ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Non-US Electrical Systems & Trades Cut cables

Follow up on this old thread: What I and Kent were discussing was the way to connect the extra earthing wire. Apparently, three methods are acceptable. I can imagine a fourth, but don't know if it's acceptable.



Alternative 1 was the one I was arguing for.
Alternative 2 requires a separate earthing teminal for the extra earth wire in the sockets. Alternative 3 means just cutting the wire at the receiving socket. This is the method Kent uses.

[This message has been edited by C-H (edited 08-31-2003).]

What exactly are we looking at here? Presumably Gron/Gul Jord means green/yellow earth, but what about Biledare?

The connections don't hint at an isolated ground system, so is this just some sort of redundant grounding for safety?

Intranslatable, but it refers the bare earth wire that follows the aluminium shielding. I think the same think is used on some American cables? Help with terminology appreciated.

It looks like this



It's an effect of having two earth wires in the same cable. You need to use both, since the one connected to the shield is downsized compared to the live wires, which is not permitted per the wiring regulations. I still don't get why they designed the cables this way. If they wanted a isolated or high integrity earth, they should not have downsized the shield earth. And why on all cables for indoor use? Cables for direct burial only have the shield earth.

[This message has been edited by C-H (edited 08-31-2003).]

I've heard of something called a "drain wire" when referring to shielded cable/power cord.

Can someone tell us more about that?

Thanks. I've heard the term drain wire too. If the wire is connected at only one end (alternative 2 and 3) there is never any current flowing in the shield. I'm sure that is good from an electromagnetic perspective.

I would expect Karl Riley to know more about that?

Yes, the term "drain wire" is often used on shielded data cables and such like.

If there's a separate ground connection through the cable, it's quite common to connect the drain/shield at only one end of the cable.

In electronics work, internal connections in equipment often leaves the shield of audio and RF leads unconnected at one end in order to avoid ground loops.