Electrical Question
 

Any current or former electricians able to help explain my current issue. We have a new home with a 'red screw' outlet on a four-way switch. With all of the switches turned off, there is still 55v present at top wall outlet. I have been told by Galaxy Home Solutions, who did our electrical, this is normal. I would like others' professional opinions.

I know nothing about your problem. I just wanted to say how much I loved the pun in your first sentence.

Well, it may be phantom voltage - sometimes detected when using a meter. If you do a google search on ' phantom voltage ' it describes it pretty well. I have encountered that a lot!

I tend to agree with the above comment about phantom voltage, so try this: Plug a table lamp into the socket with it turned ON but the switches OFF, and measure the voltage. If it drops to zero or very close, you have 'phantom voltage' if you still have 55 volts, the lamp is probably lit about half brilliance, and there is definitely a problem. Please feel free to send me a PM, I am a retired professional electrical engineer.

Thank you VillageTinker!! I followed your suggestion and when the lamp was plugged in, the voltage dropped to 4.3v. I appreciate your feedback

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I thought that may have been intentional as well - but not sure. If they were doing puns they should have included what's the charge? Or they didn't have much resistance when the bill came. They weren't wired that way. Because they felt they lost the power. Even then they were shocked.

I'm done.
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This is a normal wiring for villages homes. The outlet on the wall has two separate circuits/plugs. One plug is the switched outlet (identified and activated by the red screw wall switch). The other plug is a constant hot as are the other wall outlets in the room. That red switched outlet or plug is so you have the option of putting a lamp or other item on a switch activated circuit. you should have the same type switches and outlets in the bedrooms as well.

Somehow I can't believe that a 55v charge on an off plug is "normal". Sounds like there is some kind of back feed. If someone is working on an outlet like this and thinks that is is off, they could get a shock. I've been shocked a number of times over the years and survived, but then I'm healthy, someone with a weak heart could be in trouble.

You probably have lighted wall switches and reading the voltage going through them. No problem and very common. But you can get shocked if you just turn off a lighted switch, always shut off the breaker. The theory Involves voltage divider networks and your meter (or body) becomes part of the circuit.

From a retired professor of electrical and electronics engineering

If you have 55 vac on that outlet you have an issue. Measure the voltage from each side of the outlet to ground ( the center roundish hole. If the larger one has 55 vac you had a bad neutral connection, if the small one has the voltage you probably have a bad receptacle or anotherr hot side touching the one to that part of the plug.. Remember usually only one side or half of the outlet is switched. Be sure which way yours is wired.

That’s connected to the light switch

I got a charge out of that pun too!

Too ad some background, it is possible to capacitively couple a voltage from the HOT (black wire) to a switched wire, and if the digital voltmeter is a very high impedance it will NOT bleed this off and you will get the 'phantom voltage' reading, I have seen this many times. Also, as noted above, the DIMMER switches with the little green lights will register FULL voltage on the switched wire when the switch is OFF, the green light is turned on by sending voltage through the load. I have accidently been shocked 2 or 3 times when I was told the switch was OFF, so I now check if it is a dimmer switch, I make sure the breaker is turned off.

Do you have power at the outlet with the circuit breaker turned to the Off position?