August 5, 2012

I knew Cam would be busy with family today, but had a project that I knew wouldn’t be too hard to complete solo, and that was the installation of electrical power for the chop saw into the peninsula wall and also in the inside of the dispatchers booth, primarily for a computer or lights, or even a charger for radios.

Using some 14/3 household wiring, plus the bits I picked up yesterday, went about drilling holes through the 2×4’s and then stringing wire.  A couple boxes secured to the wall, outlets secured to wires, and faceplates attached, I set to the last task and that was terminating my “semi-permanent extension cord” with a male plug which then plugs into the actual electrical circuit near the end of the wall.  With everything plugged in, and I went to test it.  Couldn’t find my circuit tester, but figured my voltmeter would verify power just as well, and found it read 148 volts.

Oh crap.  That’s way high.

Tested a few other spots and found them high too.

Called Cam later that evening and he reassured me that the household wiring was fine, that things would’ve went poof a long time ago if that voltage reading was correct and that he would be happy to test the house with his multimeter.  Sure enough…my multimeter is now usable primarily for continuity and that’s about it.  Guess who’s buying a new one?  I’m not that terribly concerned, it’s given me many many years of life, though now I’m beginning to doubt just how accurate the measurements I’ve made have been as of late…Perhaps my accessory bus isn’t actually around 17V, but more around a normal 12?  We’ll see when I pick up a new one.

Cheers!