Quote:
Originally Posted by griffin8r
OK....
We need to get back to the fundamentals of a 3-prong outlet and what exactly "ground" is.
In a three-prong outlet, one side is positive, the other side is negative, and the hole in the middle is the ground (also known as the neutral, because it carries no current other than what is shunted to it by the circuitry in an overload)
The reason why that middle hole is considered the "ground" is because there is no ground connection on the negative side of the outlet - that's completing the circuit to and from the electrical supply outside. The neutral pole actually does connect to a true ground drilled into the soil outside of your house near the meter.
When a power strip reports that there is no "ground" on your circuit, it means there's no connection to that neutral plug, which means there's no way to shunt.
I'm not sure where you are on this science, or where we're not making a connection (pardon the pun) in our discussion, but this is all pretty much wiring 101.
Positive/Negative/Neutral(ground) is what I learned back in Journeyman electrical classes 20 years ago.
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I'm not sure what electrical system you are describing, because here in the US, we have a Hot (Black wire) Neutral (White wire) and Ground (Bare Copper)
By virtue of AC (Alternating current) there is no "Negative." The Hot to neutral "Alternates" between positive/negative 60 times a second, hence 60 HZ. Ground goes to earth, theoretically the earth shield, all the way back to the generator casing back at the production plant.
Basic Household electrical single phase service starts with 240 Volts, i.e. 2 hot wires from opposing sides of the sine wave generated at the Hydroelectric/coal/nuclear power plant, both returning to the center "neutral." From each of the "hot" wires to neutral representing 1/2 of the total sine wave. Hence- 120 Volts. a Properly balanced panel would have equal loads on both "legs" of this circuit.
The Neutral and Ground wires are tied to a common Buss bar inside your electrical panel, unless it is a sub-panel, where they are required to be isolated.
No "negative" anywhere to be found in AC Home wiring, except in the theoretical process.
Did you want to get into the discussion as to why a sub panel MUST have isolated neutral and ground? Or would that simply add a layer of confusion to a subject you apparently don't understand?
Yes, it IS wiring 101, and you neither understand basic home wiring, or, apparently, electronic circuitry, where you do begin to see positive/negative. There, of course, we can find DC (Direct current.)
But again, that will certainly lead to additional confusion, since you can have both AC and DC in an electronic circuit.