Dewalt Charger making lights dim and brighten while charging?

[JohnDS]

Hey guys,

I just bought a home, built in 2000. The electric had been disconnected at weatherhead (foreclosure). First thing i did was hook that back up. Now, while in house, I turned on the circuit for the bedrooms which was for the receptacles as well as the lights. I needed to charge my dewalt battery so I plugged it in. All that was on in the house was about two lights in each bedroom. They all began to dim slightly then go back to bright repeatedly, almost as if it were dimming simultaneously with the flashing red led light on the charger. I tested the receptacle that I had it plugged in to and it read 135volts. #1) Is that too high? #2) what is up with the dimming? I tested phase to phase at panel but I don't remember what the reading was but I remember it was lower than usual. At the pole with the transformer in which my house is on, I noticed the ground wire that comes off the transformer,down the pole to the ground rod, is disconnected from the ground rod. Can this have something to do with it? I couldn't really spend too much time troubleshooting, but its on my mind and wondering if someone can give me some ideas before I head back there in the morning. Thanks.

 

[ActionDave]

Hey guys,

I just bought a home, built in 2000. The electric had been disconnected at weatherhead (foreclosure). First thing i did was hook that back up. Now, while in house, I turned on the circuit for the bedrooms which was for the receptacles as well as the lights. I needed to charge my dewalt battery so I plugged it in. All that was on in the house was about two lights in each bedroom. They all began to dim slightly then go back to bright repeatedly, almost as if it were dimming simultaneously with the flashing red led light on the charger. I tested the receptacle that I had it plugged in to and it read 135volts. #1) Is that too high? #2) what is up with the dimming? I tested phase to phase at panel but I don't remember what the reading was but I remember it was lower than usual. At the pole with the transformer in which my house is on, I noticed the ground wire that comes off the transformer,down the pole to the ground rod, is disconnected from the ground rod. Can this have something to do with it? I couldn't really spend too much time troubleshooting, but its on my mind and wondering if someone can give me some ideas before I head back there in the morning. Thanks.

Dude, reach for the big button at the far right of your right pinky marked "Enter". This many lines in a row without spacing makes my brain go to the same place it goes when my wife starts talking.

Here is what I sifted out - Lights dimming...135 Volts....something odd at the transformer....

You got a problem with the neutral somewhere.

 

[gar]

130902-0106 EDT

JohnDS:

Your pole transformer has a center tapped secondary. Your nominal voltage line-to-line should be 240 V. Measure this in the main panel. Each line to neutral should be close to a nominal of 120 with no load, and 1/2 of whatever is the line-to-line voltage.

Start with no loads on either side of neutral. The two line to neutral voltages should be close to equal. Put a 100 W incandescent bulb load from one line to neutral. Read line-to-line voltage, the voltage across the bulb, and the other phase voltage. Also do these readings at the output terminals of the main breaker. Report back. It is possible you will burn out the bulb. So put two 100 W 120 V bulbs in series for the test from line-to-neutral.

.

 

[JohnDS]

Thanks guys, I will try what you've suggested and will be back.

 

[growler]

Dude,

Here is what I sifted out - Lights dimming...135 Volts....something odd at the transformer....

You got a problem with the neutral somewhere.

Yes, bad neutral.

Call the power company and have them check things out to the meter socket ( they need to repair that ground at the transformer anyway).

If they allow it you can pull the meter and start checking the neutral from there and back through the panel.

 

[JohnDS]

OK, I didn't get a chance to do the 100w light bulb test but this is what I did:

Main breaker off at weather head: I'm getting 246v phase/phase and 122v on one hot to neutral and 123v from other hot to neutral.

At panel with main off getting about same reading 247v phase/phase,123v phase to neutral, 123v phase to neutral.

There is a receptacle coming out of panel. When I turn that circuit on its reading 123v. While testing that circuit, if I flip on the bedroom circuits with the 4 light bulbs that were dimming, the receptacle at the panel jumps to 145v. As soon as I turn the bedroom circuit off, it reads 123v again.

I haven't been able to turn any other circuits on because 99% of the homeruns are cut.

So that being said, what do you guys think?

 

[K8MHZ]

OK, I didn't get a chance to do the 100w light bulb test but this is what I did:

Main breaker off at weather head: I'm getting 246v phase/phase and 122v on one hot to neutral and 123v from other hot to neutral.

At panel with main off getting about same reading 247v phase/phase,123v phase to neutral, 123v phase to neutral.

There is a receptacle coming out of panel. When I turn that circuit on its reading 123v. While testing that circuit, if I flip on the bedroom circuits with the 4 light bulbs that were dimming, the receptacle at the panel jumps to 145v. As soon as I turn the bedroom circuit off, it reads 123v again.

I haven't been able to turn any other circuits on because 99% of the homeruns are cut.

So that being said, what do you guys think?

Sounds like a typical bad neutral to me.

Doing the same tests, what are the readings from phase to neutral at the main breaker?

 

[ActionDave]

Yeppers bad neutral indeed. Test at the meter and see if the problem is yours or the power company's.

 

[GoldDigger]

Yeppers bad neutral indeed. Test at the meter and see if the problem is yours or the power company's.

