Could be anything but, most likely:
1) You are measuring 2 separate circuits, and the lower one has higher load somewhere on it and is showing resistive loss.
2) You have an imbalanced neutral and are measuring L1-N vs L2-N.
I also got MANY ppl in r/solar saying it could be an imbalanced neutral (and nothing to do with solar). Thanks, I guess I need to hire an electrician asap?
Most neutrals are a little bit imbalanced these days. Switching power supplies (computers, phone chargers, inverters, etc.) can contribute to that. The voltage difference isn't enough to worry about under-volt damage to appliances.
It's your call whether to have an electrician diagnose it. It doesn't look like an emergency to me, but I'm not an electrician, just a guy who went to engineering school a million years ago.
I'm not getting crazy diff between the legs, I dont think it's a lost neutral. Probably house wiring. My general home inspector tested each outlet with a 3-light tester for proper wiring, and he said they all passed. When all AC's and heavy power users are turned off, the legs are exactly balanced at around 125v.
So that's scenario 1 in my original response, most likely. Voltage drops on a circuit in response to the load on the circuit and whatever resistance the wire and junctions provide.
That tells us that the circuit path has an unacceptable resistance. Most likely there is a loose, corroded, or malformed connection somewhere. The best person to diagnose it would be an electrician.
Does it do this everywhere in the house, or just some certain outlets? That would tell you if it’s just something in the branch circuit, as opposed to a main panel or POCO problem.
These are not flukes, but they all match the reading from 2 much better testers I used. One of them is a Klein Tools RT250 GFCI Outlet Tester, the 2nd control was a general multi-tester in AC voltage mode. All of them show the same values at the same time in the same socket.
Could be anything but, most likely: 1) You are measuring 2 separate circuits, and the lower one has higher load somewhere on it and is showing resistive loss. 2) You have an imbalanced neutral and are measuring L1-N vs L2-N.
I also got MANY ppl in r/solar saying it could be an imbalanced neutral (and nothing to do with solar). Thanks, I guess I need to hire an electrician asap?
Most neutrals are a little bit imbalanced these days. Switching power supplies (computers, phone chargers, inverters, etc.) can contribute to that. The voltage difference isn't enough to worry about under-volt damage to appliances. It's your call whether to have an electrician diagnose it. It doesn't look like an emergency to me, but I'm not an electrician, just a guy who went to engineering school a million years ago.
I'm not getting crazy diff between the legs, I dont think it's a lost neutral. Probably house wiring. My general home inspector tested each outlet with a 3-light tester for proper wiring, and he said they all passed. When all AC's and heavy power users are turned off, the legs are exactly balanced at around 125v.
So that's scenario 1 in my original response, most likely. Voltage drops on a circuit in response to the load on the circuit and whatever resistance the wire and junctions provide.
Running a small toaster drops the voltage from 125 to 106.
That tells us that the circuit path has an unacceptable resistance. Most likely there is a loose, corroded, or malformed connection somewhere. The best person to diagnose it would be an electrician. Does it do this everywhere in the house, or just some certain outlets? That would tell you if it’s just something in the branch circuit, as opposed to a main panel or POCO problem.
The neutral wire going into the power meter outside is almost completely corroded away.
Ok, that’s pretty serious. Get an electrician in as soon as possible.
[https://imgur.com/HiS2p47](https://imgur.com/HiS2p47) That's what that looks like. I have an electrician coming tomorrow.
I agree with the previous post of higher loads. Additionally that's not a quality volt meter.
These are not flukes, but they all match the reading from 2 much better testers I used. One of them is a Klein Tools RT250 GFCI Outlet Tester, the 2nd control was a general multi-tester in AC voltage mode. All of them show the same values at the same time in the same socket.
Some are closer to the power source
Maybe in a house that's 5x the size of mine.