Getting shocked, Electrician help needed, 240v issues maybe

I have a 4'x8' grow tent with 3 lights, and am getting shocked when i touch two of the ducted housings at the same time. One of these is a 240v light, the other is a 120v light. I am wondering if i possibly reversed the two hot leads when i wired the 240v outlet? There are also a couple 120v fans touching light housings. Does anybody have any idea what might be happening?

vito*magito said:

I have a 4'x8' grow tent with 3 lights, and am getting shocked when i touch two of the ducted housings at the same time. One of these is a 240v light, the other is a 120v light. I am wondering if i possibly reversed the two hot leads when i wired the 240v outlet? There are also a couple 120v fans touching light housings. Does anybody have any idea what might be happening?

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you can't cross the 240 leads, It doesn't matter what side there on, it sounds like your not grounded and/or your connections have a wire touching something they shouldn't

your neutral is tied (conductive connection) to the ground, somewhere, on your 120v cord. white never touches green or bare copper... ever.

sounds like you tried to come off of one side of the 240 and get a 120v circuit...

but the 240v ground, is a ground, not a neutral.... theres a difference, and your finding out lol.

the 240 is on its own circuit breaker, and all the 120 is on separate breakers. With a multimeter, does anybody have a way to find the problem? like in the light housings or something?

ok then, if your on separate breakers.. you have either a ground fault, or a parallel neutral...on your meter, set the voltage scale to 600v a/c... put the black lead on a grounded object, like the ground wire for the 120v circuit... then take the red lead to your ducts and housings... when you see voltage, there's where its coming from. u might have to get creative to find it... also, it helps if you can shut off everything but one circuit and work one circuit live at a time... if its coming off of a duct, unhook the duct from the motor then check it again... unhook it from the cooltube, check it again... trouble shooting is a process of elimination, not magic bullets

I bet you have a parallel neutral dragging from your 120v circuits. Black is gold and gold is money and black and white never like each other. (that was humor, how I learned basic electricity) Hows that tingle lol? Sorry not to laugh but Mr stoned knows what hes talking about what a relief. To many people on here give advice that isnt worth squat

ok, thanks a lot for all the advise guys, I'll check it out, see if i cant find some voltage. Just out of curiosity, should I be able to see voltage between the two housings that i felt the shock from? The shock would be voltage wouldnt it? I think im gonna google parallel neutral dragging. Thanks

vito*magito said:

... Just out of curiosity, should I be able to see voltage between the two housings that i felt the shock from? The shock would be voltage wouldnt it?....

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if you are getting shocked,you will see voltage between the 2 housings. do the fans have a ground? if not they may be wired backwards.follow Iam5toned 2nd post.
to avoid getting zapped while finding your problem,never touch 2 metal items at the same time.

vito*magito said:

I have a 4'x8' grow tent with 3 lights, and am getting shocked when i touch two of the ducted housings at the same time. One of these is a 240v light, the other is a 120v light. I am wondering if i possibly reversed the two hot leads when i wired the 240v outlet? There are also a couple 120v fans touching light housings. Does anybody have any idea what might be happening?

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check your 120 volte light. im sure thats the one giving you the problems. sounds like a bare wire touching.

IAm5toned said:

trouble shooting is a process of elimination, not magic bullets

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THIS

mygirls said:

sounds like a bare wire touching.

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...and this...


Electricity follows the wire, so should you.