Bad Meter??

[TriednTrue]

Hey guys,

I came to do a service call and ran into something strange that I’m having trouble understanding. The customer said they had no power. I went to the panel and checked voltage. Like to like, nothing. L1 to neutral, 110. L2 to neutral, 110. I pull the meter and check the poco side and everything is normal. I rang everything out and everything checked out. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance,

 

[augie47]

Clarify, please.
At panel L1 to L2 = 0 ??
Line side of meter L1-L2 = 240 ??

 

[TriednTrue]

Clarify, please.
At panel L1 to L2 = 0 ??
Line side of meter L1-L2 = 240 ??

Correct

 

[Little Bill]

Sounds like you have lost a leg. You get nothing line to line, but get a reading line to neutral. There is a 2-pole load on, could be the stove, dryer, water heater, etc, that is back feeding the other line. That is why you have a reading on both lines. You just need to find where you lost the leg.

 

[augie47]

Agree with Bill & note it is possible that it is a defective meter but I've found more often than not it's a poor connection somewhere.

 

[TriednTrue]

Sounds like you have lost a leg. You get nothing line to line, but get a reading line to neutral. There is a 2-pole load on, could be the stove, dryer, water heater, etc, that is back feeding the other line. That is why you have a reading on both lines. You just need to find where you

But the main breaker is off.

 

[Little Bill]

Then Augie is correct, either bad meter or bad connection. Should be easy to determine which.

 

[TriednTrue]

Thanks, guys. I jumpered the meter and everything checked out, so I’m calling it a bad meter.

 

[Little Bill]

Thanks, guys. I jumpered the meter and everything checked out, so I’m calling it a bad meter.

It still could just be corrosion on one of the stabs on the meter itself, or the jaws on the socket/base. Could also be a weak jaw. You might check that before contacting the POCO.