Ask Me Help Desk - Loose Neutral or Inadequate Grounding?

Getting anywhere with this?

Like reading a book and find the last page is ripped out.

Is there anybody out there?
Need sound on...

SOLUTION FOUND: Sorry it took so long to find the solution and get it posted. I JUST got through it last week. I talked the power company into changing the transformer, that wasn't it. I replaced my service line that was undersized and had several splices, that wasn't it. At the same time, I upgraded and installed a transfer switch panel and TVSS. That didn't help, but I didn't think it would. While I was doing the change over, the power company monitored the service. The finally admitted IT WAS THEIR PROBLEM. They were seeing 86 volts at times (for a period of one or two seconds). They (the lineman and supervisor) decided to change my service to another phase. Thank you. Problem was immediately solved, for me. I've given as much information to the power company as possible for them to try to locate the issue. They are monitoring other locations and looking for a Hot Tap (bad connection) on their side. I suspected this all along. Many of you supported this. It has cost me about $2400 in monitoring and improvements, but I'm not bitter. It was service upgrades that I needed and wanted. I lost only one minor appliance with a transformer. Maybe $20 worth for a special clock radio. It needed to be upgraded also.

The power company denies that it is a local water pump, but I'm still suspicious. They thought that the occurrence could relate to wind events, I told them that this was not the case, because I documented time, date, and noted conditions. I wish them luck and I would hate to be on that phase until it is fixed.

Advice for others with this problem. 1) Identify the scope of the problem quickly (whole panel or single circuit) If it's a single circuit, then go box to box looking for loose neutrals or grounds. 2) Get monitoring with a professional quickly. Utilize multiple monitors on your side of the meter, the power company's side and at your panel. 3) Document the time, dates, and extent of power loss or voltage drops. 4) During the monitoring eliminate (turn off) all unneeded circuits to try to isolate the issue to 110 or 220 circuits. 5) If need be, write a letter to your power company documenting your issue and the costs and ask for help. (Luckily, I didn't need to)
6) Be sure that your service is clean and tight during monitoring and protect your valuable equipment. (fine electronics, pumps, motors, etc.) Electrical safety is important to you, your family, and your equipment.

A BIG Thanks to all that posted comments. Your support was great and helped educate me on my options.

Thanks for getting back on this problem, and putting up with my harassment trying to get a response.

Hmmm,where did I hear " do a recording first" before?

I added this thread to a Read First - Best of post to share this info to more people.

Good stuff.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wazzupete

I have a similar problem with surges and outages. I've had the local power company check their service and intall a monitor. However, they don't monitor the neutral leg. They told me the problem was on my side of the panel and I had a spike draw of 30 amps and unbalanced voltage during these times. They saw a problem on both hot legs, leading me to believe that it was isolated to my 220 equipment, which is limited. I started by turning off all the 220 circuits, but I still experienced the problem. I then had an electrician come in and tighten all the neutrals in the panel and the power company check their neutral connections again. Things seemed okay for a day or so, but it is back. What do I do next? Isolate each and every circuit? The surge/outage appears to occur throughout the system, which leads me to believe it is in the panel. Okay, my theory is that in very dry soils, like now, the ground is no longer truly grounded. Is this my next check?

Have you asked anyone else near your building if they were experiencing similar fluctuations?

Quote:

Originally Posted by mwmoore

Have you asked anyone else near your building if they were experiencing similar fluctuations?

Just to note:

The original post is from August of last year.

Also, the last reply by the original poster, made in Oct of '09, was that of thanks for the help since he has found a solution.

New folks, PLEASE read all the posts and check the dates before replying.