Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 05-22-2018, 03:38 PM   #1
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 29
Anyone recognize this wire?

Have a 2018 freelander 26ds. The water heater runs on gas only. Bought a Camco hybrid heat kit to add electric to the water heater.

I pull out a drawer to get to the rear of my water heater and I notice a wire just hanging there. Looks like a flex ac line. It's not connected to anything not capped off. I figure the lines dead but i better check it anyway. I ran it on my meter and get almost 9 volts off of it. I noticed it had a marking on it of WH. The other end looks like it goes through the rv floor, it's hard to see with the small space.
Anyone have any idea what it's for? Click image for larger version

Name:	20180522_135016.jpeg
Views:	146
Size:	87.2 KB
ID:	172963Click image for larger version

Name:	20180522_135007.jpeg
Views:	169
Size:	71.9 KB
ID:	172964Click image for larger version

Name:	20180522_134952.jpeg
Views:	137
Size:	52.1 KB
ID:	172965Click image for larger version

Name:	20180522_135730.jpeg
Views:	155
Size:	39.3 KB
ID:	172966
dafoot2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-22-2018, 03:56 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
DieselDrax's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Monticello, IL
Posts: 1,696
Check your breaker panel for a WH/Water Heater breaker, odd that you'd be getting 9V out of it so it must connect to something. I would suspect that was run for 110v water heater and then wasn't used because you have a gas-only WH.

What a horrible safety issue, leaving Romex unterminated/uncapped and obviously connected to something that the other end. If you don't have one, pick up a tone kit to trace wires and try to find where the other end of that wire terminates if it's not obvious in your breaker panel.
__________________
2017 GMC Canyon - CCLB, 4x4, 2.8L Duramax, ARE Z-series shell
2013 Shamrock 21SS
DieselDrax is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-22-2018, 04:20 PM   #3
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 29
Quote:
Originally Posted by DieselDrax View Post
Check your breaker panel for a WH/Water Heater breaker, odd that you'd be getting 9V out of it so it must connect to something. I would suspect that was run for 110v water heater and then wasn't used because you have a gas-only WH.

What a horrible safety issue, leaving Romex unterminated/uncapped and obviously connected to something that the other end. If you don't have one, pick up a tone kit to trace wires and try to find where the other end of that wire terminates if it's not obvious in your breaker panel.
Yea that was my thought away first that is an unused water heater line not sure why it would be there, these units have gas only.
There's nothing in the breaker box panel. The rear of the breaker box is right below where the line is hanging.
Can't figure out where it runs though. The water heater is right next to it. This line runs to below the unit. I crawled under and can't see the line, all the wiring is bundled.
No idea where that 9v is coming from
dafoot2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-22-2018, 04:21 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Port Charlotte Fl/Hinsdale Ma
Posts: 4,823
Looks to be prewired for an Electric Water heater. Should not be hooked to anything at the other end either. Check your breaker panel and see if it's at back of that. Is your converter close by? The orange wire is 10/2 good for 30 amps. Incoming shore power?
cavie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-22-2018, 04:26 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Port Charlotte Fl/Hinsdale Ma
Posts: 4,823
Quote:
Originally Posted by DieselDrax View Post
You do know the electric water heaters plug into a 15A 110V outlet and have no more than one 1,500W element (which would be under 15A), right?
Ya, Ya, you got there before I could delete it. Had my residential electric hat on.
cavie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-22-2018, 04:28 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
DieselDrax's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Monticello, IL
Posts: 1,696
Quote:
Originally Posted by cavie View Post
Ya, Ya, you got there before I could delete it. Had my residential electric hat on.
No worries, I'll go back and nuke my reply as well.
__________________
2017 GMC Canyon - CCLB, 4x4, 2.8L Duramax, ARE Z-series shell
2013 Shamrock 21SS
DieselDrax is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-22-2018, 04:29 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Port Charlotte Fl/Hinsdale Ma
Posts: 4,823
How were you able to get your test leads onto the ends of those wires?
cavie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-22-2018, 04:32 PM   #8
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 29
Quote:
Originally Posted by cavie View Post
How were you able to get your test leads onto the ends of those wires?
I pulled a drawer out to get to the water heater. I was able to reach in and touch the end of the wire with my leads, you can't see from the picture but the end of the wire is exposed
dafoot2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-22-2018, 04:49 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
Iwannacamp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 7,916
I would look in the electric service box... I am willing to bet there is a wire that would connect to a breaker. I also assume the ground/neutral wire is connected to something...IE 9V supply YMMV
__________________
2017 Puma 297RLSS
2005 Ram 2500 4X4 diesel SMOKER!!
I love puns, irony and tasteless jokes...
born in Texas.... live in Arkansas
Iwannacamp is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-22-2018, 05:00 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Port Charlotte Fl/Hinsdale Ma
Posts: 4,823
Quote:
Originally Posted by Iwannacamp View Post
I would look in the electric service box... I am willing to bet there is a wire that would connect to a breaker. I also assume the ground/neutral wire is connected to something...IE 9V supply YMMV
Enquiring minds want to know where the 9 volts is coming from
cavie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-22-2018, 05:44 PM   #11
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Baltimore Md.
Posts: 122
You are most likely reading noise on the romex cable. If your meter has an impeadance setting for ac volts use that setting. It should read close to 0.
If you can find the other end I would ground one end of each wire then test it.
Cherokee39 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-22-2018, 05:55 PM   #12
Senior Member
 
