Re: Split phase voltage fluctuations

["George Ross" <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Sounds Like Someplace to Hunt Squirls


"BruceR" <razrbruce@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:45b5185c$0$28128$4c368faf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> 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...
>
>