Voltage Problem - Lighting Circuit

[QUOTE=When I take the non-contact detector/indicator and get close to the body of the fixture (~1") it starts beeping like it's hot.

I have one of those detectors and they're useful for what they do, see if a circuit is on or off. When I take mine and wave it anywhere near my computer when its plugged in, it beeps within about 2 to 3" away. Likewise for my desk lamp, television, and most things even if they don't have a metal exterior. If I go into my shop, where everything is three wire i.e. grounded, there isn't a peep unless I insert it into the hot side of an electrical outlet.I just tried it on the plastic exterior of an LED ceiling light in my office and even in my shop where the boxes are grounded and it beeps. Don't rely on these non-contact devices to check electrical circuits for anything but on or off at the electrical outlet, thats all that they should do. To trust them for a grounding problem could prove shocking or even fatal! Use contact type devices, i.e. digital multimeters, that are designed for this purpose, and always wear proper gloves (and safety glasses). If you don't know what y0u are doing, don't do it, get an electrician.

Chuck the grumpy old guy
 
Didn't even get to set foot in the shop yesterday. Going to check and verify the ground when I get out there today.
Which reminds me - I bought a copper grounding rod when I redid the circuit for the garage to 6GA. It's resting
against the backside of the garage. I forgot all about installing it... That was September I think.

I use the detector religiously whenever I do anything in this house. It has saved my arse several times now.
It stupidifies me the way that the POs ran wires and made 'splices', actually it's downright scary.
Live wires running in places that defy logical sense.

The wire in the box is cleaned up a great deal. Not so congested now.

I plan on switching to LED's as soon as our stock of CCFL's is depleted. We had one of those Energy Audits done
last year and the guy left us a dozen bulbs as part of the program.
What I'd really like to do is replace both fixtures with LED and brighten up the dark area of the shop.

Looking at GFCI breakers this morning, going to get one through EBay, they're $50 at the BigBlueBox.
 
I think ground rods are overlooked sometimes. They just sit there buried ten or more feet underground. Depending on the soil moisture to conduct the energy away. If yours is like mine the electric, phone and cable use the same rod.
 
Amazing what you find. 20 years or so ago I had a second story room added over our existing garage. This was done by a company that built custom homes. Obviously it involved electrical work. When I put my shop in about 10 years ago I hired an electrician to run electric from the breaker box through my attic to a new box he installed in my garage. When he was in the attic he noticed a wire (Romex I think) that was part of the original wiring in the house, and which ended about head high on a rafter. I looked at it and assumed it had been killed. It was simply cut off and wound around the rafter; no box, tape or anything. He tested it and it was live. I immediately thought of all the times I had been in the attic over that ten year period with my head/hands only a few inches away. Pretty scary.
 
Bill C. said:
If yours is like mine the electric, phone and cable use the same rod.
Click to expand...
That's desireable. It will reduce the risk of lightning damage to your phone and electronics. The phone companies usually want to set their own rod, though.

BTW if you have a well tie the well casing into your grounding system.
 
Brnoczech said:
Amazing what you find. ... It was simply cut off and wound around the rafter; no box, tape or anything. He tested it and it was live.
Click to expand...
My first house here in TN back in 2000, had an unfinished basement, they had started it sometime in the past but all that was completed at that point
were wall studs. It was only a few years old when I bought it.
Along a back wall were (4) rolled runs of Romex hung on the wall, all live, all untaped or nutted even. It is amazing how some Romex run are laid down.
This current house is full of taped splices. It's like "oh, I need a circuit over there, I'll just splice into this line here..."
As soon as I come across one of those, I kill the circuit - break out my electrical tote, grab the Romex and replace it.
It's a small place, (2) bedroom. The living room and master bedroom were remodeled in 2001. The outlets looks good, 3-wire romex, properly installed.
but none had a ground. They were wired, but what they did was ran the Romex up the wall and at about six foot, spliced it with the original 2-wire that
ran back to the main panel. Took me two days to figure that one out.


John Hasler said:
...
BTW if you have a well tie the well casing into your grounding system.
Click to expand...
Hmmmm... The well is about 30' from the house Main Panel, and about 40' from the Garage Sub Panel. I'm going to check that out.

And I still have not made it into my shop this weekend...

Thank you again gang for all the ideas and info. I enjoy this forum and how it is friendly, congenial, and has great replies/answers to boot.
 
It was the ground! One down, one to go.
Two days wasted dinking with lousy wiring when I could have been cranking handles perhaps...
 
Please note that NEC electrical code [210.8(A)] specifies GFCI for garage, basement, crawl space, etc. Arc fault is usually specific interior spaces and also may vary with local code. Arc faults AFCI do not play nice with machinery that sparks, some power tools with motors (saws, grinders, shop vacs, etc) may trip an AFCI. There are also DFCI breakers that combine both, that are now mandated for kitchen and laundry areas. GFCI's often will trip with VFD machines.
 
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