[Boatanchors] BA's and 3-wire cords

[rkerr]

W4AWM at aol.com wrote:

<snip>

>Here in Virginia, the neutral and the ground buss are both at ground 
>potential and in fact, are connected to eachother in the main breaker box.
>  
>
<snip>

That is correct, but it's important to note that this does not mean that 
it is okay to connect the neutral and ground wires together at the 
appliance (or whatever it is that you have plugged into the wall).  
Under normal conditions, there is not supposed to be any current flowing 
in the ground wire that connects the main breaker box to the appliance, 
whereas the neutral wire will have line current flowing in it which can 
result in a significant voltage on the appliance end of the neutral 
wire.  Under fault conditions, the current in the neutral wire can 
result in lethal voltage levels on the appliance end of the neutral 
wire.  This is the reason for running a separate ground wire to the case 
of the appliance - to protect the person that may touch the case when 
there is a fault in the electrical circuit.

Bob
WB4TGG