I live in a old house but I get the three power lines coming into breaker box (110x2, ground). I don,t know if he is pulling my leg, but I was told in a note that something is wrong with my electrical, and they had measured 70 volts between the box and the ground. My electric bill is not outrageous but I can only guess it is costing money and maybe some safety issues to. Is this possible or its a joke?
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With my meter set at ac, I put one probe to the third (ground wire that comes in and the other probe to the grounding wire going to the ground poll? ( With safety in mind ) Would that situation of 70volts cost money in wasted electricity?
Many older homes (my parent's old house was built in 1920s) - only had 60 amp services. IF the service drop from the street is old AND you have an multiple electrical panels due to add-on
I would recommend talking to a licensed electrician, your local electrical utility OR you county/city building inspectors office (they can refer you to qualified individuals). Today 100 or 125 amp electrical service is the MINIMUM and many new houses are installing 200 amp service. Why?
Current (and future) electrical demands (HVAC, kitchens, lighting, computer, home offices) are much greater than 50 years ago. Get come professional advice.
gb
NN ha escrito:
The point here is not wasted electricity. The point here is safety. If between the metal breaker box and the ground wire exist a voltage difference of 70V there is a safety problem. It could be that the earth wire is disconnected or broken somewhere (while the breaker box is still properly grounded), or that there is an insulation defect inside the metal breaker box energizing the box with respect to ground. In any case, it=B4s a defect which must be corrected because it represents an electric shock hazard.
As someone else said, that voltage does not represent wasted electricity; it represents DANGER. If the ground wire at one of your outlets is 70 volts above true ground, then when you grab onto the exterior case of an appliance such as a washing machine, you may be grabbing onto something that is 70 volts above ground and can shock you.
It sounds like some kind of ground connection is missing. Time to have the electrician in. This does not sound like a major repair, but it needs to be done by someone who can take a good look around and make sure everything is connected right.
Probably not, but it could electrocute you and/or burn out your appliances.
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And adding a more conceptual point:
Voltage is not the flow of electricity. It is the force that makes electricity flow (like pressure in a tank of compressed air). You don't know whether it's actually flowing or not unless you measure current (amps), which requires interrupting whatever it's flowing through.
These mysterious 70 volts are probably not making any current flow at all -- until somebody grabs the wrong things and provides a path.
No but it will burn out electric motors and cause dim lights and erratic or non operation of electronic devices. Also if it's low on one side it may well be high on the other. None of it will affect your electric bill but it will cause damage.
There are ways to measure current that do not require interrupting the circuit, and they are used quite commonly.
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Well... magnetically, but you then have to be able to wrap around one conductor by itself, which may be as awkward as breaking the circuit.
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Highly unlikely. It *may* at most cost your life as it *may* indicate a severe safety problem.
FAIK these 110x2 is made by a centre tapped 220V transformer winding. The tap is considered neutral and grounded either near the transformer or in your breaker box. If the neutral is grounded near your breaker box *and* you find 70V between ground and neutral, most likely ground or neutral has been interrupted, bringing in a life threatening situation. If the neutral is grounded near the transformer, some tens of volts are not uncommon and can be caused by unbalance of the load like I wrote before. Even then 70V is high, too high to be normal I suppose. You you find that high a voltage you'd better look for a local expert.
petrus bitbyter
There are also means of doing it without wrapping a detection wire around the conductor, although they are much less commonly used for measurement (due to cost).
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My Guess: The original poster is measuring from the neutral to something ungrounded and getting an erroneous reading from the meter.
David
I have the power shut off until it gets fixed, (danger is gone) I see that voltage does not equal to money payed out. Looking at the electric bill, I see the charges are based on current (load) per hour. The formula for the watts (kilowatts) and amps and volts is rather simple to use.
Nope. You are charged for kilowatts used; not volts, amps or volt amps.
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Nope once more. You're paying for the energy used, usually measured in kWh (kilo Watt hour). When the load is resistive the energy is calculated:
voltage x current x time [kWh]
When voltage and/or current are continuously changing due to the load, rectifiers for instance, the calculation becomes more complicated though the principle remains the same.
petrus bitbyter
Let see if I got the idea of cost. I have a 1500 watt space heater, if I run it for one hour and my electric company charges ten cents a kilowatt, Then the heater would cost fifteen cents running for the full hour.
Which is what I said. If you draw reactive power you don't pay but the utility co. gets pissed off and wants you to do PF correction.
Yes. If it's on a thermostat, less if it cycles.
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