Answer by Byron McNeil for Why is main's neutral tied to earth?
Here in Australia we have what is called an MEN system. Multiple Earth Neutral, the IEC describes the MEN system as a TN-C-S system (Terra Neutral Combined Seperate) which is a fancy way of saying; the...
View ArticleAnswer by Brett K Smith for Why is main's neutral tied to earth?
The point of earthing devices is that if (realistically when) there is a short to a part you can touch a circuit is made, current flows rapidly for a very short period of time, and then the...
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Answer by Roger Dahl for Why is main's neutral tied to earth?
This power pole outside my house shows an advantage of having the neutral wire grounded. The live wire is located by itself at the highest and safest location, while the neutral wire is further down on...
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Answer by StessenJ for Why is main's neutral tied to earth?
In the TV lab we prescribed the use of an isolation transformer to galvanically separate our device under test from the mains. This made the TV safe to touch, with ONE hand. It also made the TV safe to...
View ArticleAnswer by Harper - Reinstate Monica for Why is main's neutral tied to earth?
What you're talking about is an isolated system. I have an extended treatise on it here. In an isolated system, "the first ground fault is free" (and becomes the neutral-ground bond). This is the idea...
View ArticleAnswer by dwizum for Why is main's neutral tied to earth?
One word answer: Predictability.Sometimes, it's better for a network to be predictable than to "sometimes" or "usually" be safer/cheaper/better in some other way. Predictability makes global...
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Answer by Trevor_G for Why is main's neutral tied to earth?
There are four reasons for grounding the neutral. 1. Grounding neutral provides a common reference for all things plugged into the power system. That makes connections between devices safe(r).2....
View ArticleAnswer by Henry Crun for Why is main's neutral tied to earth?
As Neil has pointed out, the big picture is that you are part of a big electricity network, and if it wasn't grounded somewhere, the whole damn thing would float high - perhaps to $lightning volts.Your...
View ArticleAnswer by Jeroen3 for Why is main's neutral tied to earth?
On an IT-network, where both lines on the socket are live, the GFCI wouldn't work on a single fault.Which has benefits in in some high continuity systems (eg: operation rooms), a single fault doesn't...
View ArticleAnswer by Neil_UK for Why is main's neutral tied to earth?
The main reason is to blow protective fuses, to ensure that the fault current is sufficient for that purpose. However it also helps limit voltage excursions in 3 phase distribution.Live to chassis...
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Why is main's neutral tied to earth?
My dad is an Electrician and I myself am an Electronics Design Engineer, and to this day he still hasn't been able to give me a good reason for this. Consider the two following pictures/situations -...
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