Question about polarity (Electricity).

[Waper]

Hello.

In my country the building wiring system has two poles only, one is referred to as 0 and the other as 220V, is that in any way related to the "hot" and "neutral" terms?
I guess the hot is 220V and neutral is?

Looking at a NEMA 2P3W grounding receptacle, with the grounding hole upwards, which side is the hot and which is the neutral?

A document from ET-SALES http://www.et-sales.com/Documents/Re...ram%202P3W.pdf
indicates that the left side is called SYS GND is that the neutral pole, so does it mean that the left pole is the hot one?

I'm sorry if my question sounds silly. Thank you for your concern.

[Stick]

quote:Originally posted by Waper

Hello.

In my country the building wiring system has two poles only, one is referred to as 0 and the other as 220V, is that in any way related to the "hot" and "neutral" terms?
I guess the hot is 220V and neutral is?

Looking at a NEMA 2P3W grounding receptacle, with the grounding hole upwards, which side is the hot and which is the neutral?

A document from ET-SALES http://www.et-sales.com/Documents/Re...ram%202P3W.pdf
indicates that the left side is called SYS GND is that the neutral pole, so does it mean that the left pole is the hot one?

I'm sorry if my question sounds silly. Thank you for your concern.

Not at all silly.

I think our neutral would be like your 0.

In the pdf file you refer to, there are two hots and no neutral. That is for a 600V receptacle, usually found only in industry. There will be 600V across the two terminals X and Y.

Residential wiring here in Canada and the US is 120/240VAC. 120V wiring uses one hot, one neutral and a ground. Electric ranges, clothes dryers and the like use 2 hots, a neutral, and a ground. This is done so that there will be 240V available across the 2 hots for the heat elements, but 120V across one hot and neutral for timers and lights.

[Waper]

Thank you very much "Stick" for replying and for the information.

I just noticed that the PDF file opens on page 2 by default, on this page there is a 600V AC 2 Pole 3-Wire Grounding L9-20/30R, I didn't know that much about this type of plug/receptacle so it's kind of you to tell me about how it works.

If you go to page 1 you will see the receptacle I'm inquiring about which also uses 2 Pole 3 Wire Grounding but with one hot pole and one neutral pole plus ground, if I'm correct. it's the NEMA 5-15R/P which I understand and as you confirmed is the common type used for homes.

The PDF file labels the pole to the right as (W SYS GR) and the one to the left as (125V), and the ground as (G EQUIP GR).

So my question is : For a NEMA 5-15 R, looking at the receptacle with ground pole upwards :
right pole (W SYS GR) = neutral = 0
left pole (125V) = hot/live = 220V (after stepping it down with a transformer)
Ground wire (G EQUIP GR) = Ground / Earth = (will connect to a grounding rod or the like)

Is that correct?

Thank you again.

[Stick]

Yes, you have it right, provided you use a step-down transformer to get down to 120V. The reason I say 120V rather than 125V is the plug and receptacle are rated for 15 amps at 125V, but the normal voltage available to a dwelling wil be at 120V, at least in my part of North America. In reality, it varies about ±5%, usually anywhere from around 115-125V. What actual voltage we get depends on a lot of things, but it tends to be fairly stable in the cities, not so good in rural areas.

The other thing to keep in mind is that our power is at 60Hz.

[Waper]

Hello Stick,

Thank you for replying again, you are wonderful!

Well, I guess now I know enough about polarity to wire the receptacles, thanks to you.

There are still two issues left for me to deal with, one is the absent grounding because our wiring system is (2P2W no grounding). I think I will go for the grounding rod option, although some people advised me to just connect the grounding wire to a water pipe. I don't know about that, last time I tried that solution it didn't make the "Building Wiring Fault" indicator go off, but then again the polarity was reversed, which I believe causes a problem called "reversed polarity or hot neutral?"

I also noticed a debate going on between people who say that it is okay to connect the grounding wire to the neutral pole, I don't really know, I'm no professional!

The other issue is the frequency (if that definition is correct). Ours is 50Hz, but one of my power protection equipment claim to correct this to 60Hz.

I live in a big city but still it's common for electricity to fall below -30%, specially in summer when it's to hot that people have to turn on all their ACs just to breath. That's why we have to depend on AVRs and such to maintain a stable electric current.

Well, thanks again Stick, I will fix things tonight.

Best Regards.

[Tom Slick]

another tip:
on a recepticle the "hot" terminal is usually gold colored and the "neutral" terminal is usually silver colored.

In the USA you must have a 10' grounding rod and that rod must also be connected to the nearest water pipe.

[Waper]

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the tip.

I don't understand what you mean with "Terminal", are you referring to the wire which is hard wired to the receptacle or are you referring to the receptacle (slots)? I'm sorry I'm not used to these terms.

About the grounding rod, do you mean I should run another wire from the rod to a water pipe, or dig the rod so that it actually touches a water pipe under the ground?

Thank you.

[pierhogunn]

Waper, Welcome aboard...

and good luck with your wiring out.

Dan

[Waper]

Thank you Dan,

I already feel lucky that I have found this beautiful forum, there are lots of nice folks around here and plenty of interesting topics.

[Tom Slick]

without actually seeing your recepticle i was assuming that it was similar to most that are here in the USA. the hard wire gets bent around a screw located on the back side of the recepticle, then you tighten the screw. that screw is the "terminal" I was speaking of. on some, the "blades" of the plug are also colored gold and silver for their respective polarity.

[Waper]

I see. Thanks for explaining.