Electrical amps vs volts

[gunracer1]

i have been working on more than a few 750v DC ac units the past 10 years. that keeps me real cautious. i have been hit with 480v more than a few times and 277 too many to remember. i don't do near as much hot as i used too.

 

[wireman]

If your house is drawing 150+ amps, and you don't have the assortment of stuff that Poke has (almost 40kW - holy electric bill batman), there is a problem (and it will be your problem). If the transformer is drawing 150+ amps from the utility, that is their problem.

 

[Splib]

Go back and read the OP. Not sure if there even is a question.

 

[FJ80]

fuck all them colors.
but I hated the blue ones the most.

this was the video analog board that failed in every single one of those fucking things. I caught the high tension lead to the CRT cause fucking nasser didn't check the fucking discharge wand.
Learned a lesson, never trust the tool room.

edit:
Finding this photo induced a rage inside of me. I haven't looked upon a video board for an Imac g3 in at least 20 years.

I have been zapped by 120VAC way too many times. The best is when you are on a ladder, let your arm relax briefly, touch the suspended ceiling and get lit up.

NO WAY in hell I am signing up for what you felt.

Hit the breakers and short those caps kids.

 

[billdacat]

Long time ago... I am under the house connecting an extinsion line for a telephone. Just as I am connecting the wires to the terminal block; the phone rings! All I could feel is my body ringing along with the phone in the house I would just about let go and the fucking phone rings again! Dam was that painful. This is a case of maybe 70VAC and a few millamps bitting me in the ass.
You need an amp-meter between you and the electrical charge. You could have a 1KV potential and not pass any current if conditions were right.

 

[GonPostal]

Long time ago... I am under the house connecting an extinsion line for a telephone. Just as I am connecting the wires to the terminal block; the phone rings! All I could feel is my body ringing along with the phone in the house I would just about let go and the fucking phone rings again! Dam was that painful. This is a case of maybe 70VAC and a few millamps bitting me in the ass.
You need an amp-meter between you and the electrical charge. You could have a 1KV potential and not pass any current if conditions were right.

Very similar experience with a 4 conductor telephone line and terminal block. That experience was as close as I've come to getting tazed......

 

[78bronco460]

I heard a story of a guy stripping phone wire with his teeth and another guy called that extension from a phone in the same room. He said the shock knocked the guy on his ass. I’m 50/50 on this being bullshit, but it made me laugh and I never put phone wire in my mouth.

 

[Poke]

If your house is drawing 150+ amps, and you don't have the assortment of stuff that Poke has (almost 40kW - holy electric bill batman), there is a problem (and it will be your problem). If the transformer is drawing 150+ amps from the utility, that is their problem.

My bills are $600-$1000.

 

[Poke]

Go back and read the OP. Not sure if there even is a question.

The question was, was it amps or volts the bad transformer was reading? I had an electrician say that it must have been volts, both others say it was amps.

 

[Pocahontas]

There’s something wrong if you are pulling that much voltage you will know it. Something has to be getting hot hot.

 

[Poke]

There’s something wrong if you are pulling that much voltage you will know it. Something has to be getting hot hot.

So I’m wondering if the transformer has been doing it for years and it’s not my house

 

[Pocahontas]

Without diagnosing It’s hard to say but you won’t be pulling amps you aren’t using. Your house could be hooked up to 500amps and only pull a quarter amp because everything is off except for a single led light. Your service will limit how much you can pull but because you can pull that much doesn’t mean you actively are pulling that much voltage, if that makes sense.

Think of it as water your house can be connected directly to the main and have 500 psi through a two inch line but if you only have a single 1/2 inch hose bib and that’s your bottle neck so you’re only going to get 15gpm

If you are truly pulling which means you’re using 180 amps you would know it. Back of the napkin math you would have to have all electric appliances and heat and be running them at full tilt. Even then I would find it hard to believe unless you had multiple of large 220 appliances.

Pulling that many amps will generate a lot of heat so if nothing is on something is getting incredibly hot. Like house on fire and melting wiring hot.

So I’m wondering if the transformer has been doing it for years and it’s not my house

Possibly but you should have had more issues I think there’s something that’s getting lost in translation or misdiagnosed.

