doing some new wiring in my shop and have some questions...when I check my outlets they show around 119 volts, when I check my 220 outlet it only shows like 60 volts?? the 220 is on the old service panel, I pulled the outlet off and checked the wires and it still only showed 60 volts (thus eliminating a problem in the outlet??) Is it possible that the circuit breakers are only letting so much voltage through and need replaced?? I thought circuit breakers either worked or didnt work??? thanks- oh...btw...the 220 will be for my old lincoln arc welder
60 volts across both phases or individually? Sounds like your breaker is hitting two poles of the same phase In other words check one wire at a time for voltage. If individually you have 119 then you get the 60 volts. you will know to nove your breaker up or down to get both phases.
that was my thought. It sounds to me like he is checking across the phases rather than each at a time. Hopefully it is as simple as that, if not, it isn't too hard to fix the breaker issue.
I am using a digital multi-tester, stabbing one probe in one side of the outlet and one it the other, the outlet was wired with black on one side, red on the other and the white neutral...
stab on probe in one side and one in the 'ground' plug. you should read rouphly 110, then do the other one. 110 + 110 = 220
that is what I was thinking...thanks for the info! is that how I also need to check my 110 outlets, was I doing that incorrect?? thanks!!
no your 110 outlets where correct. 119 volts is the 'roughly' I was talking about. in a 110 outlet you are checking from the hot side to the neutral, which is correct. on a 220 plug you have two hots and a neutral so you have to check each 'phase' and add the two together. Thank you for attending my wiring 101 cl***.
don't take this wrong...... I send my kids to howstuffworks.com all the time. it is a great site. here is a run down on how your outlets work. http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/question110.htm Again, I am not trying to talk down to you, just trying to help. wiring is a foriegn language to a lot of people.
I totally appreciate the help, your not "talking down" to me at all! Its refreshing to actually have someone offer help when asking about electricity rather than saying "dont touch it, you dont know what youre doing!" I do no my limitations and defer to the professionals when needed, but alot of this labor is well within my capabilities with alittle guidance. Its kinda like building our cars, we build them all ourselves (as much as possible) and you get an intimate knowledge of your car that - I approach this shop the same way, do all I can myself (that I am capable of, that it is prudent to do) and I have an intimate knowledge of it (essential when troubleshooting problems), long way of saying, thanks for the help!
Dan, 119 volts is considered good. The current industry standards are 120 volts and 240 volts, + or - 5%. Be aware that an open leg will sometime read as low voltage on a digital meter when checking across both legs of a 240 circuit. Most people in the trade use a device called a "wiggy" or "wiggins" to check for relative voltage because it uses a coil to place a load on the circuit being measured.
You can get 110v to ground from each side of a 220v circuit with both legs coming from the same bus bar. To get 220v you need to have opposite phase legs, off each side of the busbar. You do need to check across both legs to prperly check for 220v. I work on 220v dryers and ranges all day so I do have to check it everyday. It does sound like you have a problem in the breaker or in the wiring. If you can check at the output of the breaker in the power box itself. Be VERY careful when doing this, it is very easy to get a big shock in there. jerry
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