ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Fictional Scenario Discussion

Hi Don and Sparky

Thanks for replying to this message. I thought that no one would want to, so when I saw your replies, it made my day! Hopefully more people will reply, but even if they don't it's great you guys did

Let me know if I should continue with more scenarios.......

Don hit Scenario 1 great. The only thing that would be different is the voltage to ground. Instead of being a maximum of 120 VAC to ground, it's either 120 VAC to ground from the center tap, or 240 VAC to ground from the 3rd conductor. Everything else works the same.

FYI: For scenario 2, the system is still connected to the enclosure in the main service and all eq. grounds remain connected as usual, but nothing is bonded to the grounding electrode. Also, the transformer is ungrounded.

Sparky: If after a few more days these examples are still unexplainable, I'll follow up with explainations, or E-Mail you.
You are correct that the reason there are no other houses connected to the secondary, has an effect to this scenario. In fact, it has a major part!
Please also note that there is no physical connection of the electrical system to either city water or gas pipes.

I thought up these ficticious scenarios to pose questions and responses that would explain [or help to explain] the basics of grounded AC systems' operations.
In other words, these 4 situations should help "shed some light" on the reasons of and methods to ground AC systems, plus how ground faults work. I figured they would have great impact, as they are primary functions.

Hopefully, this gets covered enough to be beneficial to everyone.

Let me know if you like it.


Scott "S.E.T."