Voltage issue

[Qojoe]

Hi everyone, to make a long story short as possible i was on a job where another electrician installed 2 homeruns for a/c condensors. This is a building with an apartment and 2 seperate meters. Both panels are in the basement next to eachother. When i turned off the breaker to one of the a/c comps i still read 3 volts on the actual breaker itself. When i went over to the other panel and shut off that a/c comp then the voltage on the 1st a/c comp went to 0. Both wires are stapled together along the joists. I have never seen this before and was hoping someone could explain. Thanks

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[jumper]

Phantom Voltage most likely.

https://www.nema.org/Technical/Documents/Bull_88_reaffirmed_12_15_11.pdf

Were you using a multimeter?

An old fashioned selenoid tester will not pick this false reading.

 

[Qojoe]

Thank you, Yeah i was using a fluke t5-1000

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[jumper]

Thank you, Yeah i was using a fluke t5-1000

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That is not a low Z meter. I think the t+ PRO may be. t5 is a fine meter though, I have one also.

 

[Qojoe]

Yeah i love this meter, i only use fluke

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[gar]

161123-1640 EST

Qojoe:

Connect a 100 W 120 V incandescent bulb in parallel with your meter. This is around 10 ohms with a very low voltage like 3 V applied to the bulb. If your meter reading goes to 0, then you probably have a capacitively coupled voltage from the close proximity of the two cables.. Otherwise we need more circuit details.

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[Qojoe]

Thanks i will try that

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