Skunky Dunk Farms
Cannabinoid Receptor
Replace the plug, if still low line replace wire.
Electrical help, please.
- Thread starter Jewels
- Start date
Skunky Dunk Farms
Cannabinoid Receptor
That black taped wire is a neutral.
I do not see an incoming/isolated ground coming in. Only grounds from circuits to a screw in the box.
This still doesn't mean the box is technically grounded.
You should havs an additional ground wire going back to your main breaker panel where it would terminate at the main buss.
Only a main should have combined ground and neautrals.
To try not to cause more confusion lol, a 12/3 type romex wire has 4 conductors.
2 lines, 1 neutral and 1 bare ground.
WillieP
In Bloom
Jewels,
The picture in post #11 of your overheads shows a 3-wire system.
The incoming power has three wires, 2 hots and a neutral.
That will be entering your weather head and going to your meter base through the conduit mast.
At the meter base the incoming neutral will be bonded (joined) to the grounding conductor that is connected to your ground rod.
From the meter base to the panel there will now be 4 conductors, 2 hots a neutral and a ground.
The same picture shows a free air cable that is traveling up the outside of your mast that is the feed to the lower overhead that feeds your remote sub-panel.
That shows that there are only 3 conductors in that overhead.
In a perfect world, there would be 4 conductors in that overhead, 2 hots, a neutral and a separate ground.
That is not the case here. If you care what to call that uninsulated overhead wire, you will need to follow the feed cable for the sub-panel back to the main panel and see where it is landed. Either on the neutral bus or the ground bus.
(But at that point they are electrically the same point, and it doesn't make a difference what we call it.)
The moral of the story is that it was very common at one point in history, to just use a 3 wire overhead to install a remote sub-panel. In fact, it was common to drive a separate ground rod to ground the sub-panel. This is not the currently approved method. It will create what is called ground loops, but that is a whole different topic.
All of that to say, that this has nothing to do with the fact that your light isn't working.
Is your out building's sub-panel wired up to current NEC code? No
Does that have anything to do with why your light is not working? No
So, how do we troubleshoot your light issue?
I would first recommend moving your light to a known functional outlet and see if your light works there.
This will prove if the problem is just in the light or in the outlet.
If the light works properly in a different outlet, then next I would use your meter as @M48 suggested to take voltage readings at the outlet in question.
Report back what you find, and we will go from there.
I hope that help clarify things. We'll get it figured out!
Cheers,
WillieP
The picture in post #11 of your overheads shows a 3-wire system.
The incoming power has three wires, 2 hots and a neutral.
That will be entering your weather head and going to your meter base through the conduit mast.
At the meter base the incoming neutral will be bonded (joined) to the grounding conductor that is connected to your ground rod.
From the meter base to the panel there will now be 4 conductors, 2 hots a neutral and a ground.
The same picture shows a free air cable that is traveling up the outside of your mast that is the feed to the lower overhead that feeds your remote sub-panel.
That shows that there are only 3 conductors in that overhead.
In a perfect world, there would be 4 conductors in that overhead, 2 hots, a neutral and a separate ground.
That is not the case here. If you care what to call that uninsulated overhead wire, you will need to follow the feed cable for the sub-panel back to the main panel and see where it is landed. Either on the neutral bus or the ground bus.
(But at that point they are electrically the same point, and it doesn't make a difference what we call it.)
The moral of the story is that it was very common at one point in history, to just use a 3 wire overhead to install a remote sub-panel. In fact, it was common to drive a separate ground rod to ground the sub-panel. This is not the currently approved method. It will create what is called ground loops, but that is a whole different topic.
All of that to say, that this has nothing to do with the fact that your light isn't working.
Is your out building's sub-panel wired up to current NEC code? No
Does that have anything to do with why your light is not working? No
So, how do we troubleshoot your light issue?
I would first recommend moving your light to a known functional outlet and see if your light works there.
This will prove if the problem is just in the light or in the outlet.
If the light works properly in a different outlet, then next I would use your meter as @M48 suggested to take voltage readings at the outlet in question.
Report back what you find, and we will go from there.
I hope that help clarify things. We'll get it figured out!
Cheers,
WillieP
Skunky Dunk Farms
Cannabinoid Receptor
I'll just give a quick example of a ground loop scenario.
This is a real world issue in my house from a previous "electrician " doin work "wrong".
When my washing machine is running in the wash cycle the overhead light in that room surges up and down slightly in brightness, this is caused by a "ground loop" situation where they didn't isolate the ground in the service box for the utility room. So the surging of the transmission in my washer loads the line through the motor back through the ground to the main instead of the neutral as it should.
,,I need to fix that lol.
Oh, and yes, Fluke is a great friend!
This is a real world issue in my house from a previous "electrician " doin work "wrong".
