Is there an electrician in the house?

[ccso2213]

My 30 amp plug at home burned up because of a loose connection. I replaced it today and I’m getting a funky reading when testing. Ground to neutral is 0. All good there. Hot to ground and hot to neutral both read 215 volts. Not 120. Any ideas? It’s on a single 30 amp breaker.

[JimD]

In theory this can not happen. Famous last words I guess. By chance is it measuring 215 mv instead of volts? This can happen if the line is open and the meter is just reading a little bit of "something" that is not really there. It doesn't take much to get a millivolt reading on AC.

To get 220-240 volts requires 2 hot legs from the panel and you are only supplying one. It can only supply 120 volts down a single line unless by chance your ground and neutral were the other hot leg. Can't imaging how that could happen.

If you feel comfortable taking a reading at your panel, I would pop the cover off and measure the wire connection right at the breaker that supplies the outlet. Connect one lead to the breaker wire connection and the other meter lead to the common buss. Should read 120 volts. Be very careful if you decide to poke around in the breaker panel. You can kill yourself if you don't know what you are doing. If unsure, contact an electrician.

[ccso2213]

Thanks Jim. That’s what has me confused. If either ground or neutral was hot, I wouldn’t have 0 between them though. I’ll check at the panel when I get a chance. It is quite possible that it’s user error somewhere. Lol.

[Vicr]

Have you verified that your meter is working accurately?

[ccso2213]

Originally Posted by Vicr

Have you verified that your meter is working accurately?

No. I’m very uneducated on them. I only know how to do basic stuff with it. Reading up on them now.

[ccso2213]

Update * Issue resolved. Thanks Vicr for suggesting I check the meter. I tested my RV battery and got strange readings too. Swapped out 9v in meter, everything tested correctly. Luckily I had an extra 9v around. Who needs a smoke detector anyway. Lol. Thanks for everyone’s help!! I love this forum!

[Vicr]

I’m glad you got it worked out!

[ccso2213]

As usual, it was user error/incompetence. Lol

[RetiredOne]

Originally Posted by ccso2213

Update * Issue resolved. Thanks Vicr for suggesting I check the meter. I tested my RV battery and got strange readings too. Swapped out 9v in meter, everything tested correctly. Luckily I had an extra 9v around. Who needs a smoke detector anyway. Lol. Thanks for everyone’s help!! I love this forum!

I was coming to post that too. Have seen it happen multiple times with meters when the batteries were close to dead. Note to every one reading along, first, the best tool in the tool box is a digital meter. Second, make sure it has a good batteries in it.