Possibly the same person who cut the ground wire on the pole cut the neutral?
Or maybe after the service was disconnected at the weatherhead some time during the foreclosure process, the neutral was never properly reconnected?

 

[ActionDave]

Possibly the same person who cut the ground wire on the pole cut the neutral?
Or maybe after the service was disconnected at the weatherhead some time during the foreclosure process, the neutral was never properly reconnected?

Probabally right. Growler said to call the POCO to fix that. He's was correct on that.

 

[JohnDS]

Possibly the same person who cut the ground wire on the pole cut the neutral?
Or maybe after the service was disconnected at the weatherhead some time during the foreclosure process, the neutral was never properly reconnected?

Just to reiterate, i reconnected the two hots and neutral at weather head. The connection is fine at that point.

1)Wouldn't all this suggest a bad neutral on that circuit or no?
2)All the voltage seems fine from weatherhead to main breaker with no load(didn't try with load yet), so how would it be power company? I am not second guessing anyone because I appreciate all help. I'm just trying to understand better.

One thing I did not do was turn that bedroom circuit on while testing voltage at main breaker or meter.
3)If I do this and voltage fluctuates like the receptacle, what does that suggest, bad neutral on circuit or bad neutral at power company(again neutral connections are all tight from weatherhead through panel. All grounding looks intact as well(except for transformer)

4)Does that groundwire at transformer have anything to do with the neutral?

 

[GoldDigger]

Just to reiterate, i reconnected the two hots and neutral at weather head. The connection is fine at that point.

With or without POCO de-energizing the service?

1)Wouldn't all this suggest a bad neutral on that circuit or no?

If that circuit was an MWBC, yes. Otherwise the issue would have to be further back (at the panel neutral itself.)

2)All the voltage seems fine from weatherhead to main breaker with no load(didn't try with load yet), so how would it be power company? I am not second guessing anyone because I appreciate all help. I'm just trying to understand better.

One thing I did not do was turn that bedroom circuit on while testing voltage at main breaker or meter.
3)If I do this and voltage fluctuates like the receptacle, what does that suggest, bad neutral on circuit or bad neutral at power company(again neutral connections are all tight from weatherhead through panel. All grounding looks intact as well(except for transformer)

If the phase to neutral voltage at the panel changes with load, the problem is either between the meter and the main, in the main panel, or with POCO.
If it does not change with load, even though the voltage at the receptacles does, then yes, it is local to that circuit somewhere.

4)Does that groundwire at transformer have anything to do with the neutral?

It could if that transformer secondary was only connected to earth at that one point, but that is very unlikely. (It would mean that there were no other services on the same transformer and that the secondary neutral was not connected to a neutral on the primary side.) But that would not cause a voltage imbalance as long as the neutral wire itself from the transformer secondary to the main panel was OK. It would just allow the whole secondary to be ground referenced only by virtue of your bond at the service.

 

[Hv&Lv]

I haven't been able to turn any other circuits on because 99% of the homeruns are cut.

Why are they cut??

Just to reiterate, i reconnected the two hots and neutral at weather head. The connection is fine at that point.

Why were the connections at the weather head cut? Maybe the POCO cut the connections waiting on an inspection if the home had had some vandalism. In any case, I don't really think the POCO wants you connecting their side...

Does that groundwire at transformer have anything to do with the neutral?

About as much as the one at the house.

 

[kwired]

I haven't been able to turn any other circuits on because 99% of the homeruns are cut.

So that being said, what do you guys think?

Why are they cut??

That is what I was going to ask.

Sounds like the main neutral is cut and who knows what else also.

First thing to do is establish good service, then move on to the branch circuits.


Did the owners that were "forclosed" upon vandalize the place before they left?

 

[growler]

2)All the voltage seems fine from weatherhead to main breaker with no load(didn't try with load yet).

When you know you are dealing with a bad neutral you need some sort of a load on the system when doing your test. Haveing no load is the same as a balanced load and everything will apear fine.

Plug a shop light into the receptacle at the panel. Or turn those lights on in the bedroom where you were before. Lights bulbs are cheap to replace if they blow.

Check voltages at the panel and if things are not right then check at the meter. If things are bad at the line side then go to those connections you made at the weather head.

 

[growler]

First thing to do is establish good service, then move on to the branch circuits.

He needs to contact the power company to see what he will need to do to get the power connected legally. If they find out he connected the service (without permission) things may not go well.

At the very least they will want the service switched to his name and maybe a safety inspection.

 

[kwired]

He needs to contact the power company to see what he will need to do to get the power connected legally. If they find out he connected the service (without permission) things may not go well.

At the very least they will want the service switched to his name and maybe a safety inspection.

I really don't know what he did. If he did connect the service without permission then that is theft of services. He mentions things being cut (apparently all over the place) so we really don't know if POCO cut the service or not. I am kind of assuming vandalism by the upset owner that lost his house to financial problems was the reason for the majority of what was cut.

But there likely is no current customer assigned to the billing either if it has been off for a while, so that would still be theft to hook it up without permission.

 

[JohnDS]

Thank you all for your help. It was a bad neutral on utility side. I apologize that I had taken so long to respond.

 

[Sierrasparky]

Thanks for the update.