electricalwiring
I've been having issues with lights flickering and unbalanced voltage on either leg and after some research it seems like it's a bad neutral somewhere. These are the service wires coming into the electrical panel. Could the browning(not sure if that's oxidation) affect the connection or would it be something farther down the line on the power companies side?
The panelboard will be bonded to ground, and according to the National Electrical Code (NEC) it must be done so using specific methods.
250.8 Connection of Grounding and Bonding Equipment.
(A) Permitted Methods. Grounding conductors and bonding jumpers shall be connected by one of the following means:(1) Listed pressure connectors
(2) Terminal bars
(3) Pressure connectors listed as grounding and bonding equipment
(4) Exothermic welding process
(5) Machine screw-type fasteners that engage not less than two threads or are secured with a nut
(6) Thread-forming machine screws that engage not less than two threads in the enclosure
(7) Connections that are part of a listed assembly
(8) Other listed means(B) Methods Not Permitted. Connection devices or fittings that depend solely on solder shall not be used.
If the specific method used in your situation fits one of the methods listed above, then the panelboard is likely grounded properly. The ground and neutral bus bars inside the panel are surely bonded to the panel itself using one of these methods. Which means as long as the panel is connected to the system grounding conductor using an approved method, the system should be properly grounded.
If you have doubts as to whether or not the installation is correct. Contact your local government and check on any permits that were obtained for the work, and/or request the installation be inspected by the local electrical inspector.
The AC input circuits of some devices use a power line filter circuit that works to keep high frequency stuff inside the equipment and prevent fast spikes from entering the product from the power lines.
The schematic of a typical power line filter looks like this.
The two capacitors that you see in the filter from line side to earth and from the neutral side to earth can form a voltage divider for AC voltage and place approximately half the line voltage on the earth wire. This would be the case for instances where the earth ground connection was open circuit.
Normally this is not a shock hazard issue because the neutral wire is shorted to the earth ground connection at the power panel.
The fact that you found this AC signal present demonstrates that some part of your house wiring has a open earth ground wire someplace. For the safety of your self and your family it is essential to get this fault corrected. The floating earth wire is an invite to it not performing its safety function when you least expect to need that safety feature.
Best Answer
This is not a time to plod along with exhaustive diagnostics and cautious bug-hunting. This is a time for swift action.
The fact that you are seeing low voltage on one leg and high voltage on the other is evidence enough.
Call the power company and report an outage
Because 95% chance the problem is on the part of the service drop that they own.