I am NOT an eletrican. This is what I have learned.

L1 HOT SIDE Black or red-------------------------------

neutral White -----------------------------------------

L2 HOT side black or red--------------------------------

Ground, green or bare copper.-------------------------

Meter between L1 and L2 should be 220 to 240 ac
Meter between L1 and Neutral should be 110 to 120 ac
Meter between L2 and Neutral should be 110 to 120 ac
Meter between L1 or L2 to ground should be 110 to 120 ac
Meter between Neutral and ground should be less than 1 volt ac or dc

It should be that way in the MAIN eletrical panel and the sub panel in the the shop.

I would guess you have a bad or missing ground or neutral. Check your GFI's
Ground fault. There should be a GFI breakers or the outlet closest to the eletrical panel should be a GFI. It might be the dog dish is the ground path. So on your eletric power in the shop there is a "floating or phantom ground." Depending on the load the voltage will change. Be careful and you can check all this with a meter.
Hope this helps.

 

Yes, this was a lot of help. Thanks for taking the time to type it all up.

It did end up being a loose connection, almost non-connected. So, everything is back up and running for the time being. However, you said some things that I have to admit ignorance to, so I have a few more questions.

Why is the overhead cable a bad idea? I mean, I understand about the obvious danger from falling limbs, but is there another reason? Underground would really be a pain to do for a couple of reasons. First, it would have to run under my gravel driveway, and I really don't want to have to dig it up. Second, there may be some sewer piping running right under there from the house to the septic tank.

It is 12/2 wire that says it is "sunlight resistant". It feeds into the fuse box with one leg feeding both fuses. The fuses are actually only 20 amp, even though the box says it's rated for 30's. The neutral goes to the proper connection, and there is a ground connection as well, but no wire going to a ground rod. I do have a ground rod that was pulled out when they replaced my pole a few months ago though that I could use out there. Is there another kind of cable that would be better suited for running overhead? As I mentioned before, I walked into this building already being wired, so I didn't really have reason for concern until now. The fuse box looks almost brand new, even though it is using some older style fuses, so I really don't want to have to replace it if I can do something safe the way it is.

Again, I appreciate all of the help, from everybody. Thanks!

 

I was mainly saying to get away from the overhead due to the problems you've already experienced. I (and probably others) also thought you had plain ol white (or yellow now) NM Romex cable up there. What you have from your description is the gray UF cable.

The biggest problem code wise is that its not installed according to the NEC. You are allowed to use UF cable overhead like you have but its got to be supported by a messenger cable. This is the same basic way the power company does it using rings and saddles, drip loops, etc. This takes the strain off of the cable and its connections and will make the whole thing more durable. Most likely if you had this on a messenger cable it would not have been pulled down.

From what it sounds like you're a lot better off than was previously thought. If you can take care of the grounding situation you're in business. Just do a thorough check of all your connections while you're at it. Another thing, your connections should all be in a box.

Personally I like fuses. The big problem thats most dangerous about fuses is that you can put a 30A Edison base fuse into a circuit where a 20A fuse should have been. If people are responsible and replace fuses with the proper size then a fuse is just as or more reliable than a breaker.

My cousin had a similar setup to you feeding his barn when he bought it. The guy who wired his barn ran regular ol romex about 50 yards from his house to the barn with no messenger support. It was running fine when we removed it but the sheath had rotted away a long time ago and the insulation on the wires was coming apart in places. His was secured to the barn using rope as the strain relief so he could get a drip loop. It was a mess.

My cousin works for the power company so he got some overhead cable that was from a removed service and fed it out to his barn. Its messengered and works great.

He also got better performance from his system because of the larger gauge wire reducing voltage drop.

If the distance from your house to your shop is pretty decent then it would be beneficial to run a larger gauge wire to alleviate voltage drop. This would not allow you to run larger fuses though!

Hope this helps and I'm glad to hear you got it working again!

 

Wow, thanks for your reply. By messenger cable I'm assuming you mean the steel cable (wire rope) like what they have running along the cable from the power pole to the house? That actually came down in the last storm too, but that's beside the fact.

The cable to my building runs about 50 feet from a connection about 15 feet up on the peak of the house to a hedge post about 25 feet out and then to the building about another 25 feet away and attaches about 15 feet upon the peak of the building. On both ends are the porcelein insulators that the wire runs through first prior to the connections.

I do have a little voltage drop the way it is. . . I think I metered it at 118.9 at the box. The box of course is on the inside of the building, and the ground rod would obviously be on the outside. Can it just go through a hole in the wall and then to the ground? I guess it doesn't matter if it touches anything since it is just the ground? Sorry for all the questions, I just don't know too much about this and want it to be right.

Thanks for all your help!

 

Yes. Steel cable is what I'm talking about, although the NEC doesn't specify the material. I've never ran one with UF cable though so I really don't know how that works. I just know the NEC allows it. The only real experience I've had with an overhead cable that wasn't the property of the power company was the example of my cousins feed to his barn.

If you're running a 118 at the box you're fine. It would be interesting to see what your voltage drop is during full load though. At any rate most all of your equipment is going to be rated at 115V and can tolerate a +- 10% voltage variation.

You can go through the hole to the rod, just protect the wire from damage. If you run #6 and its protected from physical damage you can run it along the surface of the structure exposed without it having to be in conduit. Put the rod in a good moist area like under the eave where rainwater falls. The NEC also requires you to test so that you have 25 ohms or less resistance to ground. If you dont (and you wont) then all you are required to do is install a second ground rod no closer than 6' from the first rod.

 

Okay, great. As soon as the snow storm lets up then I'll be able to start working on it again. Right now I have some 1 1/2 foot drifts out there.

Thanks again for all your help. I've learned a lot.