Steve, at around the 2:40 mark you show a measurement at neutral wrt ground that reads a nominal 120v. Would we have seen that reading if the nightlight wasn't plugged into the receptacle above? Great video as always. Thank you.
No you wouldn't have because there is some connection to Neutral at the breaker box, but not a very good one - through the high resistance of a loose connection. What "pulls" neutral toward L1 is the low resistance of the light bulb (as compared to that high upstream resistance on neutral). The resulting "voltage divider" favors a very low voltage drop between L1 and the outlet's Neutral slot.
The three wire 240 v: The question is, is it a neutral or a ground? The dryer may refer to it as a neutral and the dryer cord installation instructions show the neural/ground connected to the steel case like a ground. The dryer might use the ground/neutral to obtain 120v for things like the 120v light bulb or circuit boards. The heating coils and motor will be 240 v and not use a neutral. The wire in the wall, a neutral or a ground? You need to go to the electrical panel and look where the wire is landed. If it is landed on the neutral rail, it is a neutral. If it is landed on the ground rail, it is a ground. The neutrals and grounds are bonded at the first disconnect so they become electrically the same. So what is it? Just confusing. Now if you have a bad neutral/ground wire in a 240 v dryer circuit, you might get a shock if you are touching both a running dryer and a washing machine. It will depend on if the dryer is trying to use 120v via the neutral or converting the 240v to 120v like with an internal transformer.
Thanks steve
I found a hot black in a panel not on a breaker. Open neutral somewhwere I'm assuming.
Steve, at around the 2:40 mark you show a measurement at neutral wrt ground that reads a nominal 120v. Would we have seen that reading if the nightlight wasn't plugged into the receptacle above? Great video as always. Thank you.
No you wouldn't have because there is some connection to Neutral at the breaker box, but not a very good one - through the high resistance of a loose connection. What "pulls" neutral toward L1 is the low resistance of the light bulb (as compared to that high upstream resistance on neutral). The resulting "voltage divider" favors a very low voltage drop between L1 and the outlet's Neutral slot.
@@TheTechCircuit This makes sense. Thank you for clarifying.
The three wire 240 v: The question is, is it a neutral or a ground? The dryer may refer to it as a neutral and the dryer cord installation instructions show the neural/ground connected to the steel case like a ground. The dryer might use the ground/neutral to obtain 120v for things like the 120v light bulb or circuit boards. The heating coils and motor will be 240 v and not use a neutral.
The wire in the wall, a neutral or a ground? You need to go to the electrical panel and look where the wire is landed. If it is landed on the neutral rail, it is a neutral. If it is landed on the ground rail, it is a ground. The neutrals and grounds are bonded at the first disconnect so they become electrically the same. So what is it? Just confusing.
Now if you have a bad neutral/ground wire in a 240 v dryer circuit, you might get a shock if you are touching both a running dryer and a washing machine. It will depend on if the dryer is trying to use 120v via the neutral or converting the 240v to 120v like with an internal transformer.