Questions tagged [neutral]
a circuit conductor that normally carries current, and is connected to ground (earth) at the main electrical panel.
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Running a long 120VAC line without a neutral
Source is a home 120/240VAC with pole transformer. I want to direct bury a 500 foot 120V line to run some battery chargers and dont need more than 10 amps. Why cant I only run a single large ...
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Role of the neutral conductor in three phase systems
In a symmetrical and balanced three phase system no current flows on the neutral conductor.
Obviously the real electric power distribution systems are not perfectly balanced, so there is a current on ...
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Understanding ground to earth and neutral, trying to make my home safe [migrated]
I've been reading for hours and still confused in regards to my situation. I'm trying to improve electrical safety in my house, especially with a growing family.
Any help would be great.
I'm ...
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What does it mean when my car inverter's labeling says “Neutral Floating”? Is it safe to use?
I recently came across a fairly old car inverter. It plugs into a 12v DC lighter socket, and outputs 115 Vac at 60 Hz, and has a normal American outlet on the side of it (with a ground pin, which ...
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2answers
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L and N switched, from a functional point of view, what difference does it make for the device being powered?
Consider a generic single phase AC 240 V (or 125V) device for home use such as a hair dryer.
From a purely functional point of view, what difference does it make if a phase is switched with the ...
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1answer
65 views
Designing PCB with AC Live and Neutral on two layers
I'm designing a smart socket that will route 240V AC Live and Neutral to a voltage regulator and also to a relay that will control the current flow. Due to the limited space, it will be easier to ...
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187 views
How do no-neutral wire smart switches work? [duplicate]
Recently I saw that certain Sonoff and Xiaomi smart Wifi/Zigbee switches can be wired without neutral wire, like shown in this schematic: http://dl.itead.cc/sonoff-t4eu1c/T4EU1C_02.jpg
Some examples ...
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How can a circuit not have a neutral?
I've been making plans to install a NEMA 6-50 outlet in my garage, but I don't understand how it can not have a neutral, and instead have two hots (at 120v each) and a ground.
What completes the ...
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1answer
67 views
Normally Closed Negative Output, Positive Input Relay
I'm attempting to wire up my remote start in my manual transmission vehicle to ONLY start when the vehicle is in neutral. The way that the transmission works is like this:
When in neutral, resistance ...
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Can I put a low current relay between line (or neutral) and the ground wires to detect polarity?
Can I put a low current (<5 mA) 230V coil, NC (normal close contact) relay between one wire of mains and the ground (earth) wire in order to check mains polarity?
In theory if the wire is line (...
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371 views
Line to ground faults
I am having a trouble understanding the concept of line to ground faults,and ground in general.
In this simple single phase circuit, does current reach the load and the circuit operates normally? ...
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Does the neutral wire have any voltage?
In this article, the author talks about 3 phase and the magic of a missing neutral wire. And there's the following paragraph:
In a 3-phase system the voltage between any two phases is 3 times ...
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97 views
Neutral wiring in residential homes
I understand from the diagram below that the neutral wire provides a return path to complete the circuit so that the current can flow.
But once the current goes back to the distribution transformer, ...
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1answer
126 views
Why no current in neutral wire_kids question
One school child asked me -
If current means flow of electrons, or entering to a bulb from one wire (Live) then going back through another wire, then why there is no current in the neutral wire, ...
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1answer
171 views
Why short circuit occur when the hot line touches the neutral wire (aka ground)?
The charges move from negative (hot wire) to positive/negative (neutral) to make the device work right? So why would the Short occur only when they are directly connected? Wouldn't they just flow ...
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Circuit for Neutral point of 3-Phase mains
I wonder if the 'Neutral Point' as mentioned in the attached image is correctly labeled or not? Is there any mistake in this 3-phase circuit design?
Edit 1:
Also it looks like the 'Neutral point' is ...
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1answer
176 views
Odd voltage readings between phase-ground, phase-neutral, neutral-ground
Recently i tried gathering voltages from few AC outlets in my house. I got following readings using a dmm
Phase-Ground = 398V-400V (should be around 240V)
Phase-Neutral = 230 V
Neutral-Ground= 210 V ...
