Re: Split phase voltage fluctuations

["BruceR" <razrbruce@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Sounds like a good ad for underground service!

 Lewis Gardner wrote:
> Yesterday the UPSes were complaining and the lights were flickering
> much more than usual at my house. Since I live off the side of a side
> street and it was cold, wet and icy I figured that the problem was
> external to my house. Rather than call the utility on a wet weekend I
> decided to do some troubleshooting.
>
> Using a recording voltmeter I first checked between the phase
> conductors. Over several hours (and many UPS events) the  fluctuations
> was  9 VAC. Certainly not enough to cause lights to flicker to the
> degree they were. Then I checked between each phase conductor and
> neutral. One leg showed a  fluctuations of 23 VAC and the other 21
> VAC. The highest recorded voltage was 146 VAC and the lowest 108 VAC.
> There were several 30 second intervals where the voltage stayed above
> 135 VAC. Obviously there was a problem with the neutral.
>
> A crew came this morning and replaced the overhead service line to the
> pole. Squirrels (most likely) had chewed the neutral messenger wire
> down to one aluminum and one steel wire!
>
> I had guessed that a connection in the meter base was loose but after
> checking that the service guy spotted roughness on the top of the
> messenger wire. The bad places where located where phase wires were on
> the bottom and a squirrel could sit and gnaw. These were easy to see
> with a pair of binoculars. There was not a 6' section without damage.
>
> After the overhead service was replaced a test of phase to neutral
> with various loads shows  fluctuations of 5 VAC or less between 125
> VAC and 120 VAC. Much better.
>
> Something else to check if the UPSes beep...