Hi, We have a large property located in The Philippines. Here they use a similar system to the US with two 110v legs and a neutral, no grounds. The difference is outlets and lights use the two 110 legs to make 220v and the neutral is mostly unused. Our property is like the US and has both 220v and 110v so we can have US appliances and TVs so we installed it like the US as best we could here. We use the 110v legs together for 220v but we also have 110v breakers with neutrals bound outside the panels (panels with bus bars are not available here). There are multiple sub panels with the neutral connected to the main neutral, then to the utility neutral and to a single ground location. The electricians who did the installation were supposed to run an extra wire for a separate ground but connected all the grounds to the neutral, so we have a system like the old way, no extra grounds. (the foreman didn't catch it and it tested correct at all the outlets so I didn't notice until I started a solar installation and went looking for the ground) Construction is finished and it's cost prohibitive to change it to have a separate ground.
We are having a problem with the 110v that has occurred since we connected the ground rods about 4 days ago. (a Typhoon came through at the same time with about 6" of rain and 80mph winds) When ever any appliance is turned on, the voltage drops. The flat screen TV drops the voltage from 110v to about 89v, a coffee maker drops it to about 95v, a microwave drops it to about 75v, the washing machine wont work at all. Both legs of the system have the same problem, but the 220v is not affected. One day for a few hours everything worked perfect. Sometimes the voltage in both legs is the same other times it is different, 123v in one leg and 109v in the other, sometimes the other way around. It worked OK before we added the ground and connected both halves of the system, but there was at times up to 30v showing on the neutral if checked to a ground before we started, I don't think our ground connections are the problem because all connections are tight and there are 3 ground rods connected together for the one ground and we can't find any differences in voltage on any wires at our connections. I noticed inside the box at the drop was soaked from the rain and I can see some discoloration on one of the wires. The electricians here have no idea whatsoever, I'm thinking a loose connection at the drop. It's illegal to touch the drop, even though the drop connections here are not connected correctly they are simply spliced in with electrical tape wrapped around them. (that's how the utility does it!) Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I'm not an "expert" but I have installed a 12kw, a 4kw and a 10kw solar systems here and rewired about 8 houses in the US myself before coming over here, so I have somewhat of an idea what I'm doing. I'm planning on hooking the 110v into my 10kw solar system, but I want to get it working as correct and safe as I can first.
We are having a problem with the 110v that has occurred since we connected the ground rods about 4 days ago. (a Typhoon came through at the same time with about 6" of rain and 80mph winds) When ever any appliance is turned on, the voltage drops. The flat screen TV drops the voltage from 110v to about 89v, a coffee maker drops it to about 95v, a microwave drops it to about 75v, the washing machine wont work at all. Both legs of the system have the same problem, but the 220v is not affected. One day for a few hours everything worked perfect. Sometimes the voltage in both legs is the same other times it is different, 123v in one leg and 109v in the other, sometimes the other way around. It worked OK before we added the ground and connected both halves of the system, but there was at times up to 30v showing on the neutral if checked to a ground before we started, I don't think our ground connections are the problem because all connections are tight and there are 3 ground rods connected together for the one ground and we can't find any differences in voltage on any wires at our connections. I noticed inside the box at the drop was soaked from the rain and I can see some discoloration on one of the wires. The electricians here have no idea whatsoever, I'm thinking a loose connection at the drop. It's illegal to touch the drop, even though the drop connections here are not connected correctly they are simply spliced in with electrical tape wrapped around them. (that's how the utility does it!) Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I'm not an "expert" but I have installed a 12kw, a 4kw and a 10kw solar systems here and rewired about 8 houses in the US myself before coming over here, so I have somewhat of an idea what I'm doing. I'm planning on hooking the 110v into my 10kw solar system, but I want to get it working as correct and safe as I can first.