Strange amp draw - heat lamps

[tuba]

Yes, breaker boxes are not usually my cup of tea, but now I have looked at more and see what you guys are talking about.

[SandShark]

A visual aid.

[enb54]

A visual aid.

Hi Tuba... glad you got your problem sorted out

SandShark... Just noticed your attachment, are not the phases the same in the horizontal direction (for vertically installed panels) or is there something that haven't seen yet? Per USA NEC 384 (which we also follow in Canada mostly), and the attachment courtesy of "legacypower dot net" in their training materials from Siemens, showing North American standard layouts for single phase (A & B) and three phase (A, B & C). I know we are not marine electrical techs here, but the source popped up on a search...

Just curious...

Sorry all... sent the whole darned file, not just the picture of the load center on page 16. (red-faced!!!) Wondered why the one picture was so big...

[SandShark]

Yeah, you're right. Obviously, my attachment isn't a perfect example, but I posted it more to show the phases on the vertical rather than the horizontal.

[enb54]

Yeah, you're right. Obviously, my attachment isn't a perfect example, but I posted it more to show the phases on the vertical rather than the horizontal.

Wasn't trying to be smarmy, just had never heard of that arrangement before, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't exist somewhere in the wild world of electrical wiring. I came across a situation where someone took apart (internally) an electrical distribution panel and rewired it "better", then closed it up, business was sold, and then a problem happened. Took a while to figure that out...

Anyway, sounds like "tuba" got it all working properly, that's all that matters, we're all here I hope to help each other, not create "issues"...

[will smith]

If everything is supposed to be 120, and at a point you're seeing 240 (again assuming wiring is standard US), I'd check all the neutrals-make sure they are dedicated from stem to stern, and not possibly tied into other hots somehow, and make sure all neutral connections are tight-also from point of equipment back to the breaker panel. I've run across problems on only a few occasions, where a loose neutral caused a 120v circuit to feed 240v to the equipment-the first time I saw it I was going crazy trying to figure out where the other side of the 240 was coming from. An electrician friend of mine told me to check for loose neutrals-and I found an iffy neutral connection in a connection box (8 neutrals wire taped together). I had my doubts, but when I squared away the connection point, I was good to go. Another time I remember I just had a loose neutral at the breaker panel-that one was intermittent, and caused popped fuses that also drove more than one tech nuts...literally just a loose screw.
Might not be the ultimate answer to what you're up against now-but I don't mind sharing my "well, I've never seen that before" moments-it's worth a check anyway.
Best of luck-

[enb54]

If everything is supposed to be 120, and at a point you're seeing 240 (again assuming wiring is standard US), I'd check all the neutrals-make sure they are dedicated from stem to stern, and not possibly tied into other hots somehow, and make sure all neutral connections are tight-also from point of equipment back to the breaker panel. I've run across problems on only a few occasions, where a loose neutral caused a 120v circuit to feed 240v to the equipment-the first time I saw it I was going crazy trying to figure out where the other side of the 240 was coming from. An electrician friend of mine told me to check for loose neutrals-and I found an iffy neutral connection in a connection box (8 neutrals wire taped together). I had my doubts, but when I squared away the connection point, I was good to go. Another time I remember I just had a loose neutral at the breaker panel-that one was intermittent, and caused popped fuses that also drove more than one tech nuts...literally just a loose screw.
Might not be the ultimate answer to what you're up against now-but I don't mind sharing my "well, I've never seen that before" moments-it's worth a check anyway.
Best of luck-

Yes, a bad neutral will really make your day...