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Author Topic: funky 14-50 outlet  (Read 4166 times)

Matt Vivlamore

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funky 14-50 outlet
« on: October 17, 2021, 05:37:19 PM »

I plugged my distro into a 14-50 outlet and then went to meter it and got some weird readings.  With my Distro breakers ON, I was getting 219-221v on the Edison outlets and the circuit tester was reading as 'Correct Wiring' and with my Distro breakers OFF, I was getting 49-51v and the circuit tester was still reading 'Correct Wiring'.

When I called for building maintenance, he came out and told me that the property isn't wired for 220v power and looked at my meter and walked away.  Dummy me didn't meter the actual 14-50 outlet.

Whats your thoughts on this?  What is happening?

Distro is from EMG, 50' Cali extension is from LEX and I built (used before) the 14-50 to CS6364 adapter.
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Tim McCulloch

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Re: funky 14-50 outlet
« Reply #1 on: October 17, 2021, 06:01:35 PM »

I plugged my distro into a 14-50 outlet and then went to meter it and got some weird readings.  With my Distro breakers ON, I was getting 219-221v on the Edison outlets and the circuit tester was reading as 'Correct Wiring' and with my Distro breakers OFF, I was getting 49-51v and the circuit tester was still reading 'Correct Wiring'.

When I called for building maintenance, he came out and told me that the property isn't wired for 220v power and looked at my meter and walked away.  Dummy me didn't meter the actual 14-50 outlet.

Whats your thoughts on this?  What is happening?

Distro is from EMG, 50' Cali extension is from LEX and I built (used before) the 14-50 to CS6364 adapter.

A couple of immediate thoughts are a mis-wired 14-50 and/or failed neutral connection.
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Nathan Riddle

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Re: funky 14-50 outlet
« Reply #2 on: October 17, 2021, 06:55:53 PM »

he came out and told me that the property isn't wired for 220v power and looked at my meter and walked away.

What does that even mean?

What planet is he from?

I know of no electrical system that isn't...
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Geoff Doane

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Re: funky 14-50 outlet
« Reply #3 on: October 17, 2021, 08:14:37 PM »

I plugged my distro into a 14-50 outlet and then went to meter it and got some weird readings.  With my Distro breakers ON, I was getting 219-221v on the Edison outlets and the circuit tester was reading as 'Correct Wiring' and with my Distro breakers OFF, I was getting 49-51v and the circuit tester was still reading 'Correct Wiring'.


Perhaps they've wired the outlet for 3 phase (no neutral) instead of 2 hots, neutral and ground.  Although that doesn't explain why the circuit tester said "Correct".

GTD
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Tim McCulloch

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Re: funky 14-50 outlet
« Reply #4 on: October 17, 2021, 08:59:59 PM »

Perhaps they've wired the outlet for 3 phase (no neutral) instead of 2 hots, neutral and ground.  Although that doesn't explain why the circuit tester said "Correct".

GTD

I thought about that, too, but the voltages are either too high for 208V service and too low for 120/240V service.  One of the reasons my gut says there are a couple things going on.
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Stephen Swaffer

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Re: funky 14-50 outlet
« Reply #5 on: October 18, 2021, 12:21:38 PM »

49-51 volts with the breakers off and no load (I am assuming, since you were testing nothing was connected/on?)  doesn't surprise me with a high impedance DMM.  Sometimes referred to as "phantom voltages" they are induced voltages that will disappear with almost any load.

Otherwise, I agree with Tim, miswired or missing neutral, or both.  220 on a 240 service wouldn't raise any red flags for me-its a bit low, but I'm used to rural farm services where anything within 10% may very well be normal.  I've seen voltage swings of 5% on systems depending on the time of day/week and system POCO system loading.
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Caleb Dueck

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Re: funky 14-50 outlet
« Reply #6 on: October 18, 2021, 02:30:40 PM »

When I called for building maintenance, he came out and told me that the property isn't wired for 220v power and looked at my meter and walked away. 

I would have pressed for exactly how it was wired then.  If he knows it's not wired correctly, that means he knows or can show you how it is wired. 
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Chris Hindle

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Re: funky 14-50 outlet
« Reply #7 on: October 18, 2021, 05:48:42 PM »

I would have pressed for exactly how it was wired then.  If he knows it's not wired correctly, that means he knows or can show you how it is wired.

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brian maddox

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Re: funky 14-50 outlet
« Reply #8 on: October 18, 2021, 06:00:58 PM »

I would have pressed for exactly how it was wired then.  If he knows it's not wired correctly, that means he knows or can show you how it is wired.

I greatly admire your optimism
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Tim Hite

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Re: funky 14-50 outlet
« Reply #9 on: October 18, 2021, 06:54:50 PM »

I plugged my distro into a 14-50 outlet and then went to meter it and got some weird readings.  With my Distro breakers ON, I was getting 219-221v on the Edison outlets and the circuit tester was reading as 'Correct Wiring' and with my Distro breakers OFF, I was getting 49-51v and the circuit tester was still reading 'Correct Wiring'.

When I called for building maintenance, he came out and told me that the property isn't wired for 220v power and looked at my meter and walked away.  Dummy me didn't meter the actual 14-50 outlet.

Whats your thoughts on this?  What is happening?

Distro is from EMG, 50' Cali extension is from LEX and I built (used before) the 14-50 to CS6364 adapter.

We recently installed a 120/240 transformer and had exactly this problem. It was a step down from a 480/208 system.

The issue turned out to be that the neutral on the transformer wasn't tapped correctly and our "master electrician" had wired the neutral to ground instead of to the center tap on the transformer.

The real pain in the ass was that everything tested correctly without a load from leg to leg, but when the breakers were flipped on I got the strange voltage readings. Connecting the neutral correctly fixed everything immediately.
« Last Edit: October 19, 2021, 01:51:29 PM by Tim Hite »
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Re: funky 14-50 outlet
« Reply #9 on: October 18, 2021, 06:54:50 PM »


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