Electrical Mystery

[LittleBill21]

This is how I have my meter connected.

View attachment 2123808

you have to wire the meter in series with the bulb, we can't tell here, but it seems right, its about .2 amp, but again this does not help in this situation.

 

[LittleBill21]

To test for amps you have to be in series with the line.
From your description I suspect a poor connection between the breaker and the the junction box.

Or a possibly a short (restive connection not enough to trip a breaker) in the wire at or going to the post where you have not yet installed a light. You might try turning the breaker all the way off and back on.

garry don't jump the gun, I wanted this to last more then 30 seconds LOL

 

[RandyT]

OL is overload I am not surprised it didn't blow the protection fuse in the meter. You need to connect the amp meter is series with the light bulb in your test. I would not be surprised if you switched the meter back to volts and connects the meter in series with the light bulb that the voltage would drop to a very low number I suspect like others that the issue is either in the underground wire on a bad connection at the breaker itself.

 

[ponytug]

This is how I have my meter connected.

View attachment 2123808

Sorry, but that is a great way to blow an ammeter. Series only.

The fact that you did that and neither the ammeter blew nor your breaker blew suggests to me that you have a wiring issue, with a bad connection, or an almost broken wire somewhere.

After you check all of your connections, I would put a space heater at the base of the pole and read both current and voltage. Breakers and underground wiring do go bad, but I would start with checking for no corrosion, good connections, and tight wire nuts first.

All the best,

Peter

 

[murphy1244]

What does that mean?

It means to connect in a series. Like bypassing a switch. Connect thru 1 side of the line

 

[LittleBill21]

man I hope eddie doesn't charge by the hour, he's taking forever to get that voltage reading.

 

[EddieWalker]

I don't understand the comments about connecting in a series to measure amps, so I'm going to abandon that for now.

With the light attached to the wire, my voltage dropped in half. It's bouncing between 60 and 63 volts.

I need to get some things done before a big winter storm hits tomorrow, so I'm going to run an extension cord to the pole and power it that way for now. I'll look at the breaker box when the weather gets better

Thank you for all the suggestions. My current thoughts are that the wire in the ground was damaged by my wife planting stuff, or the breaker has failed.

 

[LittleBill21]

I don't understand the comments about connecting in a series to measure amps, so I'm going to abandon that for now.

With the light attached to the wire, my voltage dropped in half. It's bouncing between 60 and 63 volts.

I need to get some things done before a big winter storm hits tomorrow, so I'm going to run an extension cord to the pole and power it that way for now. I'll look at the breaker box when the weather gets better

Thank you for all the suggestions. My current thoughts are that the wire in the ground was damaged by my wife planting stuff, or the breaker has failed.

as expected.

plan of action

go to the box on the fence post and do the exact same thing.

check voltage.
check wiring
attach bulb
bright or dim
same voltage with bulb lit?

if bulb is bright and voltage is stable at 118 etc. you have a problem with the connection or wire, from the fence to the lower section of the pole. strip the wiring back on both sides about an inch, make sure its shiny copper and use new wire terminals

if voltage/bulb is doing same thing.

then go to the breaker panel, check the breaker is fully seated, and the wiring is tight.
flip breaker on and off fully 3 times, retest.

if still dim

check voltage at the screw terminal on the breaker, with bulb lit, if still low, replace breaker,

if good, you have a issue with the wire between breaker and fence post.

 

[CliffordK]

I don't understand the comments about connecting in a series to measure amps, so I'm going to abandon that for now.

Many electrical testers are only good for about 10 amps or it will blow a fuse inside the tester, and perhaps damage the tester.

Yours says "2A Max" on the tester.

If you plug one lead of the tester to the hot, and one lead to the neutral while testing amps, then bad things could happen (15A or 20A fuse?)

So, what you do is: Hot --> Tester in --> tester out --> Load (light bulb) in --> Load (light bulb) out --> Neutral.

Then it depends on your load. A 100W, 120V light bulb would take just under 1A, and should be OK. A 5W, 120V LED would take about 0.05A.

Now, if you get a clamp on ammeter, it can take a lot more amps because it doesn't actually connect to the wires.

 

[ponytug]

I don't understand the comments about connecting in a series to measure amps, so I'm going to abandon that for now.

With the light attached to the wire, my voltage dropped in half. It's bouncing between 60 and 63 volts.

