Electronics work on all breakers in house except 1.

[xJWhip804x]

I am in no way looking for advice on how to perform a repair, simply looking for answers that 2 Master Electricians have yet to find. This one has us scratching our heads and thought other elctricians may want a crack at this puzzle lol.

Purchased a home this weekend. Had cable company come out and install our cable/internet. The larger DVR box did not work on the outlet i wanted it to. Tried another outlet and it worked perfectly. Tested voltage of receptacles at that time and was getting 148-156v throughout the house, 270 on my 240 dryer plug. Had an electrician buddy come over and when he got there everything was reading 123 on his meter and on mine. Not sure what was causing the surge or if there were some gremlins in my DMM at the time but either way, DVR box still would not work on one particular breaker. Noticed the receptacle was a 20A, the box would work on a 15A on a different breaker. Swapped the outlets to no avail. Tested the boxes power supply and it was reading 12.2v DC as it should. So at this point i had a second Master Electrician buddy (licensed in almost all 50 states) come over to check it out. He checked multiple outlets in the room and other rooms, checked everything in panel and found nothing. We plugged the box in and IT WORKED for the first time on outlet/breaker in question. This was saturday evening, it stayed on all day sunday and this morning mysteriously went off again. Anyone have ANY slight idea why this may be happening? All receptacle in the home are fairly new and i believe the previous owner was an electrician himself (if i remember a conversation we had correctly).

 

[Little Bill]

I am allowing this thread but please no "how to" answers as to wiring. Please only give your thoughts on what could be happening.

 

[Little Bill]

I am in no way looking for advice on how to perform a repair, simply looking for answers that 2 Master Electricians have yet to find. This one has us scratching our heads and thought other elctricians may want a crack at this puzzle lol.

Purchased a home this weekend. Had cable company come out and install our cable/internet. The larger DVR box did not work on the outlet i wanted it to. Tried another outlet and it worked perfectly. Tested voltage of receptacles at that time and was getting 148-156v throughout the house, 270 on my 240 dryer plug. Had an electrician buddy come over and when he got there everything was reading 123 on his meter and on mine. Not sure what was causing the surge or if there were some gremlins in my DMM at the time but either way, DVR box still would not work on one particular breaker. Noticed the receptacle was a 20A, the box would work on a 15A on a different breaker. Swapped the outlets to no avail. Tested the boxes power supply and it was reading 12.2v DC as it should. So at this point i had a second Master Electrician buddy (licensed in almost all 50 states) come over to check it out. He checked multiple outlets in the room and other rooms, checked everything in panel and found nothing. We plugged the box in and IT WORKED for the first time on outlet/breaker in question. This was saturday evening, it stayed on all day sunday and this morning mysteriously went off again. Anyone have ANY slight idea why this may be happening? All receptacle in the home are fairly new and i believe the previous owner was an electrician himself (if i remember a conversation we had correctly).

Did you make sure the receptacle for the mentioned equipment was not a switched receptacle? It could have been off while testing at some point and later turned on, then back off.

 

[sameguy]

Voltage seams high to me, like burn up equipment high; are you sure?
Could be a loose connection,

 

[kwired]

The receptacle that wasn't working at all - was a local problem, even switched receptacle as mentioned is a possible issue.

Reading 270 volts line to line - that was very likely POCO having an issue with their voltage regulator in their distribution system, it apparently had been corrected before your buddy showed up with his tester.

148-156 volts? Seems a little high even for voltage regulator issues, if line to line were 270 then line to neutral should have been about 135. You may have neutral issues or the regulator issue was more severe than I thought may be possible. Any line to line voltage over about 253 is definitely a POCO issue and not anything in your facility though.

 

[Strathead]

Did you make sure the receptacle for the mentioned equipment was not a switched receptacle? It could have been off while testing at some point and later turned on, then back off.

It is likely to be something simple like this. I hope I'm not overstepping by saying to check voltage on the second half of the receptacle while the DVR isn't working. It could be a bad cord on the equipment, etc. Even good electricians get wrapped up and miss things. I know many electricians (huh-hmm one finger pointed at others, three pointing back) who have checked three or four complex issues before checking that something is even plugged in.

