Propeller Head Plaza Technical and scientific discussion of amps, cables and other topics.

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you guys are all killin me!!!

Posted by jneutron (A) on August 16, 2004 at 06:14:02

In Reply to: Oh...and.. posted by RBP on August 13, 2004 at 23:29:20:

Yah, so it's not 220...I know, I know...

But its so much easier to say one-ten...and two-twenty....not one-tweeeennnnttty and twooo ffooorrrtttyyy... It doesn't roll off the tongue as easily...especially for us verbally challenged injuneers.

So yah, I'm a geezer....ok?? there, I said it...happy now?? :-)

Telephone poles...geeze...:-)

Showin my age?? FEELIN IT...especially with all you young whippersnappers takin potshots at poor ol' me...

I'm located on Long Islang, USA..sorry I didn't mention that.

Here, the stepdown on the "service pole" is an autotransformer, one bushing, which means there is one high voltage feed at the top, the ground of the high voltage side is also the ground of the low voltage (240) side. The neutral that feeds the house is the steel wire that holds the two 120 lines in the air, and here at least, we are required to run a smaller guage bare copper wire to a clamp on the water feed coming into the house. Since most water feeds are in the basement, coming out of the bottom of the basement floor 'crete, it's usually damp, humid, and the ground clamp corrodes a lot..

For the house I saw, any 120 appliance (see, I learn:-)) is using that ground clamp to the pipe to support the current of the appliance. Loads on the opposite leg, of course, will reduce the ground current, but unbalanced loads will not.

If they had a swimming pool (which they do not), any neutral or ground carried from the inside panel will be floating w/r to the outside transformer...If the water pipe ground corrodes to an open condition, unbalanced loads inside the house would cause the entire house neutral/ground to float w/r to earth ground..and that poses an electrocution hazard. Hence, my desire to give the heads up..

OH, the house is actually abandoned, and a for sale sign is up..it's on a main street here, and it's zoned commercial. I'll call LIPA anyway, I don't think the real estate people would care one way or the other, and I think the utility owns the wires up to the house anyway..

Cheers, John

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