I check the voltage between x1 and x2 I got 120v but between x1 and ground on primary I got 40v and between x2 and ground on Primary I have 50v, if I connect x2 to ground won't it short the transformer? Thank you
NO IT WILL NOT SHORT THE XFORMERCONNECT X2 TO GROUND. PREFERABLE AN EARTH GROUND, BUT AT LEAST THE ELECTRICAL GROUND.
I am thinking that your incoming power is 208 volts and you want to convert to 120 volts. If i haven't made myself look foolish, you merely need to use your x1 and x2 wires to continue on as your 120 volt power source. Cap off, do not connect/use the other connections involved on your multi tap transformer. If I have the idea wrong.never mind what i said. To ground the transformer, truly grounded? you need to connect the metal, unpowered shell to a ground. If you mean make a neutral/ground, you don't.
Yes, if you're already reading an electromagnetic potential from a particular lead to ground and you ground it to a good ground, you will certainly cause some heating of the transformer which may cause a breakdown of insulation and failure of the device. The purpose of grounding is to prevent a person or animal from becoming a conductor between the unit and the ground. (While dry human skin is quite a good insulator, damp or sweaty skin becomes an excellent conductor. To safely ground your transformer, scratch the paint from the area immediately around one of the mounting holes. Using a bolt, or screw with a washer, attach a green or bare conductor to the frame of the device and ground the other end to a known ground. If the unit will be located in a potentially damp area, you might consider going a step further and installing a Ground Fault Interrupter between the power source and the primary coil of your transformer. GFIs have become fairly cheap in recent years and are available at any good hardware store. Just follow the simple directions that come in the box to replace the current duplex receptacle. You can even tap power for your unit downstream from the actual receptacle.
What you see is normal, until the transformer is grounded the voltage floats. It is the same with the power for your house, the secondary of the transformer is normally grounded at the utility transformer, and at your ground rods, and to your water lines. X2 is the normal side grounded, although this has never made sense to me. You can imagine this, connecting one end of a flashlight battery to the frame of a car does nothing, you could then attach the other end of the battery to a light bulb, and the other bulb connection to the end of the battery or the frame, it only shorts if you connect the hot to the ground if you don't connect through a correctly rated load. Edit: Yes, ground it to the ground screw that the 208v ground wire is connected to, just to be clear, 208v connections H1 and H2 should not be grounded, and either x1 OR x2 needs be grounded, normally x2, grounding the transformer connection that is not connected to fuses.
