130/v reading

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aftershock

aftershock

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Location
Memphis, TN
I had to go on a callback today. New switch had gone bad for a fart fan.

While I was there, the HO apparently tested voltage using a digital meter and I guess just to make sure it was working, he tested a known working recep.

The 110/v circuits are showing to be getting 130/v. I used this same tester to check different circuits and got the same reading.

I did not have time to go through checking the meter base and main panel. I told the HO to check his friends house next door and see if he gets the same reading and also to call the light company just to have them check their connections.

Is it normal to have 130/v reading?
 
Unfortunately, yes. It's real hard on incandescent lamps. My last go round with this with a PoCo, it was about an optician's office. They had 131 volts, and were going through spot lamps in the track lighting in the eyewear showroom like nobody's business. They don't take action until 132 volts, they tell me. I finally got an engineer to order a tap changed tweaked someplace, but it was a real battle.
 
aftershock said:
Is it normal to have 130/v reading?
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"Normal" no.... Occassional yes. Optimal NO. Code violation - technically yep... (210.6) Enforcable - hardly. POCO rules may dictate they can be in excess of 127V....

If a customer mentioned something like this I would reply with several other questions - like.... "What are you testing outlets for - has there been an issue?" - "Have you noticed lights getting BRIGHTER or dimming and other things getting BRIGHTER?" - "Have you smelled an acrid smell of smoke or something simular to roofing tar?" I have a tendancey to sound alarmist when I go through this questioning - but better safe than sorry.

That said - it might be time to get your own DMM tester - and look for the possiblity of a lost neutral AKA "Hi/Lo event" and if so report it to your poco as such and watch their trucks drop out of the sky if you find it to be on their side. If on your side you have some other work ahead and would suggest you do it before anything catches fire. While a voltage that high is not completely abnormal, it may be an indicator of other issues, especially if the other phase on either a 3-wire circuit or at the panel was at that moment say 90-110 volts. I would have not left the premise without hopping through the usual hoops to have put my own mind, and the company insurance at rest. i.e. testing at the main and meter, and doing the same under differing load conditions. (Load one phase heavy - then the other - and recording voltage on both phases to ground.)
 
mdshunk said:
Unfortunately, yes. It's real hard on incandescent lamps. My last go round with this with a PoCo, it was about an optician's office. They had 131 volts, and were going through spot lamps in the track lighting in the eyewear showroom like nobody's business. They don't take action until 132 volts, they tell me. I finally got an engineer to order a tap changed tweaked someplace, but it was a real battle.
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Getting lamps that are rated at 130V helps this situation.
 
Just because a meter is digital, doesn't mean that it is correct! I have some $4.00 meters and I have a $1000.00 plus meter. They don't always read the same. Harmonics on the line are tough for the cheap meters accuracy.
 
I work for a POCO , and 130v is outside of our norm . Sure , it can happen for various reasons , but we would probably tweak the tap changer down to no more than 126v as long as the customers on the end of the line are Ok .
 
Dr.Sparks said:
Isn't the voltage tolerance typically 10%??
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It is generally 10 % at the utilization device. Depending on where you are reading the voltage that requirement changes. The most standard rule is 5% at the service point or 127 V. However, I want to point another thing out if he is reading 130 at an outlet that means the voltage is significantly higher at the transformer terminals. It should be well outside the 132 the engineer told him because of a voltage drop between the outlet and service. The only way I would see this happening is if your customer is on a heavily loaded line. It is possible that the customers on the far end of the line are seeing near the minimum voltage and he is seeing near the maximum voltage.
 
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