[mikeguyon]

As soon as I turn a new bulb into the socket in my garage ceiling the bulb blows out.
My power in the house is OK and at load center in the garage. I have 3 breakers for the ceiling lights and the wall outlets. The two outside breakers show no power but the center breaker on a Sperry SP-152A shows the ACV DB at 22. All the wires are tight too.

What's happening?

Thanks
Mike

[medic-dan]

What country are you in?

What range is the meter in? Set it for ACV - 250. You don't read the DB line, that isn't the scale for volts. If you see where it says, just above the ACV arc, 10/50/250 one above the other, that's the scale to use.

What model panel do you have?

[mikeguyon]

I'm set at V~250. When I check the hot and ground on the breaker it goes all the way to ACV 10,50,250.

Mike

[mikeguyon]

I'm in the United States

Sorry
Mike

[ma0641]

Sounds like you have somehow got a 2 hot wire setup and 240VAC. Sure 2 of the breakers aren't paired?

[mikeguyon]

The 3 breakers are wired separately.

There is a 220v in the box also

And this entire problem could have happened during a storm. I just did not go into the garage for a couple of days after the storm.

Mike

[mikeguyon]

My Load Center cover says:

Square D
120/240V. A.C. 1PH 3W.
Mains 100 AMP. MAX.

[medic-dan]

Is there any way you can post a picture of the box?

You should have 3 or 4 heavy gauge wires coming into the panel. Hopefully you'll find one marked with white for the neutral and the ground should be green. The other two wires are the feed, if this is a 240 volt panel which it seems to be. Can you carefully measure from each of the hot wires to ground? If there are 4 wires can you also measure to neutral?

You may have lost a neutral.

[mikeguyon]

There is a 3 wire power coming into the load center, two black and a bare ground.

[mikeguyon]

I measured both the blacks they are showing 4,20,100 just at 110

[mikeguyon]

If my power coming in is OK, and the 220 for the compressor is OK, could there be something wrong with the 3 breakers or the something inside the load center past the 220 breaker be bad, because the 220 breaker is first in the line?

Mike

[medic-dan]

How many volts do you read at the light socket?

[mikeguyon]

Acv 10/50/250

Same as the breaker

[ma0641]

Acv 10/50/250

same as the breaker

What is 10/50/250? Sounds like a range, not a voltage.

[mikeguyon]

I'm using a Sperry SP-152A analog meter. The ACV is recording all they way to the right. The only numbers showing are 10/50/250

[hkstroud]

Please review Sperry SP-152A instructions.

"To read AC voltage use the red “AC” arc. Use the
Numbers whose full scale reading matches the range
Selected by the “selector switch”."

Depending on voltage selector setting that is either 10 volts or 50 volts or 250 volts but we don't know which. Probably 250 since you are blowing bulbs.

Is this some thing new? What changes to wiring have been done? This is not something that "just happens"

[mikeguyon]

Never had to do any repairs to the wiring. But we did have a bad storm go through. I'm set at V~250, it's reading 250

[hkstroud]

Set your selector above the highest possible voltage you could have. Since it is possible to have 240V, set selector to 250 or 1000, read actual voltage on scale that ends with the number 250.

[hkstroud]

And you are getting 250v at bulb holder?

[mikeguyon]

Yes