Did some residential electrical long ago, know just enough to get by in most situations - and when not to mess with things out of my depth. Knowing when to lay off liability is important, and there is plenty of it in the OP's situation. Hearing that the wiring in this house was "rednecked" got my attention. There is no way in actual hell anyone outside of a licensed electrician could run down all of the problems that may exist due to wiring being "rednecked". Please get a qualified boots on the ground electrician to look things over. Getting the power company involved will only delay the inevitable. Don't mess around with this, someone you love (maybe yourself?) may die or get seriously hurt out of this.
Home Electrical Help, Plus Poll!
- Thread starter Pucky Freak
- Start date
RobG
Well-known member
Something doesn't add up, literally. Basic electrical theory says that /neutral-hot/ = /ground-neutral/ + /ground-hot/. The only way you can get a number like 120/16/16 is if your meter isn't getting a good connection to the terminals, or the ground is floating. The latter is a safety risk. If it were me I would first make sure I was getting good connections with the meter. If so and you still get funny reading, somebody knowledgeable should look at it to make sure all the connections are there and there is no corrosion in the breaker box (the latter is a serious fire hazard).
Last edited:
RobG
Well-known member
Ugh, redneck wiring? I used to wire houses and have seen a lot of dangerous things done by people that didn't know what they are doing. An improper connection can burn down your house when it finally fails (esp. aluminum to copper). I like the idea of calling the power company after verifying that you are measuring correctly.
