Power Line to my house was broken

ponytug · Mar 28, 2021

You do want to be careful if your neutral is missing. It is possible for the 120 in your house to be 240 as a result. Basically, the electricity from each phase has nowhere to go but against the other phase. Friends have had lots of electronics go up in smoke over missing neutrals.

I would double check your voltages on both phases, and consider disconnecting everything until that neutral is fixed if it is yours.

You can google "missing neutral" for lots of examples.

All the best, Peter

coobie · Mar 28, 2021

Has anyone checked your voltage at your meter socket?You should have 120 volts between each hot leg and neutral and 240 volts between each hot leg.If not you will could have serious issues.The power company offers this service for free.

Diggin It · Mar 28, 2021

I'd say the power company needs to get there super quick. It's hard to tell from pictures, but the two lines between poles are usually hot. They get tapped off at the transformer to provide 240 between them and 120 between each and the neutral or ground.

Is everything in the house working? I've seen cases where one leg goes out and only some outlets work (those connected to the good leg) while others don't.

Stan B · Mar 28, 2021

coobie said:
Has anyone checked your voltage at your meter socket?You should have 120 volts between each hot leg and neutral and 240 volts between each hot leg.If not you will could have serious issues.The power company offers this service for free.

I had a power company guy tell me that the new smart meters actually monitor that regularly. I guess it tells them if they need to adjust certain parts of the grid.

coobie · Mar 28, 2021

I also have a smart meter but I don't know if the meters check 120/240 voltage but they do know when there has been a power outage..

coobie · Mar 28, 2021

Diggin It said:
I'd say the power company needs to get there super quick. It's hard to tell from pictures, but the two lines between poles are usually hot. They get tapped off at the transformer to provide 240 between them and 120 between each and the neutral or ground.

Is everything in the house working? I've seen cases where one leg goes out and only some outlets work (those connected to the good leg) while others don't

Diggin It said:
I'd say the power company needs to get there super quick. It's hard to tell from pictures, but the two lines between poles are usually hot. They get tapped off at the transformer to provide 240 between them and 120 between each and the neutral or ground.

Is everything in the house working? I've seen cases where one leg goes out and only some outlets work (those connected to the good leg) while others don't.

Only 1 line between the (single phase)poles are HOT 1 is the primary(Top) hot line and the (bottom) line is the neutral which is dead but can get back fed.You can also have 3 top wires which is 3 phase power or open wye which is 2 phase power to put in laymen terms.Both have neutrals ..You can also have Delta primary which has all (3 top/cross arm) wires hot but no hanging neutral between poles.Bottom line be careful ..

ponytug · Mar 28, 2021

Bottom line: that is a downed line and an emergency. "Do not pass GO, do not collect $200"

If it were me and the power company isn't fixing it now, I would be calling 911 or the sheriff.

I didn't appreciate from your first post that it was a 14kV line.

All the best, Peter

STx · Mar 28, 2021

Neutral and ground are bonded either in the meter can or at the first load center (depends on what the PoCo wants). 240V loads don't need the neutral since the 2 120v legs are 180 degrees our of phase, when one is +, the other is -.

You know you have a good ground now, so that's good.

i7win7 · Mar 28, 2021

Neutral wire carries the unbalanced load. If both hot wires have 50A loads, everything appears ok. Frige turns on needs 10A, without neutral voltage on one leg goes up other goes down. Over voltage, light bulbs vary light output or burn out, surge protected equipment blows fuses or trips breakers. All this activity changes electrical demands between legs.

They're baaaack, feels like the house has a poltergeist in it.

Better UPS power supplies kick on and display line voltage. If wild voltage swings are present, best to trip main breaker and contact power co. Usually very responsive as it could casuse a house fire.