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Posted by Randy Cox on July 3, 2006, 8:33 pm
> wrote:
>
>>I was adding another circuit for a bathroom which required me to remove
>>the breaker box panel for the first time. I notice while looking inside
>>the breaker box; I spotted a red copper ground wire (like the copper
>>wire heated up and discolored) this is a 12/2 cable that runs outside
>>underground about 90ft. to a pool GFCI outlet. I was curious about
>>this; so I shut the 20A breaker off and disconnected the ground wire
>>from the neutral busbar and I saw a faint arc between the ground wire
>>and busbar (I did this with the power off to that circuit). So I put a
>>multimeter across the ground wire and busbar; it read: 47.3 volts. Any
>>Ideas?
>>
>>The Neutral (white) and Hot (black) wires in this cable look fine and I
>>checked the wiring at the GFCI outlet box at the pool and the ground
>>wire is very red at that end.
>>
>>I never had this breaker trip or any other weird problems; the GFCI
>>outlet works fine. Could lightning struck the pool at one time?
>
> It's a violation of electrical code to have a red wire for a ground.
> It must be green. Remove it and replace it, or just paint it green
> and put it back.
Sorry I can't address the original post. My server did not deliver it.
The code requires green or green with yellow stripe, or bare. Where I come
from people don't worry too much about the color. Black is common with a
little green tape at both ends for identification. The color is not your
main problem.
You say you have 47.3 volts between the ground wire and the busbar (assuming
you meant the grounding bus bar or neutral bar at first means of
disconnect). That could be a problem, especially since it is going to the
pool.
You want an electrician to check it and a good one that really understands
grounding. You see when large spaces are involved between points , there
will be differences in voltage. Electricity exists everywhere. There are
chemically induced currents , rf currents, all sorts of currents going to
ground. Very often there is a potential voltage between the ground of one
space and the ground of another. Systems over great spaces have grounding
grids to keep these transient currents drained one into the other and in
balance.
A few volts of potential is very common, but you note 47.3 volts. That is
some heavy voltage around a pool. It could just be some low amp
capacitance, but that should drain away quickly upon grounding and take time
to build back up. The indication is there is a ground fault from some
source near the pool or passing through the area. You need to find what is
causing that and have it repaired.
Because your GFCI doesn't trip does not mean you don't have a problem. The
individual GFCI works like this: The current that goes out the black wire
and comes back on the white wire (changing directions 60 times per second)
is measured. So long as both measurements remain within a certain tolerance
of each other (black wire vs. white), there is no indication of a ground
fault....for that circuit. If you have current flowing on the ground
wire....that would indicate either the GFCI is not working.......or the
ground fault is from a source other than the GFCI. That other source is
using the ground path of the ground wire. Either way it could be dangerous.
This one could present a head scratcher for even the best of electricians.
Good luck!
Randy R. Cox
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