Iwannacamp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 7,916
Anyone recognize this wire?

Quote:
Originally Posted by cavie View Post
Enquiring minds want to know where the 9 volts is coming from


I assume bleeding from another circuit through neutral...isn’t that possible? I know not correct, but possible?

Fwiw...I never heard the noise deal.

I am in no way ANY form of electrician. Only work on air conditioning stuff
__________________
2017 Puma 297RLSS
2005 Ram 2500 4X4 diesel SMOKER!!
I love puns, irony and tasteless jokes...
born in Texas.... live in Arkansas
Iwannacamp is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-22-2018, 05:57 PM   #13
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 29
I'm gonna try and pull the circuit box tomorrow, hopefully it's not to much of a rat's nest
dafoot2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-22-2018, 06:08 PM   #14
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Port Charlotte Fl/Hinsdale Ma
Posts: 4,823
I'm old school. I prefer an analog meter.
cavie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-23-2018, 12:19 PM   #15
Site Team
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Southwest Alabama
Posts: 9,850
That 9 volts is probably induced from the unterminated wire running along side an energized line.
__________________
Salem 29RKSS Pushing a GMC Sierra 2500HD!
Gotta go campin!
Bama Rambler is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-23-2018, 01:36 PM   #16
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 9,413
Yes

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bama Rambler View Post
That 9 volts is probably induced from the unterminated wire running along side an energized line.
Agreed. Even the cheap meters now have such high impedance that they show a voltage that's induced, or even just charge (what we used to call "static electricity").

If you were to put any kind of a current draw on it (e.g., a 12-v light bulb with clip leads), the voltage would drop to near zero.

Larry
Larry-NC is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-23-2018, 02:17 PM   #17
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: North of Seattle, WA
Posts: 17,263
Quote:
Originally Posted by cavie View Post
Enquiring minds want to know where the 9 volts is coming from
Very common, even if wires aren't connected on either end. To illustrate, touch each meter lead with your hands at the same time. Often times you will get a voltage reading. No current potential though so nothing is going to get zapped. In today's electrical world there are all kinds of magnetic fields around us and wires have "induced voltage".

I'd trace the wire to it's other end and most likely it was merely added for a W/H but left vacant at both ends.

My favorite circuit tracer for wires like this was a 9V battery I soldered some wires and alligator clips to. Connect battery and then check the end of any unconnected piece of romex in the vicinity of the main power/circuit breaker panel. A test light works best (the ice pick type with a ground pigtail on the back end. The light will light or it won't. Induced voltage won't have enough energy potential to give you a false reading.
__________________
"A wise man can change his mind. A fool never will." (Japanese Proverb)

"You only grow old when you run out of new things to do"

2018 Flagstaff Micro Lite 25BDS
2023 f-150 SCREW XLT 3.5 Ecoboost (The result of a $68,000 oil change)
TitanMike is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-23-2018, 09:19 PM   #18
Senior Member
 
n0ms's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 133
Quote:
Originally Posted by Papa Roo View Post
You are most likely reading noise on the romex cable. If your meter has an impeadance setting for ac volts use that setting. It should read close to 0.
If you can find the other end I would ground one end of each wire then test it.
2x
n0ms is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-23-2018, 10:22 PM   #19
Senior Member
 
Iwannacamp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 7,916
I guess I need to blow the dust off the 260 and put the Fluke away. Ha ha
__________________
2017 Puma 297RLSS
2005 Ram 2500 4X4 diesel SMOKER!!
I love puns, irony and tasteless jokes...
born in Texas.... live in Arkansas
Iwannacamp is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-23-2018, 10:36 PM   #20
Senior Member
 
mlatter's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Mount Uniacke, Nova Scotia
Posts: 218
The picture shows it as reading 8.64VAC. Try a voltage reading with the meter set to read DC volts to see what you get.
__________________
2014 Cedar Creek 36CKTS Explorer
Xantrex Freedom SW3012 inverter/charger
2019 F350 Platinum CC, PSD, 4X4, long box, SRW
Demco Glide Ride pin box
Demco Hijacker UMS 21K hitch
mlatter is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Forest River, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:29 AM.