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Author Topic: 128+ Volts registering on a Furman Surge Protector  (Read 11100 times)

Mike Sokol

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Re: 128+ Volts registering on a Furman Surge Protector
« Reply #10 on: November 20, 2013, 06:46:24 PM »

Will do. Even if calibrated badly, there was a 5-10+ voltage swing. Weird. I'll post back!
I'm betting on a loose or undersized neutral. Get a licensed electrician to meter between the hot leg and the neutral while putting a load on the opposite hot leg. Lighting or electric heaters would do it. If the voltage moves up by more than a few volts when the opposite leg is loaded, then that's the neutral being dragged around. Of course, he can read the neutral wire size right from the wire insulation. Also have him tighten down all the bus lugs while he's in the box.

Please don't do this yourself since you don't want the liability if something goes wrong, since if not done correctly and something shorts out you can create an arc flash condition which would burn your face off (I'm not kidding). An arc flash is a rather large fireball of burning copper plasma hotter than the surface of the sun traveling at you faster than the speed of sound. You don't want to be in front of one of those when they go BANG.

Mike Sokol

Jonathan Johnson

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Re: 128+ Volts registering on a Furman Surge Protector
« Reply #11 on: November 20, 2013, 07:03:00 PM »

None of it was my gear.

As a contractor hired to perform services, it is expected that you will use your expertise to provide those services in a competent and safe manner. When unsafe conditions are present, you cannot fulfill that expectation. (Doing anything in an unsafe manner is a hallmark of incompetency.)

Your due diligence in this situation is to inform the responsible party (operator of the venue, the owner of the equipment, the promoter, etc.):
  • Your observations (overvoltage, undervoltage, incorrect or unsafe wiring, etc.)
  • The potential impact of the condition (equipment damage, personal injury, etc.)
  • Suggested corrective measures ("contact a licensed electrician")
  • Actions you will and will not take ("I'm not touching this" or "I'm not connecting my equipment until corrected")
  • Limitation of your liability ("I'm not qualified to rectify the problem" or "don't blame me when the lead guitarist gets electrocuted")
As this is a potentially dangerous situation, this should all be documented in writing with date, time, and location of observations. The responsible party should sign acknowledgement of receipt. (This doesn't imply responsibility, but only as proof they were informed.)

Should the worst-case scenario happen, being able to present documentation created at the time of observation carries a lot of weight in investigations and litigation.
Logged
Stop confusing the issue with facts and logic!

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Re: 128+ Volts registering on a Furman Surge Protector
« Reply #11 on: November 20, 2013, 07:03:00 PM »


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