when i use the lights or anything else the voltage drops and the excess goes to the other leg. ex, if i get 86v on the circuit being used, the other gets 154v. if i add anything else , it hardly works at all. now if i put a load on the opposite leg it balaces off. ex if i run my drill on the receptacle circuit, the lights get brighter
2007-03-11 13:47:21 · 5 answers · asked by derrick s 2 in Home & Garden ➔ Do It Yourself (DIY)
Check your wiring, in particular the neutral. Something must not be right. A voltage sag may be normal if ou didn't use a large enough gauge wire. But the 120 branches should never be driven upwards as I believe you have described.
I ran one to me my shed. It was about 30 yards from the house. We used 6 awg and I placed a 240V/60 amp breaker in the house panel to supply it. I've got welders, a 6.5 horse compressor, plasma torch and so on. Lights barely dim and the power never surges.
2007-03-11 15:02:17 · answer #1 · answered by KirksWorld 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It is wired incorrectly. The neutral (grounded conductor) is floating. Stop using it immediately or serious damage to the appliances will result, and the possibility of fire is high.
If you ran a 240V supply to a service in an outbuilding, it should have been run with four wires - two hot legs (black and/or red), a white "neutral" and a green equipment ground.
You should have driven a ground rod (or installed an alternate approved ground) and bonded that to the neutral bar in the sub panel. The green bonding screw should have been removed, and the green wire from the feed should have been connected to a separate bus bar which is bolted directly to the steel frame of the sub panel.
The two hot legs should have been connected to the "Line In" terminals, and the white (neutral) wire should have been landed on the neutral bus.
You've done something wrong. Get qualified help and fix the problem. In the meantime, turn off the feed to the sub panel.
2007-03-11 15:07:47 · answer #2 · answered by Hank 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Probably in the circuit breakers.
Try switching off all the 110 circuit breakers except the one that you are using for the load. Then measure the voltage and see what happens. If it still does the same thing, Id suspect that main breaker switch has something inside that has let go and it is defective..
Im assuming you ran like a #6 wires out there for your load center or at least something larger than a #10
2007-03-11 15:54:45 · answer #3 · answered by James M 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
It is definitely a problem with the neutral (white) wire from the main circuit breaker panel.
2007-03-11 20:40:50 · answer #4 · answered by Tech Dude 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you should always attempt to balance your load in the b/box so each side has and equal amt used.
you'll notice it better if the branch you took off the main is balanced also.
like, balance 1st then draw your power from one side then the other.
you may have all the b/boxes unbalanced
2007-03-11 14:17:46 · answer #5 · answered by ticketoride04 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