ungrounded to metal pole voltage?

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electricalist

electricalist

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Location
dallas tx
So Im getting a better understanding of why and how things get bonded but the ground rod im working on, so i go to my back porch and it has 1 in post that outline a after thought slab, i guess they were gonna put a fence around it. I put my 1 volt meter in the hot side of the plug out side and the other lead to the pole and it reads 122.2v . Why is that?
 
Yea I got a lot to learn. I know i should nt ask this question but I cant stop myself,,,If there was a lost neutral, grounded conductor at the weather head,,would the electrical system still work from the earth connection?. I think it would and what if the grounded and grounding conductors were only bonded at the service disconnect,,then a ground rod was bonded to the neutral in the meter base,,,would this be a disaster?
 
Due to the earth's resistance, the current path from the ground rod back to the transformer would not come close to being a substitute for the grounded conductor. The voltage to neutral would be very unstable and would vary depending on the loads.

This picture reference MWBCs but it shows what happens when you lose a neutral
lost neutral.jpg
 
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Let me find out the poco is supplementing their neutrals voltage drop with my dirt and the water line....:happyno: That could be the next conspiracy theory:cool:
 
Apply a load between the two points you are measuring between and you will see that voltage measured decrease unless that pole has a low resistance to earth this is also assuming it is not a light pole or something similar that is not bonded to an EGC somewhere and is totally relying on current through earth surrounding the pole to complete a circuit. But you have two voltage drops in this circuit , first being the resistance/impedance of your intended load, the second being via the earth. If your measured voltage drop across the load is 100 volts, then the remaining 22.2 volts is what you would measure between the pole and other objects that are at ground potential including the soil just a few inches to a few feet away from the pole, and depending on conditions may give you a pretty strong shock if you touch the pole, if it doesn't try taking off your shoes and stand barefoot on the ground and try again - actually don't try it.
 
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