Voltage drop between line and ground when lights turn on (residential)

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tkbEZ

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Testing line to ground - When lights are off, 120v. When lights are on 80-100v. Line to neutral is consistent with 120 both on and off. Reason for asking is I cannot install sensor switch with inadequate ground and I believe this is the issue. It's only running 3 LED lights.
 

GoldDigger

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Location
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Testing line to ground - When lights are off, 120v. When lights are on 80-100v. Line to neutral is consistent with 120 both on and off. Reason for asking is I cannot install sensor switch with inadequate ground and I believe this is the issue. It's only running 3 LED lights.

What you are taking as your ground reference has not been properly connected (indirectly) back to the main panel (service disconnect) where there should be a jumper between the EGC bus and the POCO neutral.
 

gar

Senior Member
Location
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Occupation
EE
161123-2422 EST

tkbEZ:

You have provided inadequate information. What is your definition of "ground", and where was measurement made to ground? Why is ground important to a sensor other than to put metalic parts at approximately earth potential under normal conditions? Earth here means putting a screwdriver in the dirt outside the home in any one of many places, also probably meaning any copper or iron water pipes.

By ground do you mean the EGC at the sensor or LED lights, or at the ground bus in the main panel, or at the earthing rod or other element? Why are you using the EGC at the sensor for sensor power? Hot and neutral at the sensor should be used for sensor power. The EGC at the sensor should only be used for safety purposes. There are probably manufacturers of sensors that use the EGC for one of their power wires for the sensors. But they should not.

If the EGC at the sensor and the LEDs is the ground you are talking about, then you need to check its voltage relative to the main panel ground or EGC bus and the neutral bus in the main panel. If you see more than a fraction of a volt. I expect less than about 0.1 V, then go find the problem. There can be some loads with filters, such as switched power strips, that may have capacitors to EGC and thus cause EGC current and voltage drop. Also there could be stray magneyic fields, improperly wired neutrals, that cause an induced voltage in the loop of your test lead to the main panel and your EGC being measured. But this will not be multivolts in a home.

.
 

Rob.davis12

Member
Location
New jersey
Testing line to ground - When lights are off, 120v. When lights are on 80-100v. Line to neutral is consistent with 120 both on and off. Reason for asking is I cannot install sensor switch with inadequate ground and I believe this is the issue. It's only running 3 LED lights.
I'm guessing you mean you connected your line to grounding (with power off ) if so you should have gotten 240 volts.. if you did not the problem may be with your grounding check breaker where your grounding is connected to make sure there is no damage. Another reason you may be getting less voltage is because you may have a wiring issue with one of the led lights make sure each light has one power going in and one neutral coming out they all share same voltage if this isn't the case and one of different then the others check to see if there isn't any other loads connected to the line where your getting the voltage drop .
 
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I'm guessing you mean you connected your line to grounding (with power off ) if so you should have gotten 240 volts.. if you did not the problem may be with your grounding check breaker where your grounding is connected to make sure there is no damage. Another reason you may be getting less voltage is because you may have a wiring issue with one of the led lights make sure each light has one power going in and one neutral coming out they all share same voltage if this isn't the case and one of different then the others check to see if there isn't any other loads connected to the line where your getting the voltage drop .
This is a residence. Line to ground should show 120v +-. Not 240. Line to Line, yes 240.
 

mopowr steve

Senior Member
Location
NW Ohio
Occupation
Electrical contractor
I'm pretty sure the OP is having problems with his Sensa-Switch model which does utilize the EGC as its way of powering its internal electronics which as of a few years ago there was/is an allowable threashold of current that was allowed for such devices.

And as others have stated it is no longer allowed except for replacement of existing installations which used this method.

And also as others have stated, there must be an issue with the way your EGC is connected somewhere.

I think some of the Sensa-Switches now have a removable metal jumper on the side which gets removed if you have a neutral available in the switch box. If you do have a neutral try this, that's if you have the model with the removable jumper.
 

JFletcher

Senior Member
Location
Williamsburg, VA
Welcome to the forum.

wag, but is there any chance that with the lights on the switch is putting voltage to ground, thus lowering the readings?

Are the lights working properly?
 

hbiss

EC, Westchester, New York NEC: 2014
Location
Hawthorne, New York NEC: 2014
Occupation
EC
Testing line to ground - When lights are off, 120v. When lights are on 80-100v. Line to neutral is consistent with 120 both on and off.

To me it looks like the lights are wired between line and ground instead of the neutral. And a poor ground at that.

-Hal
 

justin13me

Member
Location
CANADA
Maybe it was on a dimmer..? As for sensors, I've found some (including sensor switches) need the ground for proper operation as a 'reference' point.
 
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