More electrical woes

[grsthegreat]

this is especially noticeable in houses that use a common neutral wire with 2 load wires. in other words using 2 different circuits that share a neutral. cheap electricians do this all the time to save wire costs. but it can be very dangerous if you drop the neutral.

in commercial jobs, 3 phase systems. its common to run 3 separate hots with a single neutral. legal yes.......dangerous yes.

 

[dstig1]

Call the utility back and make sure you use the words "loose neutral" and that this is an emergency situation. This is a serious problem that can result in fires or other bad events. They SHOULD send a crew immediately, but then this is NY and who knows what they will do (I grew up there...).

 

[ponytug]

@dj1701 Something is not right electrically at your house. I agree that this is not a "wait until leaves fall item". I would document that the voltage is off hot to neutral with various appliances running, and then follow @dstig1's advice and call your power company.

We had a missing neutral at the transformer for a year or so and we kept having weird voltages (132 vs 95V) on the two hots to neutral that would come and go, and I could not find it in the house. Then when some electricians were working on the house, it blew at the transformer, while the house was off. The linesman showed me the melted ground wire that had been disconnected since (I think) a large lightning storm a year earlier.

All the best,

Peter

 

[ponytug]

this is especially noticeable in houses that use a common neutral wire with 2 load wires. in other words using 2 different circuits that share a neutral. cheap electricians do this all the time to save wire costs. but it can be very dangerous if you drop the neutral.

in commercial jobs, 3 phase systems. its common to run 3 separate hots with a single neutral. legal yes.......dangerous yes.

Is running more than one neutral even permissible under NEC?

All the best, Peter

 

[grsthegreat]

Is running more than one neutral even permissible under NEC?

All the best, Peter

Yes…. Its done all the time. when i was heavy into industrial and commercial wiring, the company i was with transitioned into running a separate neutral with each leg in conduit due to all the problems we were seeing in completed projects. In the schools we wired, the plans specified separate neutrals for each leg in conduit. Could only share a ground.

 

[grsthegreat]

It did mean more conduit runs cause it messed with wire fills……..

 

[Roric]

Now days, due to AFCI (arc-fault) circuit breakers required in residential
circuits, a separate neutral wire is run for each.

 

[Roric]

It does sound like the utility has a "dropped" (disconnected or poor connection) neutral.

R

 

[camshawn]

The neutral is failing either at the panel, meter base or at one end of the triplex feeding from the pole. Call an electrician now!
the hazard to yourself is quite high and not worth the risk to save a few hundred dollars. ( and the damage that is done to everything inside your house can be very expensive). Cam

 

[dj1701]

Okay guys here's the update.

My buddy came over yesterday to have a look. He's an electrician for a local municipality in a different town. He pulled the meter from the house and snapped in it's place a device called a "Super Beast". He turned it on and within seconds said it's not your house.

He went to the pole behind the barn that holds the transformer. He could not tell from the ground, so he put on his climbing gear and went up. He did not get far before he said these neutral connections are fried. Told me to call NYSEG and report and emergency.

NYSEG had a truck out within the hour. They cut the old connection and crimped in a new one, but still had problems. They went up to the transformer, and the connection there was also loose. The pine tree next to the pole had a charred branch.

The demons in my house are no longer there.

Thank you all for the feedback.
Dave