 

[retirede]

The receptacle that wasn't working at all - was a local problem, even switched receptacle as mentioned is a possible issue.

Reading 270 volts line to line - that was very likely POCO having an issue with their voltage regulator in their distribution system, it apparently had been corrected before your buddy showed up with his tester.

148-156 volts? Seems a little high even for voltage regulator issues, if line to line were 270 then line to neutral should have been about 135. You may have neutral issues or the regulator issue was more severe than I thought may be possible. Any line to line voltage over about 253 is definitely a POCO issue and not anything in your facility though.

Yes - 148 to 156 L-N with 270 L-L may indicate a problem with the neutral. It would help to know what the other L-N measures.

 

[xJWhip804x]

First, thank you for allowing this post.

As i am not an electrician im not familiar with some of the readings youre asking about like Line to Line. The 270v Reading was from just sticking my DMM in my dryer plug. When the 2nd ME stopped by he tested everything in the panel, and said everything was fine. I am leaning towards either the high readings being from something happening at the power company or the transformer in my backyard at that time, or my $20 DMM flaking out for a moment lol.

The outlet in question is NOT switched. The box doesnt work on any of the outlets tied to that one breaker, 6 outlets in total. I did take my microwave in there and it worked fine, as well as lamps, cell phone chargers, etc. It seems that it is ONLY the DVR box. The smaller HD Receiver box i got for a 2nd TV works. Going to go to cable office and swap the box as that seems to be the last test i am able to do myself, or i will shut the power off and swap the breaker in question with a breaker i know powers it.

I will show this thread to my buddies as they will understand it far better than i will.

Thank you all in advance for what im sure is sound advice/knowledge of the field.

 

[kwired]

First, thank you for allowing this post.

As i am not an electrician im not familiar with some of the readings youre asking about like Line to Line. The 270v Reading was from just sticking my DMM in my dryer plug. When the 2nd ME stopped by he tested everything in the panel, and said everything was fine. I am leaning towards either the high readings being from something happening at the power company or the transformer in my backyard at that time, or my $20 DMM flaking out for a moment lol.

The outlet in question is NOT switched. The box doesnt work on any of the outlets tied to that one breaker, 6 outlets in total. I did take my microwave in there and it worked fine, as well as lamps, cell phone chargers, etc. It seems that it is ONLY the DVR box. The smaller HD Receiver box i got for a 2nd TV works. Going to go to cable office and swap the box as that seems to be the last test i am able to do myself, or i will shut the power off and swap the breaker in question with a breaker i know powers it.

I will show this thread to my buddies as they will understand it far better than i will.

Thank you all in advance for what im sure is sound advice/knowledge of the field.

That 270 volt reading you had is the "line to line" reading I mentioned. That should never be more than about 253, if so the problem is not with your equipment it is a power company problem. But the 148-156 readings very well may be a result of problems on your premises, as I said earlier if line to line is 270 then those 148-156 items should have been at or near 135 - the cause of this may be on your premises wiring or can be in the POCO wiring but is the result of a bad/missing neutral or connection on a neutral conductor.

 

[xJWhip804x]

That 270 volt reading you had is the "line to line" reading I mentioned. That should never be more than about 253, if so the problem is not with your equipment it is a power company problem. But the 148-156 readings very well may be a result of problems on your premises, as I said earlier if line to line is 270 then those 148-156 items should have been at or near 135 - the cause of this may be on your premises wiring or can be in the POCO wiring but is the result of a bad/missing neutral or connection on a neutral conductor.

I gotcha now lol. Yeah ive been checking them religiously since saturday afternoon and they have stayed a constant 123.

 

[kwired]

I gotcha now lol. Yeah ive been checking them religiously since saturday afternoon and they have stayed a constant 123.

If your POCO was having voltage regulator problems, all your neighbors also likely had near 270 volts at that time, such regulator is further upstream in their distribution system. Out in rural areas you might find them occasionally, in cities they are likely in a substation, further you get from substation the more likely additional regulating equipment is needed to assure the correct voltage at the far end of the system.

