How do you check for proper neutral ?

Unknown

And when it lights up between a hot and neutral , you know the cicuit is good . But how do you test for a good neutral using a good digital tester ? Is there a certain voltage to look for ? A problem came up where there was a faulty neutral wire at the service pole and knocked out a triple aquastat and relay , as well as a refrigerator , tv , and all the lights . It also happened at my house long ago with the same results .

Frank_17

nuetral

Test hot and nuetral should be within 8% of rating ie. 120v will be 111v-129v
220 = 203v-237v
then check hot to ground same tests

Unknown

Thank you Frank

Im gonna try that today .

eleft(retired)

Knocked out?

> And when it lights up between a hot and neutral

> , you know the cicuit is good . But how do you

> test for a good neutral using a good digital

> tester ? Is there a certain voltage to look for

> ? A problem came up where there was a faulty

> neutral wire at the service pole and knocked out

> a triple aquastat and relay , as well as a

> refrigerator , tv , and all the lights . It also

> happened at my house long ago with the same

> results .

Howard

Better Yet

check voltage between neutral and some conduit or a cold water pipe. I don't know what the spec is but I'd be suspicious if it's more than a volt or two.
Howard in Chicagoland

Jamie Hall

right

and neutral to ground (same plug or box) should be in the low millivolt to zero range.

An open neutral, as you found out, can cause an incredible amount of damage.

It can also burn your house down.

It can also kill you.

Be very careful!

Joe at krahezfoo@aol.com

Checking for neutral-electrical that is!

Most electrical distribution systems in service today; and I stress "most"; have the transformer neutral grounded to earth ground. There should not be a measurable voltage potential between the neutral wire and a good earth ground. I do not put a lot of faith in digital meters, Wiggies, or test lamps. The old standby for me is the Simpson 260; has saved my butt several times. Digitals are very unreliable when they are exposed to cold or damp conditions; like in a service truck. They also seem to pick up spurious readings possibly caused by induction. If you get a measurable potential difference between the neutral and a good earth ground (a water pipe or a conduit) be cautious of it! If the neutral is broken, the ground or possibly you will become the new neutral. If you have any doubt, play it safe and check it with another meter. Or tell your wife to touch it first and see what happens. Just kidding! It's when we become too cocky or take shortcuts that we get hurt or hurt others. Don't take chances with electricity and live and long and prosperous life. Hope this helps, good luck.

Unknown

That reminds me of one time

where we cut a pipe out on a boiler job , it was a heating pipe , and all the lights went out in the house . Some scary stuff goes on when youre not lookin . In my toolbox I carry a pigtail tester and a Craftsman analog tester . I got a digital but rarely use it . What type of tester is the Simpson ?

Joe at krahezfoo@aol.com

To ropski69@aol.com

Hopefully this message gets to you, this computer stuff is all new to me. Make many mistakes, and have to brush up on the typing; it's been 33 years. When you cut through the pipe, I'm suprised that you didn't see a lot of sparks or had a hole blown through te cutting wheel. If the lights went out when you did this, probably the ground was bonded to the pipe upstream of where you cut. The neutral may have been broken, or worse yet, they used an earth ground for the neutral. Think of a ground as a backup neutral. It will travel from hot to neutral or ground; it doesn't care which one it goes to! Just make sure you don't become the ground! To respond to your question regarding the Simpson 260; this is an analog meter that has been around for a long time. It is a very durable meter, very reliable; doesn't seem to be affected by temperature or humidity. Mine has taken a lot of abuse for the last 25 years. Dropped it from a 8ft. ladder. Had to Superglue the case and handle, but works fine. Takes a lickin and keeps on tickin! It's a pricey piece of equipment, but well worth the cost. Digitals have their place, but wouldn't put my life on the line with them. Fluke had a big recall on their meters this past summer; and they are one of the best on the market. Pipe tight, do it right! Joe.

Unknown

The house it happened in

was abandoned , and we were upgrading the boiler and the piping that froze during the winter . We were lucky in that there was not much power on in the house - maybe a few lights . We didnt get involved with the wiring problems of the house , but youre probably right - they lost the neutral wire somewhere and the ground wire was taking all the slack . Not that it was meant to do that at all. We never tracked down where the ground wire was connected ,but it had to be a heating pipe that someone mistook for the cold pipe . I know this question makes me sound like I might be a little naive to wiring , but truth be told , Ive been wiring boilers for almost 17 years . I know the difference between the neutral and ground wires , but you wouldnt believe how many breaker boxes I see with both neutral and ground tied into the same bus bar . I asked my original question because this issue hardly ever comes up on a boiler replacement - usually the old boiler is working fine when we rip it out . And a bright light on the simple , 2 dollar pigtail tester is usually good enough for us . Thanks Joe .

Mark J Strawcutter

neutral/ground bonding

> but you wouldnt believe how many breaker

> boxes I see with both neutral and ground tied

> into the same bus bar .


Around here that would be OK in the main service panel where ground and neutral are bonded. In subpanels they must be isolated from each other.

Mark

Lowell Thiesen

nuetral-ground

Thank you for this timely information, after 30 years in the field I had not seen this happen, then in the last 6 months I had it happen twice when installing new water services. Thanks again, Lowell Thiesen, Thiesen Plb Inc.

Joe at krahezfoo@aol.com

To ropski and mjstraw - the question of neutral

Like I said before, most of todays electrical distribution systems have the neutral and ground tied together at the transformer. So there is no distinction between the two; both are the same; both are earth ground. The ground wire is basically a backup wire for the neutral. When reading potential difference between the two (neutral and ground) there should be no significant difference. That is why I like an analog meter like the Simpson 260; she has been good to me for 30 years. I am still hesitant about the digitals. Don't like getting shocked on the job, only during therapy! Wasn't knocking the test lights; have several of those around here. But being so small, they find their hiding spaces in my truck and don't show up when I need them. Clean the truck out once before heating season and once before cooling season. Need an 18-wheeler to carry everything we need to do the job. Pipe tight, do it right! Joe.

Unknown

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