From: <md...@mi...> - 2000-07-27 11:08:42
|
>...which reminds me of something I've been wondering about: what is >a "neutral" wire? When I first read the term I thought it was another >word for ground, but I've since read that's not the case. The "neutral" wire is the WHITE wire that makes up the other side of the circuit. The "hot" wire is the BLACK wire. The "ground" wire is GREEN. The neutral wire may be physically connected to the earth (ground), but it is not the safety ground wire - it's part of the circuit. Ground fault circuit interrupters work on the principle that the current in the hot wire must equal the current in the neutral wire, or something is wrong. So if a short circuit (or even a small leakage) to ground occurs, the hot and neutral currents will not be the same, since some current if flowing in the ground wire, and the GFCI will trip. X-10 equipment needs the neutral wire to complete the circuit for its internal power supply. Mike ------------------------------------------------------------------- This message has been posted from Mail2Web http://www.mail2web.com/ Web Hosting for $9.95 per month! Visit: http://www.yourhosting.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------- |