 

[TheLivingBubba]

Without diagnosing It’s hard to say but you won’t be pulling amps you aren’t using. Your house could be hooked up to 500amps and only pull a quarter amp because everything is off except for a single led light. Your service will limit how much you can pull but because you can pull that much doesn’t mean you actively are pulling that much voltage, if that makes sense.

What he's using:

2 electric dryers, 2 electric ovens, one small baseboard electric heater set at 60. Geothermal is electric heat, very efficient but it’s pumps and fans. Well pump. 2600 finished feet. Basement is 2600 unfinished not heated.

What I said:

Does all that run at the same time throughout the day? The easiest way I can think of is if your breakers are labelled well enough that you know what your high draw items are clamp the load coming off the breaker and check vs the name plate of said pump / dryer / item, etc.. Or Clamp your mains and start flipping breakers to see how much the load drops.

No response after that.

 

[bgaidan]

Long time ago... I am under the house connecting an extinsion line for a telephone. Just as I am connecting the wires to the terminal block; the phone rings! All I could feel is my body ringing along with the phone in the house I would just about let go and the fucking phone rings again! Dam was that painful. This is a case of maybe 70VAC and a few millamps bitting me in the ass.
You need an amp-meter between you and the electrical charge. You could have a 1KV potential and not pass any current if conditions were right.

Very similar experience with a 4 conductor telephone line and terminal block. That experience was as close as I've come to getting tazed......

I heard a story of a guy stripping phone wire with his teeth and another guy called that extension from a phone in the same room. He said the shock knocked the guy on his ass. I’m 50/50 on this being bullshit, but it made me laugh and I never put phone wire in my mouth.

When was doing highway and bridge work in DFW, I was on a huge job managing utility relocations. We also dealt with the repairs when one of our crews hit something....like the 2600 pair copper line they "found" with an excavator. The AT&T guys showed up to start splicing it and I couldn't figure out why they started out with a game of rock paper scissors. Then I saw the working on the left side of the splice shaking his hand and yelling "fuck" every few minutes.

They were shooting for who got to work on the live side of the splice.

 

[Pocahontas]

What he's using:

What I said:

No response after that.

he has 200 amps of appliances easily in the house but they would have to running to pull that much. He would have to have heat pump and at least one oven and one dryer being actively used to be close to 140 with misc other draws.

I would start disconnecting appliances to see if the readings change if they do you find your problem if they don’t your tools are bad or something else very abnormal is happening.

 

[gunracer1]

i have found broken heating elements that have fallen down and shorted out. and just stayed that way weather the heat or AC was on. hitting the disconnect with an amp meter on it will tell ya quick if that's it.

 

[Provience]

he has 200 amps of appliances easily in the house but they would have to running to pull that much. He would have to have heat pump and at least one oven and one dryer being actively used to be close to 140 with misc other draws.

I would start disconnecting appliances to see if the readings change if they do you find your problem if they don’t your tools are bad or something else very abnormal is happening.

Indoor pool stuff with massive dehumidifier as well

 

[Roc Doc]

I find it funny that people that don't understand electricity, understand basic plumbing.

Water pressure is akin to voltage, it's potential. E = I x R
Water flow (GPH or whatever) is akin to amperage, it's the actual amount charged particles flowing through the wire. I = E/R
Hose size is akin to resistance, it's what limits the amount of amperage for a given voltage. R = E/I

 

[87manche]

I have been zapped by 120VAC way too many times. The best is when you are on a ladder, let your arm relax briefly, touch the suspended ceiling and get lit up.

NO WAY in hell I am signing up for what you felt.

Hit the breakers and short those caps kids.

there was a guy at my wife's work that was working in a 277 box above the ceiling.
leaned against the ceiling grid and when his belly touched he got stuck.
one of my best friends ended up knocking the ladder out from under him.
He ended up pretty fucked up.

 

[roundhouse]

there was a guy at my wife's work that was working in a 277 box above the ceiling.
leaned against the ceiling grid and when his belly touched he got stuck.
one of my best friends ended up knocking the ladder out from under him.
He ended up pretty fucked up.

