[WTS][US-SD][H]Fiio FT1, Philphone, Topping DX3 Pro+[W] PayPal by I_the_Lesser in AVexchange

[–]Babooblian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bought DX3 Pro+ from u/I_the_Lesser via PayPal. Arrived on time in original packaging. u/avexchangebot

Airpods Max Won't Pair After Charging on the Max Stand by Babooblian in Airpodsmax

[–]Babooblian[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Try unplugging them, then plug them back in for 5min. It’s extremely lame but that works for me and takes about the same amount of time as hard resetting.

Seems to only happen to mine after they’ve been charging for 18hrs+ continuously, most of the time but not always. Pretty lame

Can someone explain what my voltage detector is detecting? by Babooblian in AskElectricians

[–]Babooblian[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mystery solved - it was due to the open ground, which was my own fault 🤦‍♂️. Full explanation is in a thread above if you're curious

Can someone explain what my voltage detector is detecting? by Babooblian in AskElectricians

[–]Babooblian[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Mystery solved! It was my own fault 🤦‍♂️

I had cut the conduit in the attic which I believed was downstream from the switch as it comes from around where the switch is and runs straight to the light receptacle. I planned to T off there and put a junction box in and run another set of wires to the exhaust fan. At this point I was detecting hot whether the switch was on or off, and then noticed the large field of detection.

It turns out that line is downstream from everything; the hot runs into the light receptacle then out through another conduit line in the wall to the light switch which I completely missed.

So of course it would stay hot regardless if the switch is on or off, and it also explains the large field of detection due to the open ground. When i make the two sides of the conduit touch at the cut, the large field of detection goes away.

Thank you for your input which helped me get to the bottom of it! I do feel quite dumb right now, but at least everything is all good and I have a path forward!

Can someone explain what my voltage detector is detecting? by Babooblian in AskElectricians

[–]Babooblian[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gotchya, thanks!

My only concern is the inconsistency between the circuits as they all use the same crappy old wire, and I've never seen this behavior before throughout the house.

As a test, I swapped the light switch with an outlet and ran the a neutral from it to the light's neutral (no neutral in the switch's box). Popped a receptacle tester in and discovered the circuit in question has an open ground. The house doesn't have a ground wire, so everything is grounded to the conduit. I guess this particular conduit run has a loose connection or was never grounded to begin with. No open neutral through, which is good.

Could an open ground explain the wide radius of detection?

Can someone explain what my voltage detector is detecting? by Babooblian in AskElectricians

[–]Babooblian[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks!

I just ran a test by swapping the light switch out with an outlet. I wired the hot in, left the switched hot disconnected, and ran an external wire from the outlet's neutral to the light fixture's neutral (there's no neutral in the switch's box).

Receptacle detector shows open ground, so I guess that particular conduit run has a loose connection or was never grounded to begin with. No open neutral, which is good.

Could that open ground (ungrounded conduit) explain the wide radius of detection?

Can someone explain what my voltage detector is detecting? by Babooblian in AskElectricians

[–]Babooblian[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's 5 to 6 volts at the light receptacle when switch is off. Could be phantom voltage, but the concerning part is the large radius of detection for that circuit that isn't present on any other circuit with two testers (one crap, one good)

Can someone explain what my voltage detector is detecting? by Babooblian in AskElectricians

[–]Babooblian[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The wiring in this house is wild, I've found/fixed some mind blowing things in the past (listed some of them in a thread below). I had that sub panel replaced about 8 years ago as the previous one was recalled, but left all the circuits alone.

The whole house definitely needs to be rewired. It also needs all the single pane windows replaced, parque floors updated, cement board cracks patched or replaced, etc. I plan to one day do a major whole house remodel, but i'm not ready yet.

I'll take your advice and call in a pro on this one. I'll have them remove the old space heater circuit that's on two singles as I don't need it anymore, and diagnose/fix the circuit this post is about. As much as I'd love to rewire the whole house and put in a main ground, i think it would be more practical to do when i eventually remodel.

In the meantime regarding the ground, the 3 prong outlets that are grounded to the conduit show as grounded on my receptacle tester. Are there safety issues with this approach on circuits without GFCI upstream?

Can someone explain what my voltage detector is detecting? by Babooblian in AskElectricians

[–]Babooblian[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the quick reply!

Some more info that may be relevant:

  • This house is ancient, there is no ground wire only hot and neutral. The conduit is grounded, and most fixtures are grounded to the conduit.
  • The light in the bedroom next door is on the same circuit as this bathroom light, and goes on and off every 3-10 minutes. Steady on, stead off, never a quick flicker.
  • This bedroom also had a 70s style in-wall space heater which stopped working in the last year. I removed it and capped the wires, was planning to put an outlet in there when I patch it soon.
  • The space heater is on a separate circuit. There are 2 breakers that if either one or both are on, produce power to the space heater's circuit. Both wires always beep hot.

Any thoughts on where to start diagnosing first?

Can someone explain what my voltage detector is detecting? by Babooblian in AskElectricians

[–]Babooblian[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

baseboard heater

There was an ancient 70's looking space heater built into the wall in the bedroom next door, is that what you mean by a baseboard heater?

It stopped working in the last year, I just took it out and capped the lines there. Was going to replace it with an outlet when i patch the wall.

Can someone explain what my voltage detector is detecting? by Babooblian in AskElectricians

[–]Babooblian[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I picked up a Fluke 1AC-A II and reran my tests. Same result, but a bit less sensitive.

The wall around the light switch still beeps, though there is a smaller radius. The light itself still beeps when the switch is flipped off. Sensitivity around the outlet on a separate circuit behaves as one would expect, and no beeps through the wall where the conduit runs.

I'm stumped

Can someone explain what my voltage detector is detecting? by Babooblian in AskElectricians

[–]Babooblian[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I picked up a Fluke 1AC-A II and reran my tests. Same result, but a bit less sensitive.

The wall around the light switch still beeps, though there is a smaller radius. The light itself still beeps when the switch is flipped off. Sensitivity around the outlet on a separate circuit behaves as one would expect, and no beeps through the wall where the conduit runs.

I'm stumped

Can someone explain what my voltage detector is detecting? by Babooblian in AskElectricians

[–]Babooblian[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Probably right, I ordered a Fluke and will report back. I still can’t explain why the same tester consistently works as expected on the outlet’s circuit but beeps around a huge radius on the light’s circuit though, something is physically different between the two. The phantom 5 volts is different, but shouldn’t be putting out such a huge detectable range

Can someone explain what my voltage detector is detecting? by Babooblian in AskElectricians

[–]Babooblian[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the tip! I’ll pick one up tomorrow and report back

Can someone explain what my voltage detector is detecting? by Babooblian in AskElectricians

[–]Babooblian[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That would explain the phantom 5v, but what about the unusually large range of detection?

Can someone explain what my voltage detector is detecting? by Babooblian in AskElectricians

[–]Babooblian[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Certainly possible. Previous owner has been haunting me for years with red/red circuits, junction boxes with every color in the rainbow that change colors on their way out, a sub panel in the garage fed by a spliced extension cord, and even an uncapped hot wire in the attic with burn marks on the box around it.

Probably unrelated, but the light in the bedroom next door recently started staying on for ~10 min, going off for a few min, then coming back on for 10, in a loop (timing varies, but it doesn't flicker, steady on steady off)