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1answer
72 views
Question on Ground/Neutral connection for a 220V equipment
I sketched the following schematic from a motor controller board that has to be operated at 220V from L1 to L2. The earth wire is connected to the chassis of the machine. Where I live, it's common to ...
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48 views
Home electrical transmission question [closed]
AC current is sine wave with 60 hz frequency - how is this helpful in understanding electricity and transmission? Does the sine wave progress through electric wire or stands static and oscillates?
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1answer
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Why is earth at 0 V with respect to phase?
In 3 phase transmission lines we have different voltages depending on how we measure it. Phase to phase voltage is going to be 1.73 times more than phase to neutral. So far I understand everything ...
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4answers
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Why cut both live and neutral wires?
It is a common practice, for high power loads such as boilers, furnaces, etc., to install a circuit breaker that "cuts" both live and neutral wires - at least in Europe.
In my search for EVSE, I saw ...
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1answer
163 views
Can connecting just neutral wire of power supply to a PCB (VDD not connected) cause sparks and burn out decoupling capacitor?
I have an embedded system and one of the PCBs in the module should be connected to a 5V power supply -> positive(+) and neutral(-). The NEUTRAL knob is directly tied to the GROUND knob in the power ...
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Am I compensated by the electricity company for electricity that exits my home on the neutral wire? [closed]
DISCLAIMER: I am not an electrician or electrical engineer.
Let's say that all I have running in my home is a 10 watt LED light bulb (nothing else). This bulb uses very little of the electricity ...
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2answers
208 views
Meggering Three Phase Motor (Phase-GND, Phase-Neutral, GND-Neutral)
When meggering a three phase motor, could someone please help me understand the values we would expect to see for a motor with no insulation or ground faults.
From my understanding:
Phase-GND: ...
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1answer
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Why is neutral wire connected to ground at the transformer?
I understand the use of ground wire at the home appliances but why is the neutral wire connected to ground at the transformer? Why doesn't the neutral wire go back to the power generation plants.
I ...
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2answers
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Why is neutral required in three phase charging of Electric vehicles?
Talking about both three-phase AC as well as DC fast charging (wherein 3 phase AC is converted to DC) in EVs, I think that the 3-phase rectifier represents a balanced 'load'. Therefore I want to know ...
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Can I swap active/neutral on an isolated 240V power supply? [duplicate]
I'm looking at using a Meanwell IRM-03 isolated switchmode power supply (datasheet) in a project but the active/neutral pins are arranged in an inconvenient way for the PCB tracks. It would be a heap ...
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2answers
201 views
480v delta/400v wye with Neutral ungrounded
I have a European machine using a 480/400 volt three phase transformer. The neutral conductor is used to power some devices at 230 volt. The manuf. insists that the neutral must not be solidly ...
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1answer
147 views
Earth& neutral voltage detection
Can someone suggest me circuit to detect the earth to neutral voltage. I would like to trip relay coil using microcontroller if earth to neutral voltage exceeds 3v.
There are device RCB and RCBO ...
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1answer
115 views
How does circuit completes when physical ground(earth) is used as neutral? [duplicate]
In my locality there is no neutral wire. Our transmission company runs only 3 wires(all line/phase) and no neutral(4th wire) at all. Out of three, one runs to our houses. I know it sounds incorrect, ...
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2answers
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Where does branch circuit neutral current go in a single phase or three phase electrical panel?
Specifically, I would like to know the exact path of travel for the neutral current when it comes back from a load to the electrical panel. I am an electrician of 20 years and have recently acquired ...
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4answers
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Why is the neutral pin hotter than the live pin?
I frequently use an Immersion Rod Water Heater (shown below) and I have noticed that the after unplugging the heater, the neutral pin of the 3 pin plug is quite hot (about 5 degrees more - but not ...
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How to overcome weak neutral from electric company?
suppose I am using very good earths ( let 2 numbers) at my home to avoid the risk of failure of neutral of electric company. Then should I common my earth with neutral? But if this is done the in case ...
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3 phase generator residual voltage
A 3 phase wye-connected, 115 V, 400 Hz generator is used to power a test stand in which a motor controls a wiper arm that operates a three phase Variac to control the voltage across each of the phases....