I got ahold of a 277 wire once and it knocked me several feet away

277 is what the fluorescent lights in commercial bldgs use .

What I ever got hit was when I was working on a 175 two stroke dirt bike .

On a wet cement pad
With the spark plug out fixing to touch the plug to the frame to test the spark , and my friend kicked the kick start lever while I still had the plug in my hand .

Also got hit one time using a weed whacker in a swampy area and reached back to adjust the choke and hit a bare spot on the plug wire with my elbow ,
I was wearing the harness and the shaft of the weed whacker was touching the the bulge in my pants .

Spark went in my elbow and out my dick , while I was standing in water .

I can’t imagine getting hit by a taser could be any worse than that .

 

[M92PV4U]

On a wet cement pad
With the spark plug out fixing to touch the plug to the frame to test the spark , and my friend kicked the kick start lever while I still had the plug in my hand .

In high-school small engines class I would stick my finger in a sparkplug boot and the other on a plug and let someone start the engine.

 

[Poke]

I’ll be there in a month and start testing again. I’ve hooked a meter up to everything for 2+ weeks at a time, looked at the averages and never found anything out of spec on draw. It was a meter that logged and averaged load over time.


Edit- the PO’s of the home had the same issue but they only had one dryer, no indoor pool and no geothermal. They guessed it was heat lamps in the barns but, no. They told us at sale to expect $450-$500 in electrical bills, Neighbors all pat $80-$120

 

[roundhouse]

I’ll be there in a month and start testing again. I’ve hooked a meter up to everything for 2+ weeks at a time, looked at the averages and never found anything out of spec on draw. It was a meter that logged and averaged load over time.


Edit- the PO’s of the home had the same issue but they only had one dryer, no indoor pool and no geothermal. They guessed it was heat lamps in the barns but, no. They told us at sale to expect $450-$500 in electrical bills, Neighbors all pat $80-$120

It’s going somewhere

And as mentioned
Take the cover off the panel and clamp a meter around one of the entrance wires and start turning off breakers and watch the meter .

 

[Poke]

I’ll get a clamp meter

 

[aczlan]

I’ll be there in a month and start testing again. I’ve hooked a meter up to everything for 2+ weeks at a time, looked at the averages and never found anything out of spec on draw. It was a meter that logged and averaged load over time.


Edit- the PO’s of the home had the same issue but they only had one dryer, no indoor pool and no geothermal. They guessed it was heat lamps in the barns but, no. They told us at sale to expect $450-$500 in electrical bills, Neighbors all pat $80-$120

Where is the meter and how does power come into the house?
ie:
Is the meter on the house?
Away from the house?
Does power come in above ground, underground?

Aaron Z

 

[Poke]

Where is the meter and how does power come into the house?
ie:
Is the meter on the house?
Away from the house?
Does power come in above ground, underground?

Aaron Z

On house. Power poles.

 

[Landslide]

I was just doing a job where I had to explain how to balance 3 phase correctly to the power company (PPL) service tech and 4 electricians that were on the job. They all said the same thing, make sure the motor turns in the right direction and your good to go. I told them it may be time to go back to the class room.

Wait, what?!? I need to balance my 3 phase converter with my 220 now? My 3 phase motors spin ok as I just used my big Rockwell drill press tonight.

 

[Landslide]

i have been working on more than a few 750v DC ac units the past 10 years. that keeps me real cautious. i have been hit with 480v more than a few times and 277 too many to remember. i don't do near as much hot as i used too.

We use 4160 but they’ve been converting a lot of it to 480v. I don’t mess with any of that stuff.

 

[M92PV4U]

I was just doing a job where I had to explain how to balance 3 phase correctly to the power company (PPL) service tech and 4 electricians that were on the job. They all said the same thing, make sure the motor turns in the right direction and your good to go. I told them it may be time to go back to the class room.

Did you try turning the overload up?

 

[Fullsize80cherokee]

Id guess OP has an electric heat pump, electric water heater, maybe snow melt. etc.

I’ve put an amp meter on a heat pump circuit that wasn’t calling for heat and it was still pulling max load which was 50 amps I think and this was in a small sub 2k sq ft house.. that’s probably $1000 a month minimum in utility costs.