No, in a three phase balance load, there should not be any current through Neutral conductor. If it is a 2 wire, single phase system, the Neutral will carry the same current as live conductor if the system has no Earth fault, leak.
Current on neutral in a multi phase system is caused by imbalance between the phases. Question: Are you talking about neutral or ground? The two are very different. Although neutral is grounded, it is expected to be a current carrying conductor, so current on neutral is normal, so to speak. Ground, on the other hand is a protective circuit that is not supposed to have any current on it at all.
The neutral is a current-carrying conductor, the grounding wire is not; it is for safety as an ALTERNATE path to ground. For example, if something happens to disconnect the neutral or if the hot side comes into contact with conductive portions of an appliance, the grounding conductor can save a life by providing a safe fault mechanism.
For a perfectly balanced load, with identical loads connected between each line conductor and the neutral conductor, there should be no neutral current. This is because the vector sum of three identical current, displaced by 120o, is zero.However, for an unbalanced load, there will always be a neutral current because the vector sum of the currents will not cancell.
Yes, a 3 wire system can create neutral voltages due to harmonic distortion. Neutral voltages can also be caused by load imbalance between the two hots. It is normal for neutral to have a voltage differential relative to ground. Neutral is, after all, a current carrying conductor. In a well balanced system, however, there is little (theoretically zero) current in neutral.
The neutral wire is simply a grounded power carrying conductor. It is different than earth ground, which is a protective ground, that is not intended to carry current, however, earth ground and neutral are connected together at the distribution panel. Nevertheless, they serve different purposes, and may not be interchanged in usage. The purpose in grounding one of the power carrying conductors is to limit the possible voltage potential that might exist between an ungrounded conductor, such as hot, or phase hot, so as to minimize the potential electrocution hazard that might exist if someone were to come into conduct with a hot conductor.
Sure. In a two-wire circuit, both wires carry equal currents.
Presumably, you are asking the purpose of a neutral conductor, rather than 'contactor'?A alternating-current supply has two conductors, a lineconductor and a neutral conductor. The line conductor is at system potential (e.g. 230 V in Europe), whereas the neutral conductor is at approximately earth (ground) potential because it is earthed (grounded) at the supply transformer. The neutral conductor acts as the 'return' path to the transformer, carrying the same load current as the line conductor.
No. A ground wire is a non-current carrying conductor and cannot be used for hot or neutral.
A neutral is an active conductor in the circuit. It is grounded at the source but that's for another discussion. The ground exists to ensure the proper operation of over current devices like fuses and breakers in the event of a fault.
Current on neutral in a multi phase system is caused by imbalance between the phases. Question: Are you talking about neutral or ground? The two are very different. Although neutral is grounded, it is expected to be a current carrying conductor, so current on neutral is normal, so to speak. Ground, on the other hand is a protective circuit that is not supposed to have any current on it at all.
You dont. You have a current carrying conductor (your hot), a grounded conductor (your neutral) and a grounding conductor (your ground). You CAN however be shocked by the hot AND the neutral of a circuit that you turned the breaker off or if the neutral is being shared on another "hot" circuit. This was a very common practice until electrical code outlawed it a few yrs back.
The neutral is a current-carrying conductor, the grounding wire is not; it is for safety as an ALTERNATE path to ground. For example, if something happens to disconnect the neutral or if the hot side comes into contact with conductive portions of an appliance, the grounding conductor can save a life by providing a safe fault mechanism.
You can have only one current carrying conductor in a conduit, but that conduit must have a slot to relieve the eddy currents that will be created by the transformer effect created by the conductor. It is better to run the neutral or opposite conductor along with the hot conductor together in the same conduit, or through the same penetration, so as to minimize this effect.
The neutral wire is called a grounded conductor. It is also a current carrying conductor. It carries the unbalance current back to ground. At the substation the neutral is derived at the XO connection at the transformer. It needs to be grounded to earth. If not, you will have fluctuation of voltage on all phase wires to ground. With substations voltages being in access of 5kv in most cases. this fluctuation can be very vast.
For a perfectly balanced load, with identical loads connected between each line conductor and the neutral conductor, there should be no neutral current. This is because the vector sum of three identical current, displaced by 120o, is zero.However, for an unbalanced load, there will always be a neutral current because the vector sum of the currents will not cancell.
No. Absolutely not. The ground conductor is not rated to carry constant current flow. It is only rate to carry fault current flow.
A GFCI monitors the current in the ungrounded (hot) conductor and the grounded (neutral) conductor. If there is more than 6mA of current difference between the two the GFCI will open the circuit.