Help Dell...Is my Circuit Tester Nuts?

Anyway, I ran across something yesterday that I hadn"t seen before. I will explain.

I have an electrical outlet that I wanted to replace the plug. So I checked with my little GB checker..the light blinked and it chirped warning me that the plug was hot.

So I turned off the Circuit breaker and the tester still blinked and chirped. I went out to the service pole...and turned off the electricity to the entire shop. The tester still blinked and chirped. So, I got my volt meter to make sure the line was dead. And it was. What would cause the tester to show live electricity...when none was there?

Roland

An "Amprobe" to measure AMPS is inductively coupled.

The little cheapy tool he is talking about to give a "go/no-go" test for Volts almost certainly operates by CAPACITANCE, as you just approach one side of the wire with it, not SURROUND the wire with it, as with an "Amprobe".

Howsomevers; sounds like the wall sockett is wired backwards. I have a very simple 3-prong plug-in (don't remember the name or number) that has 3-lites, and will lite-up according to the various combinations of possible connections. (or miss-connections, as the case may be)

The rule: BLK is HOT, WHT is COLD, GRN or bare is GND.

Don't forget, you may have the miss-wiring in yer circuit breaker box and not the wall-outlet..... ..Dell, not a household electrician

TOH

lots of issues it could be..

Soundguy

I wired a house down in Hoston area in a new subdivision some many years ago. Passed inspection and people moved in. Got a service call that the owners were getting a slight elecrical shock when they showerd!!! That is NOT good. Went out there, tested everything! With my meter leades in the water flow and grounded to drain plumbing, had 86 volts!! Everything else read correct, checked inside the outside breaker box. No problems what so ever. We went out side and sat on the tail gate of the truck and thought about it for some long time. I was tossing my long screwdriver into the ground just out of boredom. Hooked my volt meter to the screw driver and the tail gate of the truck, just for the heck of it.. Got a volatage reading of apx 85V !!! got another meter and checked it with that!!! Freaked me out!! Called boss, he called power company, they came and I showed them, they tired it and confirmed the readings.

What the problem was, there was a set of steel high voltage power lines right there where we were parked, in the back yard of the house. All perfectly leagal of course. The inheritatied current wave from the high voltage power lines were generating a force field if you will. The metal plumbing and metal air ducts in the house were picking that "wave" and since the piping was metal and the house wiring was all grounded to earth, there was current from the water pipes to the drain lines.

To prove the issue, they killed that huge power line and the voltage went away. They had to come ground every metal tower with a huge ground cable..Problem solved.

Lots of ground straps would have helped that situation. When i was a kid, me and a friend would get a couple flourescent light tubes and go stand out under the high tension lines running down a local highway.. at night the emw made the tubes flouresce.. looke dlike you had a light sabre... etc. same principle..

Soundguy

David
(1st Class FCC Licensed 2 Way radio Tech).

And Sound Guy,, nope, not Ham, thought about it several times, just never did license out. understand there are newer license but have not looked into it. Just what I need, another hobby to throw money at. :-) Used to love to shoot the skip on CB, had a legal CD rig at home and lived just the right distance from Galveston Bay and hit a wave skip off that body of water and talk to Flordia like across the block.. Course all the stars and the moon had to aling just right with a front approaching from the west of SW :-) ... Was durn fun back then. Now, we got high speed interent,, just the natural progression of things.

Wouldn't happen to also be a ham would you?

73's

De ke4rrd ( soundguy )