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05-22-2018, 03:38 PM
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#1
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 29
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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?
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05-22-2018, 03:56 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Monticello, IL
Posts: 1,696
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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.
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05-22-2018, 04:20 PM
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#3
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DieselDrax
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.
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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
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05-22-2018, 04:21 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Port Charlotte Fl/Hinsdale Ma
Posts: 4,823
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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?
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05-22-2018, 04:26 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Port Charlotte Fl/Hinsdale Ma
Posts: 4,823
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DieselDrax
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?
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Ya, Ya, you got there before I could delete it. Had my residential electric hat on.
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05-22-2018, 04:28 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Monticello, IL
Posts: 1,696
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cavie
Ya, Ya, you got there before I could delete it. Had my residential electric hat on.
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No worries, I'll go back and nuke my reply as well.
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05-22-2018, 04:29 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Port Charlotte Fl/Hinsdale Ma
Posts: 4,823
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How were you able to get your test leads onto the ends of those wires ?
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05-22-2018, 04:32 PM
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#8
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cavie
How were you able to get your test leads onto the ends of those wires ?
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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
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05-22-2018, 04:49 PM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 7,916
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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
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05-22-2018, 05:00 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Port Charlotte Fl/Hinsdale Ma
Posts: 4,823
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Iwannacamp
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
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Enquiring minds want to know where the 9 volts is coming from
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05-22-2018, 05:44 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Baltimore Md.
Posts: 122
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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.
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05-22-2018, 05:55 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 7,916
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Anyone recognize this wire?
Quote:
Originally Posted by cavie
Enquiring minds want to know where the 9 volts is coming from
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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
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2005 Ram 2500 4X4 diesel SMOKER!!
I love puns, irony and tasteless jokes...
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05-22-2018, 05:57 PM
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#13
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 29
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I'm gonna try and pull the circuit box tomorrow, hopefully it's not to much of a rat's nest
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05-22-2018, 06:08 PM
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#14
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Port Charlotte Fl/Hinsdale Ma
Posts: 4,823
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I'm old school. I prefer an analog meter.
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05-23-2018, 12:19 PM
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#15
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Site Team
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Southwest Alabama
Posts: 9,850
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That 9 volts is probably induced from the unterminated wire running along side an energized line.
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05-23-2018, 01:36 PM
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#16
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 9,413
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Yes
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bama Rambler
That 9 volts is probably induced from the unterminated wire running along side an energized line.
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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
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05-23-2018, 02:17 PM
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#17
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: North of Seattle, WA
Posts: 17,263
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cavie
Enquiring minds want to know where the 9 volts is coming from
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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.
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05-23-2018, 09:19 PM
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#18
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 133
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Papa Roo
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.
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2x
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05-23-2018, 10:22 PM
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#19
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 7,916
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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
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05-23-2018, 10:36 PM
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#20
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Mount Uniacke, Nova Scotia
Posts: 218
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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.
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