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Neutral and the earth are bonded at the main panel or the substation but why is only earth wire used for safety?
Typical distribution system can be illustrated as:
Here are my premises (and assumptions):
1-) Chassis in a house must be connected to the earth, not to the neutral.
2-) The earth and the neutral ...
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2answers
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Should neutrals be tied together or left separate?
I'm working on a control panel. The panel is powered by 120VAC single phase (USA). The panel has a battery backup unit (UPS) which powers the panel if the incoming power goes out, and which filters ...
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1answer
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Connecting a surge protection device
I've just learned about the surge protection device (SPD). As I was reading about its connection in a three phase line, I came across this scheme:
I understand that the SPD's are there to limit the ...
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1answer
700 views
What would happen if a neutral wire and a hot wire were vastly different lengths?
Pretend you had a 120v load, where the hot (ungrounded conductor) was say only 5 feet in length from the source to the load, but the neutral was say, 1000 feet. Excluding things such as voltage drop (...
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5answers
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Why is the Earth a useful reference of electric potential?
I may be a little confusing, but I honestly need a good help to make me understand certain things. I like very much to learn theory, but I feel that if I learn it without associating to the real life, ...
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2answers
50 views
Do 2 conductors (1 grounded via resistor) reach equipotential, before surplus electrons drain to earth?
Case I: a negative conductor makes contact with a neutral conductor. Negative donates some electrons to neutral, until there is 0 potential difference. Then they both are slightly negative.
This ...
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1answer
556 views
Grounding conductor has a non-zero voltage (i.e. with respect to “true” ground). Why?
We're building a new house and I'm not confident with the skills of the electrician who installed the receptacles. In our country, residential structures are supplied with 240 V, 60 Hz (single phase).
...
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1answer
454 views
High neutral-to-ground voltage of switching mode power supplies
I am attempting to create a sine wave signal from 0V to 12V at 40 Hz and up to 1.4A, with original power input 120VAC 60 Hz wall power. I've come up with the circuit below, which I'm pretty sure ...
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3answers
5k views
Does reversing polarity in AC damage the equipment? (Sonoff Wifi Switch) [closed]
Firstly, I am a beginner. Excuse me if this is a dumb question.
I have ordered a Wi-Fi switch named Sonoff. I have a doubt whether the device will work if the polarity is reversed or will it get ...
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3answers
1k views
50 Volts on the Neutral (180 Volts on the Live) bad or safe?
We have an off-grid UK home on occasion powered by a generator (MOSA GE 6000 SX/GS).
Due to the design of the generator, it has two modes: centre-tapped-earth 110 V, and 230 V. When running in 230 V ...
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2answers
135 views
How does having neutral make electrical systems safer than electronic systems which do not have neutral? [duplicate]
Electrical systems have neutral besides live and ground. Electronic systems have only VCC and gnd. I read that having neutral is necessary for safety in electrical systems because of the higher ...
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471 views
Why do electrical systems have neutral, live and ground when electronic systems have only VCC and ground?
Wouldn't it be simpler if electrical systems take away the neutral and just have live and ground similar to electronic systems?
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Effect of the neutral current to a system when a 3-phase facility is used as unbalanced
Normally 3 phase-systems are used for balanced loads like in 3-phase AC induction motors. I know that in a balanced star configuration the total current across the neutral is zero.
But what if each ...
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7answers
3k views
Neutral and live holes/wires
Is the neutral hole socket on the left or the right side? Is this universal to all countries and most houses?
The neutral wire is usually at 0V relative to earth right? Or 0V RMS? HYPOTHETICALLY, if ...
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4answers
913 views
Hot and neutral have similar voltage to ground - finding the problem
I have an APC battery backup and surge protector for my computer. It has a light, labeled "Building wiring fault." This light is on, and my computer will not start. I am unemployed and my landlord is ...
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1answer
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when does the neutral wire in a 3 phase system carry voltage?
I am curious, and I've found a bit of information online, but maybe its not clicking in my head... when does the neutral line in a 3 phase system carry voltage.
i do understand the answer is quite ...
