will a loose neutral wire cause a high electric bill?

[MolaKule]

Originally Posted by exranger06
Originally Posted by MolaKule
The White wire (Neutral) connects to the internal Ground Bus (Neutral Safety Bus) as does the Safety Ground (bare wire).

This is true only in a "main" breaker panel. If it's a subpanel, the neutral bar/bus is separate from the ground bar/bus. The ground bar is bonded to the panel enclosure, while the neutral bar is to be isolated from the enclosure. Neutral wires for the branch circuits go on the neutral bar, ground wires go on the ground bar. The neutral should be bonded to ground only at ONE point, which is at the first point of disconnect. If you have a disconnect right next to the meter, that's where it should be bonded, and the panel in the house should have separate neutral and ground bars. If there is no disconnect outside and the service goes from the meter straight into the main breaker panel, then the main breaker in the panel is the first point of disconnect and the neutrals and grounds can go on the same bar.



Thanks for the info.

Yes, I was referring to the main breaker box (Main Load Distribution Center) only.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Originally Posted by exranger06
Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
N is usually parallel the same circuit as GND in 1p 120v

.......


Everything you posted is nonsense.

The ground wire should be bonded to neutral ONLY at the main panel/main disconnect and should NOT be bonded together ANYWHERE else, including subpanels. There should NEVER be any parallel paths where normal current is flowing down the neutral and the ground wire at the same time.


Oh it's not THAT bad

Where were discussing failures and White lifts or intermittent or high Z connexions. But I will defer to the Professional Electricians on the Forum - which I assume you are exranger06. I apologise.

My main exposure in electronics at home is building HiFi power amps that use EARTH on the speaker output side as GND. So I gave an incorrect impression characterising normal home appliances, motors and loads.

Multiphase motors and high power electronics (microwave oven) have a chassis/case bare with earth GND wire where in a failure if the case is exposed to HOT/Black there will be a high current draw event that will trip the breaker on that circuit, blow a line fuse, and if not - melt a fusible link wire. The GND is indeed wired in parallel to the N but is usually tied to the GND post at the receptacle then should be tied to a chassis post inside a metal component case. I have not worked with plastic cased low power appliances and I don't know what U.L. rules apply or if GND wire is required. Most table and floor lamps don't utilise a GND.

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted by motor_oil_madman
The neighbor was complaining about the power dropping whenever they turned on something that used a lot of amperage and they were also complaining about high electric bills. This got me thinking, won't their electric bill be cheaper now that they don't have power going to places it shouldn't be?


Unlikely any cheaper. The voltage drop may only be a small amount (i.e. 10% or so) and if he is spending a lot in power bill it means he has something that uses a lot of power in the house, like video recorder, PC, electric heater, electric dryer, AC, leaky fridge, something he forgot to turn off running in the background, etc. It is his business as he and you aren't sharing anything after the meter.

Are you sure you didn't plug anything into his circuit after the meter?