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Posted by Toller on September 10, 2007, 10:23 pm
> Toller wrote:
>>> I have one of these Kill A Watt meters.
>>>
>>> In the socket it is showing 120volts
>>> I put a load on it, that is about 5 amps. I would not think the volts
>>> should drop to 118?
>>>
>>> Does this make sense?
>>>
>> It is called voltage drop. Your cable has resistance, so it uses up some
>> of the energy.
>
>
> The reason why I bothered to check...
>
> We are having storms high wind in my area now.
> The lights flickered like the power was off.
> But this one particular circuit was actually off (my fish tank)
>
> Could I have had a voltage drop in my entire house, then compounded with
> the fish tank draw cause it to go out?
Most unlikely. The voltage drop is pretty constant, unless you have a large
motor go on and it spikes. But it can't trip a circuit breaker or damage a
circuit. (it can damage a motor, but that's another story.) More likely
you had some voltage transients hit you with the storm. They could easily
trip a GFCI or less likely a circuit breaker. I would look around for GFCIs
that have to be reset.
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