# Voltage difference



## Dennis Alwon (May 9, 2009)

You need to check all phases across each other and then each phase to ground. Make sure there is a load on the phases. If you have a neutral going bad you will have differences in the voltage. When you say a range is not heating it makes me think you have a bad phase.


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## wildleg (Apr 12, 2009)

looks fine to me (were all the breakers in the off position when you tested at the main ?)


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## MrsElectric (Aug 12, 2011)

Hmmm. Dont think there is an electrical problem here. Going to refer back to Sears dude to actually check the appliance this time.


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## CoopElec (May 16, 2011)

*Sears*

I love sears, I had a homeowner call me for a service call. Sears warranty tech said dryer had no power. I show up and plug in the dryer. Easy Money.


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

MrsElectric said:


> We don't do a lot of commercial work so we are not sure if this is normal.
> 3 phase service 208 voltage
> When testing hot to neutral we find voltage differences, is this normal or okay?
> Red to N 117v
> ...


That is your load per phase when each phase has a different amp draw you will see a different voltage on each phase.

If all the phases have the exact same load then all the phases will tread the same voltage


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## zwodubber (Feb 24, 2011)

This is a reason I like our meters, we can see everything going on at once


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

Mrs Electric, 6 posts, has McClary proposed yet? :laughing:


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## BBQ (Nov 16, 2010)

zwodubber said:


> This is a reason I like our meters, we can see everything going on at once


Do you sleep with it too?


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## The_Modifier (Oct 24, 2009)

zwodubber said:


> This is a reason I like our meters, we can see everything going on at once



Ooo, I like! :thumbup:

What model is it?


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## kaboler (Dec 1, 2010)

Everything is normal. Lots of apartments have 208 on account of being fed with 2 of 3 phases.

What is the customer saying, that ONLY the stove isn't working? Is it just the stove, or the top burners too? How about the 120 of the system?

Could be that they don't know how to work their stove hahahaha. Most stoves I know have 2 on buttons. One to bake, broil, and the other to turn on and temperature up.


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## JDJ (Aug 9, 2011)

BBQ said:


> Do you sleep with it too?



Well it is kind of sexy


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

BBQ said:


> Do you sleep with it too?


 
For everyday standard trouble shooting hardly worth the effort to pull it out of the truck, much less connect it.


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## MaxFuse (Oct 23, 2011)

Still a sweet meter...looks expensive.....Dang I want one now:cursing:
What is it?


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## frankwell (Mar 22, 2012)

MrsElectric said:


> We don't do a lot of commercial work so we are not sure if this is normal.
> 3 phase service 208 voltage
> When testing hot to neutral we find voltage differences, is this normal or okay?
> Red to N 117v
> ...


Well Red has some load on it. That's why the voltage is down on that leg.
It's not much less than 5%.
Residential appliances are a problem in High rises.
I saw a condo that had a Buck Boost transformer at every panel as an engineering afterthought.
You know Best Buy does'nt ask if you live in a high rise with 208V power !
Same problem exists with the dryer.
All A/C H/P's are designed to run down to 195V


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## Electric_Light (Apr 6, 2010)

208-230v motor simply draws more current to deliver the same horsepower, but all resistive heating will operate at 75% power. 

So, electric furnace and water heater will have reduced capacity. 240v heating appliances will have to be oversized by 33% on nameplate to get the intended output. 

4500W water heater will operate at 3375W. 
If fitted with 6,000W elements, it will operate at 4,500W, though I'm not sure if that's kosher by code.


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