Electrical Wiring

The only place that white neutrals should be connected to the ground wires is upstream of all branch circuit breakers at the ground bus bar inside the main breaker panel.

The answer given below gives DANGEROUS ADVICE because it fails to explain exactly what a separate ground wire does.

Where they are provided in a circuit - such as in 4-wire 240 volt outlets - the green or bare copper ground wires must be kept separate from the neutral (white) wires everywhere except in the main breaker panel at a single point upstream of all circuit breakers.

The whole purpose of providing a ground wire in a circuit is for it to be connected directly to any the internal metal frame and external metal casings of all appliances which it supplies with power.

Then, if an accident occurs which causes physical damage to the appliance (or its connecting cord or plug) - or if some electrical insulation fails or some other kind of breakdown occurs, which could make the appliance catch on fire or electrocute the user - the ground wire is there as a safety wire to "ground" the fault condition.

The result is: before any further damage is caused to users or their home, the heavy fault current the ground wire takes will make the circuit breaker trip to cut off the electricity.

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In normal households in North America and other countries which use the same 60 Hz supply service -

4 wires are Red (Hot), Black (Hot), White (Neutral) and Bare (Ground)

3 Wires are Red (Hot), Black (Hot), Green (Neutral/Ground) - generally not used for 220-240V - or may be Black (Hot), Red (Hot) and Bare (Ground) or Black (Hot), White (Hot), Bare (Ground).

The following advice is dangerous and should not be followed:

There is NO difference between the White, Green, or Bare wires. They all get connected to the same place in the breaker box - the neutral strips on the sides of the box. Use of the bare ground is for personal safety only - however the white or green wire does the exact same job.

So to answer your question

(Breaker Wire : Appliance Wire)

Red : Red

Black : Black

White : Green

Bare - connects to the frame or case of the outlet/box you're wiring into.

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As always, if you are in doubt about what to do, the best advice anyone should give you is to call a licensed electrician to advise what work is needed.

Before you do any work yourself,

on electrical circuits, equipment or appliances,

always use a test meter to ensure the circuit is, in fact, de-energized.

IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY SURE YOU CAN DO THIS JOB

SAFELY AND COMPETENTLY

REFER THIS WORK TO QUALIFIED PROFESSIONALS.

The number of outlets on a 15 or 20 amp circuit depends entirely on what you will plugging into those outlets. If you are plugging in an appliance that will pull 10 amps then you cannot also plug in another one taking 15 amps!

Many different combinations are possible, for example a 15 amp circuit may have 15 outlets but only 2 are being used at any one time, such as a floor lamp and a TV.

Generally speaking, most homes have 8 to 10 outlets per a 15 amp circuit. Not all outlets are used at the same time, a lamp here, a TV there, not too much. Regarding lights, you need to add up all the amps pulled by all fixtures on that circuit. The total amps pulled should not exceed 80% of the circuit breaker's maximum amperage.

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There is an allowance of 180 watts per outlet for 120 volt convenience outlets.

It is required that a continuous load [operating over 4 hours] be served such that the circuit is not loaded past 80% of its capacity, which would allow a continuous 16 amp load on a 20 amp circuit. If there were 2 loads planned, the combined continuous load could not exceed 16 amps between both devices.

See NEC [NFPA 70, 2005 edition - National Electrical Code (c)] Article 210, sections 210.20, 210.21 and 210.23.

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As always, if you are in doubt about what to do, the best advice anyone should give you is to call a licensed electrician to advise what work is needed.

Before you do any work yourself,

on electrical circuits, equipment or appliances,

always use a test meter to ensure the circuit is, in fact, de-energized.

IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY SURE YOU CAN DO THIS JOB

SAFELY AND COMPETENTLY

REFER THIS WORK TO QUALIFIED PROFESSIONALS

The chain operates a switch inside the fan's casing.

It is most likely that switch is stuck in the "on" position" and less likely that the chain itself is stuck in the casing somehow.

Ask someone who knows how to work safely on electrical appliances to check that switch to find out if it can be fixed or if you will need to buy a new switch and have it fitted.

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As always, if you are in doubt about what to do, the best advice anyone should give you is to call a licensed electrician to advise what work is needed.

Before you do any work yourself,

on electrical circuits, equipment or appliances,

always use a test meter to ensure the circuit is, in fact, de-energized.

IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY SURE YOU CAN DO THIS JOB

SAFELY AND COMPETENTLY

REFER THIS WORK TO QUALIFIED PROFESSIONALS.

(LIFE SAFETY WARNING! [disclaimer]

Electricity is dangerous!

You can be injured or killed!

Improper installations can cause fire, injury and death!

Should you be doing this yourself?)

This is one of those questions - if you know this little, you shouldn't be doing what you are planning...

No disrespect intended, but this is SO basic that it suggests you have not studied the subject at all!

There are many good reference books and course books to study from.

According to the NEC, you can utilize any conductor with suitable insulation for any application for which the conductor is rated for the use.

The limitation to the gauge size of conductor is that it be AT LEAST as large as that called for in the conductor tables, based on current, ambient temperature and conductor grouping!

ALWAYS CHECK WITH YOUR LOCAL WIRING SAFETY OFFICE BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT TO CHANGE ANYTHING ON POWER MAINS OUTLETS

IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY SURE YOU CAN DO THIS JOB

SAFELY AND COMPETENTLY

REFER THIS WORK TO QUALIFIED PROFESSIONALS.

If you do this work yourself, always turn off the power

at the breaker box/fuse panel BEFORE you attempt to do any work

AND

always use an electricians test meter having metal-tipped probes

(not a simple proximity voltage indicator)

to insure the circuit is, in fact, de-energized.

Answer for USA, Canada and countries running a 60 Hz supply service.

