ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area 240Volt Loads without neutral

Thanks to everyone for responding. I really appreciate it!

Reno, did you mean +180 degrees apart from each other, not +120?


Dnk....

This is also something I was wondering. Is 120VAC cycling +120V to -120V or is it +60 to -60 making the Peak to Peak voltage 120? I realize 240VAC is 2 sine waves offset 180 deg. causing simultaneus voltage positive and negative, but was wondering if the voltage was caluculated Peak to Peak or from the x axis(y=0). Also, the more I try to visualize the electron flow for a single phase 240 VAC load, it seems as though the electrons are flowing one direction and then the other every 30Hz. No? If not then how are they flowing?

I must consult the textbook.

Clydesdale, AC voltage is normally specified as the "RMS" (root-mean-square) value. The explanation for this is a little complex, but it basically means that a 120 volt RMS AC source will provide the same power (wattage) as a 120 volt DC source to the same resistive load.

For sine-wave AC, the peak voltage is the RMS voltage times the square root of 2, or 1.414 times the RMS voltage. A 120 volt "hot" conductor alternates between +170 and -170 volts.

Disregard my last post, I thought Reno was talking about the phases being 120 degrees from each other.

I don't think I caught the 120 being an RMS voltage.

Dnk.....