Thx,
Jason