There should be a clarification of what a three wire cable is. A three wire cable consists of three main wires and a bare ground wire. The wire colours are, red, black and white. In normal circumstances the red and black wires are used as "hot" conductors. The white in this cable set is usually used as a neutral.

Two commonly used procedures for a three wire cable in home wiring are for kitchen counter split receptacles and the other is for the traveler cable connection between three way switching. Also in home wiring, larger three wire cables are used for the range and dryer connections.

In larger square foot homes, circuits that are right across the home from the distribution panel are fed with three wire cables. This allows two circuits to be connected to the one cable much like the kitchen counter receptacles.

Now if your definition of a three wire cable includes counting the ground wire, the electrical terminology of this cable is a two wire. In a two wire cable the black conductor is the "hot" wire.

As always, if you are in doubt about what to do, the best advice anyone should give you is to call a licensed electrician to advise what work is needed.

Before you do any work yourself,

on electrical circuits, equipment or appliances,

always use a test meter to ensure the circuit is, in fact, de-energized.

IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY SURE YOU CAN DO THIS JOB

SAFELY AND COMPETENTLY

REFER THIS WORK TO QUALIFIED PROFESSIONALS.

Line to line voltage is not the same as line to neutral voltage because line voltages are 120 degrees apart. They are related by: Line to neutral voltage * tan (120 degrees) = Line to neutral voltage * 1.73.

Additional Comment

For delta-connected systems, the line voltage is the same as the phase voltage.

For wye-connected systems, the line voltage is larger than the phase voltage by a factor of 1.732. The reason for this is as follows:

Because any two phase voltages are displaced from each other by 120o, they must be added vectorially, not algebraically, to find the line voltage. As the above answer points out, this means that the relationship between the two is the square-root of 3, or 1.732.

Hots are dedicated to a specific circuit. Neutrals can be shared by other circuits. All the current in a circuit must travel through the hot. This is not always the case with the neutral. The purpose of a switch is to stop the potential voltage from being applied to the load. With the switch on the neutral side of the load this condition is not fulfilled. By shutting the load off with a neutral switch you could not work safely on the load as the potential to ground will still be there and create a shock hazard. <><><> As always, if you are in doubt about what to do, the best advice anyone should give you is to call a licensed electrician to advise what work is needed. Before you do any work yourself,

on electrical circuits, equipment or appliances,

always use a test meter to ensure the circuit is, in fact, de-energized. IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY SURE YOU CAN DO THIS JOB

SAFELY AND COMPETENTLY

REFER THIS WORK TO QUALIFIED PROFESSIONALS.

First understand, a circuit breaker doesn't trip on low (60) voltage. It trips on overcurrent, or too many amps being drawn by the circuit.

A 60 volt reading in a 120 volt circuit is a typical "backfeeding" reading. You have something miswired. You may have tied into another circuit on the same phase. Go back and disconnect the feed to your 2 additional outlets. Check voltage on the last outlet on the original circuit. If you've got 120 volt, turn the circuit off, then wire in the first new outlet. Do not tie into any other wires other than the wire you ran from the last outlet in the original circuit. Turn the circuit back on and check voltage. You should have 110-120 volt. Then add the second additional outlet as per the above. Do not tie the neutral into any other wire than the one from the original circuit. This should clear your low voltage problem.

NO! a 120-277 electronic ballast requires one "hot" wire and a neutral from either a 110V or 277V supply. If you supply it with two "hot" wires from a 208 V supply, it will instantly burn up.

Yes. A ballast with a specification range of 120 volt to 277 volt will work on 208 volt. These ballast use intelligent voltage sensing technology and it does not matter if the source is a hot and neutral or two (2) hots. Don't believe it? Call a ballast manufacturer instead of giving incorrect answers.

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By asking this question you probably aren't quite ready to take on this particular task.

That you asked this question here shows that you don't already know your local Wiring Codes or Regulations so don't know how to calculate the correct wire size to use for the length of run from circuit breaker to power outlet.

Really, don't do this one yourself. Electricity is far too dangerous to handle if you don't already know your local Wiring Codes or Regulations or you have not been trained how to do this work.

For your safety - and that of anyone else who may use the 240 volt appliance - ask a professional licensed electrician to advise you or to do the work for you.

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How to do this job depends entirely on the Wiring Codes or Regulations for the locality (Town/State) and on the exact location of the appliance you wish to hook up: if it is in any place subject to water splashes or spray - such as in any room supplied with running water pipes, like a kitchen, bathroom, shower room, etc., or in a pool-side area - the codes specify that special precautions must be taken.

Depending on where your home is, it may be illegal to attempt to do this kind of work unless you are already a licensed electrician.

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As always, if you are in doubt about what to do, the best advice anyone should give you is to call a licensed electrician to advise what work is needed.

Before you do any work yourself,

on electrical circuits, equipment or appliances,

always use a test meter to ensure the circuit is, in fact, de-energized.

IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY SURE YOU CAN DO THIS JOB

SAFELY AND COMPETENTLY

REFER THIS WORK TO QUALIFIED PROFESSIONALS.

A standard unit of electricity that is the minimum charged is a kWh. Therefore 1 unit of electricity is equal to 1000watts being used for an hour. eg. A 100w light bulb burning for 10 hours would use 1 kWh which equals 1 unit.

Answer

A 'unit' is short for 'Board of Trade Unit', a government organisation that used to regulate the cost of electrical energy in Britain. A 'unit' is exactly equivalent to a kilowatt hour. Further to your question, though, you do not 'consume power'; you consume 'energy'. So, asking how much power (watts) is consumed by energy (unit) makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

A unit or kilowatt hour is defined as 'the amount of energy consumed, over a period of one hour, at the rate of one kilowatt'.