I need to get some things done before a big winter storm hits tomorrow, so I'm going to run an extension cord to the pole and power it that way for now. I'll look at the breaker box when the weather gets better

Thank you for all the suggestions. My current thoughts are that the wire in the ground was damaged by my wife planting stuff, or the breaker has failed.

For when the storm hits, and you have time on your hands;

All the best,

Peter

 

[flyerdan]

Eddy, think of series as flow. You can measure fluid pressure by putting a gauge on a line, but to get the flow you need to have it going into and out of the gauge, or in this case, DMM. A switch is a series item, just think of the amp feature as replacing a switch in the circuit and it will give results.

 

[grsthegreat]

Try this. Hook op the led lamp socket and lamp, and at the same time, plug in your tester to the same wire nuts and set meter to ACVolts. See if the reading drops when the light turns on.

 

[LittleBill21]

Try this. Hook op the led lamp socket and lamp, and at the same time, plug in your tester to the same wire nuts and set meter to ACVolts. See if the reading drops when the light turns on.

we already determined he has a 60v drop. I provided the steps he needs to follow about 10 posts up

 

[scott_vt]

Good Evening Eddie,
Sounds like LilBill has mapped it out for you !

I’m guessing that when you reinstall a new 12/2 line you will be running it through conduit rather than direct burial !

Good Luck with the fix !

 

[grsthegreat]

we already determined he has a 60v drop. I provided the steps he needs to follow about 10 posts up

Didnt catch that. With his 60v drop, he has a rotten line underground. Also why i NEVER go direct bury. In the past i have successfully found broken and damaged wires by using an underground locating service i frequent. Hes amazing at finding the exact trouble spot. Though its much easier if wire was totally damaged.

 

[ponytug]

Didnt catch that. With his 60v drop, he has a rotten line underground. Also why i NEVER go direct bury. In the past i have successfully found broken and damaged wires by using an underground locating service i frequent. Hes amazing at finding the exact trouble spot. Though its much easier if wire was totally damaged.

And having underground cables are why I spent money on a wire locator that could find both the cables and corroded / bad sections. I don't use it often, but when I do, it saves so much time and effort. Definitely a great auction score.

All the best,

Peter

 

[grsthegreat]

I have a basic locator, but it cant accurately find damaged cables. The guy i hire tells me where issue and the depth of the wire. Always within a few inches.

 

[dieselscout80]

And having underground cables are why I spent money on a wire locator that could find both the cables and corroded / bad sections. I don't use it often, but when I do, it saves so much time and effort. Definitely a great auction score.

All the best,

Peter

How much is this type locator?

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm thinking about the wire being damaged, I'm remembering that my wife dug up the area where the line was to save some of her plants from the dogs. After installing the line, we decided that we needed another dog run, so I fenced in an area of the yard that went through her shade garden. Once the dogs where in there, the plants started to die, and she is borde line psychotic about her plants, so she dug them up to save them. We're pretty sure that she damaged the wire. That narrows down where I need to look for the damage, and where I'll start digging when things warm up again.

What I didn't know, and I still don't understand, is how a damaged wire can reduce the voltage in half? I thought that if it's broke, it's not working. If it's exposed to the soil, it's shorting out and tripping the breaker.

 

[ponytug]

I'm thinking about the wire being damaged, I'm remembering that my wife dug up the area where the line was to save some of her plants from the dogs. After installing the line, we decided that we needed another dog run, so I fenced in an area of the yard that went through her shade garden. Once the dogs where in there, the plants started to die, and she is borde line psychotic about her plants, so she dug them up to save them. We're pretty sure that she damaged the wire. That narrows down where I need to look for the damage, and where I'll start digging when things warm up again.

What I didn't know, and I still don't understand, is how a damaged wire can reduce the voltage in half? I thought that if it's broke, it's not working. If it's exposed to the soil, it's shorting out and tripping the breaker.

Think of it as a partially clogged pipe. If you only ask for a tiny amount of water, you would never notice, but filling a bucket might take forever, and if you measured the pressure at the end of the pipe with no flow, you would measure full pressure.

The wire is probably partially cut through in one or more places, increasing the resistance to the flow of current.

Since this is a direct bury cable, apparently not too deep, outside, this is a GFI breaker, right? Those do go bad, more quickly in areas of thunderstorms.

All the best,

Peter