Is my AC Heater bad or the outlet?

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WorthFlorida

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It was for those younger homeowners that read this as it was for a little education. These are hardly used any more because most homes now go with central air. You're usually spot on Jim ad I didn't realized that it was you who made the suggestion. Sorry.
 

Questions1

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Hey guys, i have been busy with my family members and so was unable to complete the problem i am having with the outlet, or the AC but today
I went to HD store and got this http://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-110-220-VAC-Voltage-Tester-MS8900H/202520892

How do I use this on the type of outlet I have? I uploaded pics in my first post if you wanted to see. This one i bought is to check if the outlet is working fine or it has gone bad?

I am afraid of getting electric shock so i wanted to ask how do I use this to test the type of outlet I have.

Thanks
 

Reach4

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How do I use this on the type of outlet I have? I uploaded pics in my first post if you wanted to see. This one i bought is to check if the outlet is working fine or it has gone bad?
There is a D-shaped hole. That is Ground.

Stick the two metal probes between the 2 non-ground holes. (It does not matter which probe in which hole.) Expect the 220 volt light to light up.
Next stick one probe into a non-ground hole and ground. Expect the 110 volt light to light up.

I am afraid of getting electric shock so i wanted to ask how do I use this to test the type of outlet I have.
Hold on to the plastic part of the leads (red,black). Do not touch the metal part of either probe with your body while sticking the metal of a probe into a hole.

If you are overly cautious, wear cloth or plastic gloves. That is totally not necessary, but if it makes you feel better, go ahead.
 

JRC3

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^

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A) Probe 1 and 2 and get 220
B) Probe 1 and G and get 110
C) Probe 2 and G and get 110
 

WorthFlorida

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To most of us it looks like one of the legs is tripping because the picture shows a tripped breaker that seems to keep tripping. But did you try resetting the breaker with the AC/Heat Pump unplugged?
 

Jadnashua

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FWIW, most homes in the USA actually only have 240vac coming in. You get 120vac by putting a tap (the neutral - not present in your plug!) by locating it half-way between the two outputs of the transformer feeding your home. The circuit breakers switch and protect the current going through them. Any circuit must be complete to work (a path all the way from one power lead to the other - doesn't matter if it is 240 where it's going from one side of the transformer to the other, or in 120vac, from one side to the neutral). From the picture of your panel, it definitely appears that one circuit breaker has tripped. If it's used on a 240vac circuit, they normally have one switch handle for each 120vac 'leg', and they are supposed to be ganged together so if one trips, the other does as well. If only one side (half of it for the full 240vac) of the circuit breaker opens, if you measure to ground, one pin to ground will measure 120vac, but the other will show zero, and if you measure from the two power pins, you should get zero since it is not a complete circuit. So, you might have power there if the CB was not installed per code, but without both 'legs', the thing will not work since there is no complete path to the power it needs.

This article helps explain the power coming into a typical US home...

http://www.samlexamerica.com/suppor...ingleSplitPhaseandMultiWireBranchCircuits.pdf
 

Reach4

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FWIW, most homes in the USA actually only have 240vac coming in. You get 120vac by putting a tap (the neutral - not present in your plug!) by locating it half-way between the two outputs of the transformer feeding your home.
That is not a good statement.

We know how typical 240 VACsplit phase power works, and we know there is a grounded conductor coming from the center tap of the transformer into the house. So to say that the power company does not bring 120 VAC into the typical house is a mis-statement. It is not up to the homeowner to produce the 120 by using both hot lines. If one incoming hot wire broke, or was not even wired to the building, there would still be 120 VAC coming in from the transformer.
 

Jadnashua

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Not everyone does understand how power in the USA works. If you lose a neutral, you can fry most things in your home. If you lose one hot, 240vac stuff won't work, and only half of the 120vac stuff works. It all depends on how you look at it. The article I referenced gives a bit more understanding than suitable in a forum post, if someone was really interested rather than maybe confusing things more. The power transformer feeding the home provides 240vac...the centertap enables the home to use 120vac.
 

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Hi thanks guys. So I just tested the outlet(see the pic) and the D shaped Ground hole lights with 110 volt but the two none ground holes wouldn't light up. I checked few more times and still no light on the tester. That means the outlet bad? My AC shouldn't be the problem right? Circuit breaker should be fine too I guess. So now I can't replace the outlet and I will have someone else buy it and install it for me. How much would that cost? You see this outlet is new, installed just 6 months ago by the handyman I hired to replace and fix some of the outlets with other work.
I am in north side of Chicago
 

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Reach4

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So I just tested the outlet(see the pic) and the D shaped Ground hole lights with 110 volt but the two none ground holes wouldn't light up.
That is odd... when the light lit on the D-shaped hole, what was the other lead of the tester connected to?

I checked few more times and still no light on the tester. That means the outlet bad? My AC shouldn't be the problem right? Circuit breaker should be fine too I guess.
Why guess on the breaker? That is the most probable thing.
 

Questions1

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That is odd... when the light lit on the D-shaped hole, what was the other lead of the tester connected to?


Why guess on the breaker? That is the most probable thing.
Okay I'll explain. I tested two holes together that are not D shaped and there is no light on the tester. I tested the D hole and one hole that is not D shaped together and the tester lights up on 110. So that means the outlet needs replacement?
 
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Reach4

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Okay I'll explain. I tested two holes together that are not D shaped and there is no light on the tester. I tested the D hole and one hole that is not D shaped together and the tester lights up on 110. So that means the outlet needs replacement?
Maybe. Those lights vary.

Are you sure the breaker is not just tripped? Turn that breaker off, and then back on. Did it stay in the full on position? If so, try measuring the voltage between the non-D slots again.

And even if the breaker is not tripped, the problem could be a bad breaker. You would have to remove the cover on your breaker box to find out.
 

Questions1

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Maybe. Those lights vary.

Are you sure the breaker is not just tripped? Turn that breaker off, and then back on. Did it stay in the full on position? If so, try measuring the voltage between the non-D slots again.

And even if the breaker is not tripped, the problem could be a bad breaker. You would have to remove the cover on your breaker box to find out.
Why you don't think that outlet has gone bad?

"I tested two holes together that are not D shaped and there is no light on the tester. I tested the D hole and one hole that is not D shaped together and the tester lights up on 110. So that means the outlet needs replacement?"
 

Reach4

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Why you don't think that outlet has gone bad?
I did not mean to leave that impression. What I meant that while the outlet may have gone bad, there was another possible explanation
I tested two holes together that are not D shaped and there is no light on the tester. I tested the D hole and one hole that is not D shaped together and the tester lights up on 110.

What happened for the tester between the D hole and the other not-D?
 

Jadnashua

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You should get 120vac between each straight contact and the D-shaped (ground) hole. That test device may not be able to test a 240vac circuit. A multimeter connected between the two straight slots should read 240vac, and from either one of them to the D-shaped (ground) connection, it should read 120vac. Not reading 120vac from both slots to the ground means either the receptacle is not wired properly, or there's a problem in the wiring, or the breaker is bad.

If you do get 120vac from both slots to ground, and it still doesn't work, then the unit you're plugging in is bad unless you've got a really weird situation where the same lead is connected to both of the slotted connections, and there's no difference between the two, but you can still see 120vac.
 

WorthFlorida

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It sure will not hurt for a few dollars to have the outlet replaced. Seeing some burn marks it is possible that a blade inside the outlet is burned out or even shorted to ground since the picture shows a tripped breaker. But most on this posts feel that it is more than the outlet.
 
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