Light Voltage

[Woody007]

I have a underwater 110v Pentair Spa size light that's out. It worked for a couple of years, but not this season.
Since it was pretty new I decided to check to make sure the switch was sending voltage to the light. I put a Fluke meter on two of the wires going to the light in the junction box nearby. It read a few millivolts when off, but when I switched it on it reads 220v. It should only be 110v. I went to the GFCI outlet that's in line with the lights and it measures 110.
I measured between the two wires going to the light and didn't think about measuring to ground, but I don't think that would matter.
If it was truly 220, the bulb wouldn't have lasted as long as it did, right?
The circuit is pretty straightforward and ~20yrs old. It has a timer and a switch for the light. The Intermec timer is set to be on all the time and the switch I replaced with a wi-fi switch several years ago.
Am I making a mistake with the meter or what could be the explanation for 220 where 110 should be, especially when the GFCI is measuring 110?
Thanks!

 

[ajw22]

Show us pictures of what you are doing.

I think you are measuring across two different 120V circuits giving you 220V.

A 120V circuit has a hot wire and a neutral wire. You need to measure voltage between the hot and neutral of a 120V circuit.

 

[Woody007]

Show us pictures of what you are doing.

I think you are measuring across two different 120V circuits giving you 220V.

A 120V circuit has a hot wire and a neutral wire. You need to measure voltage between the hot and neutral of a 120V circuit.

I used the two wires in the cable going to the light and it switched on and off using the switch, but somehow, I have to be getting into another circuit as you mentioned.

 

[ajw22]

I used the two wires in the cable going to the light and it switched on and off using the switch, but somehow, I have to be getting into another circuit as you mentioned.

If each wire has 120V to ground then they are both hot wires from different circuits.

The neutral wire will not have any voltage to ground when the light is not on.

 

[Woody007]

If each wire has 120V to ground then they are both hot wires from different circuits.

The neutral wire will not have any voltage to ground when the light is not on.

Just for my own piece of mind, if I actually had 220 the bulb wouldn't last more than a millisecond, right?
I'll take a look again next week to verify what I'm measuring, but I'm pretty sure that I used the two wires going to the light.
Thanks

 

[ajw22]

Just for my own piece of mind, if I actually had 220 the bulb wouldn't last more than a millisecond, right?
I'll take a look again next week to verify what I'm measuring, but I'm pretty sure that I used the two wires going to the light.
Thanks

The light would glow brighter with 220V.

220V is the standard voltage in other countries. Lots of lights work with 220V for those areas.

 

[flynwill]

Just for my own piece of mind, if I actually had 220 the bulb wouldn't last more than a millisecond, right?
I'll take a look again next week to verify what I'm measuring, but I'm pretty sure that I used the two wires going to the light.
Thanks

If the lamp is a normal incandescent then it would probably burn very brightly for several seconds before it failed.
However is the lamp is an LED fixture it might have been perfectly happy with 240.