neurtral as ground??

[Guest]

Towards the end of the American Civil War, General Robert E. Lee, Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia surrendered to General U.S. Grant.

Do the right thing, Give it up son, present your sword to the Victor, then humbly and honorably retire from the field of honor before your case of foot in mouth disease takes you to the Netherworld.

TyStik

 

[mikecar312]

hey ty-stik, you bought the electrical-online.com dvd? i'm an alright diy'er with basic electrical knowledge but wouldn't mind a tutorial with pictures that i can reference.

 

[yamaha_1fan]

my father is a master electrician and if been side by side with him on every "side job" he has ever done since i was about 4 years old. when i was that young he tought me what all the tools were called and fittings and connectors and used me kinda like a "flunkie" but as i got older i activly worked with hot wires and such. not at 4 yo but at like 14 years old i was able to install swithches and plug outlets and run conduit for new boxes to handle 240 volts. ive done a lot of 240 hook ups

did not realize it was a sub panel in the first place. i was thinkin along the lines of installing a plug or switch.120v

and no one can argue that when replacing a standard plug or switch, if the bare is left un hooked the switch or plug will work dorrectly and thats not bs cus my computer is hooked to suck a plug. that is installed in that manner.

all is needed is a hot and a not hot and they will power somthing on. the bare doesnt carry any current or it would be insulated. like the rest of the wires in the romax cable.

What the hell did your daddy teach you? The bare wire? The not hot wire?


Sometimes its best to keep your mouth shut and have people think you are a dumbass, then to open it and remove all doubt.

Acid, DONT ever give electrical advice again.

 

[fumancu]

Hey I go with Coctailfrank.I have one question How can ground and neurtal be hooked together even in main.I thought you had 4 wires.
1.ground going to ground rod Bare or green wire
2.Neurtal coming from meter White wire
3&4 120v hot wires from meter. Black wire

 

[PharmaCan]

Hey I go with Coctailfrank.I have one question How can ground and neurtal be hooked together even in main.I thought you had 4 wires.
1.ground going to ground rod Bare or green wire
2.Neurtal coming from meter White wire
3&4 120v hot wires from meter. Black wire

Because the neutral from the utility is, in actuality, a big ground wire.

PC

 

[fumancu]

Then why have one a ground rod or bare wire ??Allso why will the white wire let a clock work but the ground wont??

 

[PharmaCan]

Then why have one a ground rod or bare wire ??Allso why will the white wire let a clock work but the ground wont??

The green/bare ground wire is for safety; it has absolutely nothing to do with the circuitry.

The (usually) white neutral wire, as previously explained, is for returning a small amount of current to ground to complete a circuit.

You do not want your grounds and your neutrals mixed because this could result in electricity, albeit a small amount, in the grounding system.

What you need to understand is that electricity will seek the shortest path to ground. Your neutrals are all a straight run to the neutral/ground in the panel. Once the electricity gets to the grounds in the panel, it isn't going to then go backwards into your grounding system.

Grounds, unlike neutrals, are connected to things/parts that a person might touch. All the metal parts on your stove and refrigerator are grounded; almost every electrical appliance has a ground. Now, if some electricity were to get into your grounding system, the you could, for example, touch the stove and the faucet and get a mild shock.

And that, in the simplest terms I can think of, is why you keep your grounds and neutrals separate, and why they can join in a panel and, with a little thought, why they are isolated in a sub-panel.

If the ground is properly connected, the clock will work. However, as explained above, connecting it that way could compromise the entire grounding system in the structure.

PC

 

[fumancu]

Ok thanks for the info.Real good explaition.I got it now.

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

The green/bare ground wire is for safety; it has absolutely nothing to do with the circuitry.

The (usually) white neutral wire, as previously explained, is for returning a small amount of current to ground to complete a circuit.

You do not want your grounds and your neutrals mixed because this could result in electricity, albeit a small amount, in the grounding system.

What you need to understand is that electricity will seek the shortest path to ground. Your neutrals are all a straight run to the neutral/ground in the panel. Once the electricity gets to the grounds in the panel, it isn't going to then go backwards into your grounding system.

Grounds, unlike neutrals, are connected to things/parts that a person might touch. All the metal parts on your stove and refrigerator are grounded; almost every electrical appliance has a ground. Now, if some electricity were to get into your grounding system, the you could, for example, touch the stove and the faucet and get a mild shock.

And that, in the simplest terms I can think of, is why you keep your grounds and neutrals separate, and why they can join in a panel and, with a little thought, why they are isolated in a sub-panel.

If the ground is properly connected, the clock will work. However, as explained above, connecting it that way could compromise the entire grounding system in the structure.

PC

ok, so all that said and done, in my SP my ground and neutral are still hooked to the same bus bar in the main. meaning the ground AND neutral (this is a 6/4 drop) are the same length... so why does it work? why wouldnt the ground and or neutral act the same? so the shortest distance could be whatever prong on the plug is closer, neutral or ground.
am i missing somthing?

oh i liked the part about the neutral being a really big ground.... so they just drop hot wire and pull neutral from what, a big grounding rod?

 

[Guest]

Metal building have four wire systems where the grounds and neutrals are separate even in the panel box. This is commonly referred to as a floating neutral.
This is to prevent a problem called difference of potential between grounds.
That is to say that neutral and grounds could have a difference of potential between the conductors of @75 volts rms. This would be flowing through your cardiac muscle every time you touched your left hand to your light fixture and your right hand to your faucet.
Please remember that the NEC is the minimum standard.
Neutral grounded, grounded, and bonded.