Measuring Impedance of a wall socket

[cyrille perron]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could help me with a curious question. How
would one go about measuring the impedance of a wall socket? Assuming it is
120V, of course. I'm not just looking for a formula but rather to
understand the concept. Any websites or other resources would be
appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[JeffM]

I'm not just looking...to understand the concept.
cyrille perron

Note1: When posting the same question to multiple groups,
pit ALL the groups on the Subject line.
This is called cross-posting.

Note2: This is hardly a proper question for sci.electronics.design.
..
..
Measure the circuit unloaded, then loaded.
Calculate the voltage divider.

View in monospaced font like Courier.

maybe a few ohms

_____/\/\_____
|
/
\ 10Mohn
/ instrument
\
______________|



maybe a few ohms

_____/\/\____________________
| |
/ /
\ known \ 10Mohm
/ load / instrument
\ \
______________|______________|

 

[Rich Grise]

On Fri, 29 Jul 2005 00:36:55 -0700, cyrille perron wrote:

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could help me with a curious question. How
would one go about measuring the impedance of a wall socket? Assuming it is
120V, of course. I'm not just looking for a formula but rather to
understand the concept. Any websites or other resources would be
appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Don't multi-post. If you're posting the same question to more than one
group, cross-post. To crosspost, just put the names of all of the NGs
that you're crossposting to in the "newsgroups" header field.

Well, this guy explains it better than I can:
http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/usenet/xpost.html

And, in answer to your question, in theory, the impedance of a wall
outlet should be zero. To measure it, stick a voltmeter across the
mains, and turn on a light. If the voltage changes, you have an
impedance that shouldn't be there.

Good Luck!
Rich

 

[mike]

Rich Grise wrote:

On Fri, 29 Jul 2005 00:36:55 -0700, cyrille perron wrote:


Hi, I was wondering if anyone could help me with a curious question. How
would one go about measuring the impedance of a wall socket? Assuming it is
120V, of course. I'm not just looking for a formula but rather to
understand the concept. Any websites or other resources would be
appreciated. Thanks in advance.


Don't multi-post. If you're posting the same question to more than one
group, cross-post. To crosspost, just put the names of all of the NGs
that you're crossposting to in the "newsgroups" header field.

Well, this guy explains it better than I can:
http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/usenet/xpost.html

And, in answer to your question, in theory, the impedance of a wall
outlet should be zero. To measure it, stick a voltmeter across the
mains, and turn on a light. If the voltage changes, you have an
impedance that shouldn't be there.

Good Luck!
Rich

I tried your experiment.
I got 117.9V with the light off and 117.2 with it on.
Should I start ripping out my defective wiring?
FWIW there ain't no such thing as zero.
mike

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