stray voltage?

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stray voltage?

GoldDigger said:
1. What type of meter? High impedance volt meter?
2. What are you using for ground reference? The main panel EGC bus? A screwdriver stuck into the dirt?
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Klein amprobe/voltmeter I put a ground rod in next to the spigot and we have 12 to 25 volts. The kids were getting a buzz when watering the dogs. Now it doesn't happen but that isn't the fix. only one panel and it is at the meter
 
There could be lots of reasons from a local ground fault that is energizing the earth in the area, to a bad power company primary neutral that is creating an elevated neutral to earth voltage.
 
enireh said:
so is there any input as to what needs to be done, since bonding may not be the answer?
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Enireh, the best post in this thread is post #8-there really are several causes for your readings. You do need to still check your water pipes to see if they are bonded properly and just because the neutral is "tight" in your panel doesn't mean that it isn't still a high resistance neutral nor does it mean that everything is good on the poco end.
 
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user 100 said:
Enireh, the best post in this thread is post #8-there really are several causes for your readings. You do need to still check your water pipes to see if they are bonded properly and just because the neutral is "tight" in your panel doesn't mean that it isn't still a high resistance neutral nor does it mean that everything is good on the poco end.
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One test to make to narrow down the options is to check the voltage from the panel ground to the screwdriver.
If that differential is large but the GES is good and the primary neutral is OK, then the problem is a voltage gradient in the earth under the house for some reason. (Like POCO primary circuit issues.)
 
As several have already mentioned there are numerous possibilities for this stray voltage. The last time this happened to one of my customers the service drop (triplex) was rubbing up against the aluminum siding near the rake of the roof line. Took us several days to find it. Try turning off one breaker at a time and leaving it off and see if the problem clears. If it doesn't you might want to check the service ahead of the breaker panel.
 
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