Open neutral question
#20
Being a lineman for the power company is vastly different from being an electrician...they don't deal with a neutral wire.

Ed
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#21
(09-07-2020, 11:24 PM)EdL Wrote: Being a lineman for the power company is vastly different from being an electrician...they don't deal with a neutral wire.

Ed

Oh yes they do,  There are primary neutrals, secondary neutrals plus the grounded leg of 3 phase 4 wire.   I have chased down many of lost neutrals on houses and commercial buildings when the property that lost a neutral was causing problems nearby when the neutral current was going over the water pipes to another house or factory  and heating up their service and the customer with the lost neutral was not having any problems.
 The neutral current has to make it back to the transformer that is supplying that load.    Roly
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#22
We had several lights switched through the white wire, discovered in a not so nice way. 

Apparently the light box rather than the switch was daisy chained in the circuit, and the white ran to switch and back.

My electrician said he's seen it before it was a common way for them to do it in the old days.
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#23
Being a lineman is different than an inside electrician in many ways. Just the equipment they work with is far different than what the inside guy uses. they both have important jobs. Yes both have to deal with neutrals.
John T.
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#24
(09-08-2020, 10:11 AM)JTTHECLOCKMAN Wrote: Being a lineman is different than an inside electrician in many ways. Just the equipment they work with is far different than what the inside guy uses. they both have important jobs. Yes both have to deal with neutrals.

But linemen don't work to the NEC.  That's from the meter forward, for the most part.

I think it's the NESC (National Electrical Safety Code), but I'm not sure.  A couple of guys here work (or worked) for electric utilities and may know.  Whole different industry.
Tom

“This place smells like that odd combination of flop sweat, hopelessness, aaaand feet"
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#25
(09-08-2020, 10:09 AM)rwe2156 Wrote: We had several lights switched through the white wire, discovered in a not so nice way. 

Apparently the  light box rather than the switch was daisy chained in the circuit, and the white ran to switch and back.

My electrician said he's seen it before it was a common way for them to do it in the old days.

A non-powered switch leg was required to use the white conductor to connect to the hot (black) in the box where the light fixture was, run to the switch in the remote location, and the black in that same cable or conduit was the switched conductor running back to the load.  You weren't even required to mark the white with black or red, as it was obviously connected to all those blacks in the box and was therefore obviously hot, and in the switch box with only one cable into it, it was obvious that the white was the hot one (obviously).  Not obvious to everyone of course, but I think that was the thought process back then.  


But white was hot, and black was switched in a switch leg.  I'm guessing someone messed that up in the OP's case, and switched the actual neutral, which is two things done wrong per the old-school method - switched neutral, and white being the switched color.  
No  

One or more of my old code books going back to the late 80's or so has all that in it.  But these days, a switch has to have power in the box, mostly for timers, some dimmers, etc.  No more unpowered switch legs, though.
Tom

“This place smells like that odd combination of flop sweat, hopelessness, aaaand feet"
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#26
(09-08-2020, 10:29 AM)TDKPE Wrote: But linemen don't work to the NEC.  That's from the meter forward, for the most part.

I think it's the NESC (National Electrical Safety Code), but I'm not sure.  A couple of guys here work (or worked) for electric utilities and may know.  Whole different industry.

Not sure what that has to do with the price of eggs but OK.
John T.
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#27
the person that wired our house in Utah always messed up switched outlets.  They were really lucky there were no dead shorts from power to neutral.  It has been a while, but I think most of them had the switched wire connected to the neutral and hot on the outlet and never connecting to power or neutral at all.  I don't remember how they screwed up the outlets in the kitchen, but that was an easy fix as well.
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#28
I thought there was no difference at all. Minneapolis electricians, Arizona electricians, or companies of any kind. I thought they just come on a call, you tell them your problems, what's wrong and what you need. Then he gets to work, does something and then you come in, check it out and pay him money for the work. That's it. This discussion turned out to be more helpful than I thought it would be. Thanks for the information, guys. Now I've changed some of my ideas about professions. Even though I'm already 24 years old, who would have thought.
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