 

[hbiss]

I would get another meter that you can use for confirmation- but spend a little more than $20 this time. Electronics these days is manufactured for the world market which means that their power supplies will operate with anywhere from 100 to 240 volts. So even if you did have a voltage issue that shouldn't have caused it not to work.

Tested the boxes power supply and it was reading 12.2v DC as it should.

I assume a wall wart or power brick? With the 12V present did the box still not work? If you consistently had 12V present on the output of the power supply your problem isn't the receptacle.

I think the next step is to swap out the cable box.

-Hal

 

[JPinVA]

It worked "for the first time" after the second electrician checked everything...so perhaps the check activity re-established an otherwise compromised connection. Dynamics of use broke the connection. Take a look at everything the second electrician touched...starting with the breaker.

 

[xJWhip804x]

I assume a wall wart or power brick? With the 12V present did the box still not work? If you consistently had 12V present on the output of the power supply your problem isn't the receptacle.

I think the next step is to swap out the cable box.

-Hal

Yes with the 12v present it did not work. First thought is box isnt working. However, plugging it in to a different run of outlets on a seperate breaker it works without a hitch. It was at that point i began scratching my head lol. Im going to have a trained professional swap out the breakers for me. If it doesn't work then, I'm gonna swap out the box anyway and see what happens. Ill update the thread if i ever find an answer/solution.

On a separate but related note, i noticed the coax coupling on the outside of the house, which is open to the elements mind you, has a seperate ground wire coming from it leading into the crawlspace as well. There was a grounding rod in the ground below that hookup with nothing attached to it. If for some reason the cable and electrical somehow share a ground under the house would that cause an issue like this? i have not looked to see where the coax ground is running yet but will do so tonight.

 

[kwired]

Yes with the 12v present it did not work. First thought is box isnt working. However, plugging it in to a different run of outlets on a seperate breaker it works without a hitch. It was at that point i began scratching my head lol. Im going to have a trained professional swap out the breakers for me. If it doesn't work then, I'm gonna swap out the box anyway and see what happens. Ill update the thread if i ever find an answer/solution.

On a separate but related note, i noticed the coax coupling on the outside of the house, which is open to the elements mind you, has a seperate ground wire coming from it leading into the crawlspace as well. There was a grounding rod in the ground below that hookup with nothing attached to it. If for some reason the cable and electrical somehow share a ground under the house would that cause an issue like this? i have not looked to see where the coax ground is running yet but will do so tonight.

The coax shield is supposed to be bonded to the electrical system grounding network, this puts both systems and any exposed conductive components attached to them at same potential.

 

[xJWhip804x]

The coax shield is supposed to be bonded to the electrical system grounding network, this puts both systems and any exposed conductive components attached to them at same potential.

Ok thanks.

 

[ptonsparky]

My help.found a.bad cable.betwwem the TV and cable.box a.few months ago. Doesn't relate well.to your voltage problems though. Could operator error have been Involved?

 

[hbiss]

Yes with the 12v present it did not work. First thought is box isnt working.

Ok, stop right there. The only logical next step is to replace the box. Forget the breaker and receptacle. Forget wasting more money on ECs.

And by the way, there is no such thing as an electrician licensed in all 50 states. He would be broke from paying all the fees and wouldn't be able to get any work done because he would be spending all his time taking continuing education courses. hmy:

-Hal

 

[junkhound]

Neighbor came ove a few weeks ago with his laptop not charging. Worked in his kitchen but not at his desk. Both outlets good, 120 Vac.

Found his 19V cord had an internal wire broken. Moved stuff around when not working and charge indicator came on.
On his desk the cord hung down and the internal break was open. On the kitchen table, the cord was flat and internal break made contact.

Long shot, but move the 12 V cable around and see if the 12 V comes and goes?

 

[hbiss]

I would have called the cable company as soon as I plugged something else into the receptacle and saw that it was working. "Come fix your stupid box!" :rant:

-Hal