When my washing machine is running in the wash cycle the overhead light in that room surges up and down slightly in brightness, this is caused by a "ground loop" situation where they didn't isolate the ground in the service box for the utility room. So the surging of the transmission in my washer loads the line through the motor back through the ground to the main instead of the neutral as it should.
,,I need to fix that lol.
Oh, and yes, Fluke is a great friend!
Jewels
Tilts at Tables
Thanks, me friends!
As a follow-up, I was able to resolve this issue.
Pretty simple really, I promise a licensed professional at big sack of weed, and he came over and fixed it.
Dirty/corroded connections in the transmission lines, between the house and the garage. The circuits pretended to be there, but they were incapable of carrying any amperage.
On to new things.
The heater I use to keep the garden warm while the lights are off is a binary unit. I plug the heater in and it turns on. I unplug it and it turns off.
I have been using a timer to regulate the temperature.
When it is near freezing I run four × one hour duty cycle, on.
When I expect colder temperatures, I increase the duty cycle. Near -30 Celsius I am 80% on, over the 12 hours.
It is a real dance.
It is a real pain in the butt.
It is soon to be a thing of the past
I coughed up the $7, and purchased a remote thermostat.
I would like to ask for help, in wiring it.
Goals:
I want the sensor mounted closer to the ceiling.
I want the plug to be hot, when the temperature falls too low.
I want to build a 'power bar' that only supplies power, when the temperature falls too low
I want to wire a male extension cord to the outlet.
I want the outlet to be hot, at the thermostats demand.
That is a 110v thermostat.
There are only two terminals on the unit.
Question: is this a property engineered circuit ?
Is it going to do what I want it to do ?
As a follow-up, I was able to resolve this issue.
Pretty simple really, I promise a licensed professional at big sack of weed, and he came over and fixed it.
Dirty/corroded connections in the transmission lines, between the house and the garage. The circuits pretended to be there, but they were incapable of carrying any amperage.
On to new things.
The heater I use to keep the garden warm while the lights are off is a binary unit. I plug the heater in and it turns on. I unplug it and it turns off.
I have been using a timer to regulate the temperature.
When it is near freezing I run four × one hour duty cycle, on.
When I expect colder temperatures, I increase the duty cycle. Near -30 Celsius I am 80% on, over the 12 hours.
It is a real dance.
It is a real pain in the butt.
It is soon to be a thing of the past
I coughed up the $7, and purchased a remote thermostat.
I would like to ask for help, in wiring it.
Goals:
I want the sensor mounted closer to the ceiling.
I want the plug to be hot, when the temperature falls too low.
I want to build a 'power bar' that only supplies power, when the temperature falls too low
I want to wire a male extension cord to the outlet.
I want the outlet to be hot, at the thermostats demand.
That is a 110v thermostat.
There are only two terminals on the unit.
Question: is this a property engineered circuit ?
Is it going to do what I want it to do ?
Willie
🍓 Crush Genetics 🍓
That looks good from here. I assume you have a mark for where the black line goes in on that t stat.
That'd be correct the way you drew it in. Thermo switch being just like a light switch only interrupting the hot line.
Anytime mang. Had missed this thread before, tag me next time if need be.
Jewels
Tilts at Tables
Well, Princess Auto did have a little dandy on sale last time I was there.
Once I get this HVAC situation figured out, I will be delving into that.
And not alone
🐰⚡🐰
Always something needs our attention. Lol
I've had many a sale prompt a home improvement of one sort or another.
Always so nice when it's finally done,and you can admire yer work, and or appreciate the benefits it brings. 😉
Imho @Jewels goal is to do it all as low cost yet functional as possible. Oftentimes building/repairing it himself. I'm often in that same boat. Lol
When you met Cecil it'll start to make more sense.
The unit being powered is of another vintage.
Also,
The unit being powered is of another vintage.
Jewels
Tilts at Tables
Thats the spirit!
$3.99 , Princess Auto Clearance
Looks simple enough
These instructions are messing with me.
This timer was intended to replace a switch. I believe that is why the complete circuit is not Illustrated
In the grand scheme of things,mains are attached to the timer. Timer provides power to outlet. Outlet is interruptible by switch.
The diagram does not address the downstream neutral wire. I believe I am correct in wiring it like this.
Why ??
Because the moment I start messing with this, I lose.
That slider would only get me into trouble. Hoping to get a few years out of these things; it definitely looks like the weakest link, that slider might break the first time I touch it.
Synchronizing multiple timers is tricky business, and I am my own worst enemy. Looking to build two of these things ( one for each breaker) . Tired of messing things up, I want to get these timers set correctly, and never touch them again.
Rather than yoinking plugs, in order to make adjustments;
I want a nice, big, familiar, reliable switch.
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