The dreaded broken neutral

[@Shako_Lamb]

Interesting and scary stuff. My grandfather had a summer home in rural Pennsylvania that was built in 1982, with underground wiring from the street to the house, and for 25 years a small nick in the neutral wire corroded over and in 2007 it broke. My grandfather was at his other home in Florida at the time, and if a neighbor had not seen the lights in the house going haywire, it could have burned. They luckily got the power company out there immediately and only the appliances were ruined.

[@romanfamily3647]

how do you calculate the amps with an open neutral in the video

[@Aaron_R]

Amp = 0 - on open neutral... The other circuits are the voltage/resistance=amperage... Use 1/r_+1/r_= 1/r to determine resistance in parallel.

[@MrjackieG]

Here the power company lost a neutral conductor supplying 3 separate houses. The meter reading here was 210 volts from L1 to ground.

[@TheElectricAcademy]

oh man, That could wreck havoc on electronics. Any big damage?

[@MrjackieG]

@@TheElectricAcademy It sounded like someone discharging a 12 Gauge shotgun. The TV lasted a day. The wall plugin adapters for phone, computers, etc blew up. The fridge sounded like a goat trying to escape from inside it. Lights got really bright. My main concern is the wiring in especially the old part of the house.

[@maxcooper9852]

@@MrjackieG insulation could be damaged and cause a future fire. Who ever shot the neutral should have to pay for a complete rewire of the houses, fire hazard waiting to happen.

[@SravanKumar-uc6qt]

Dreaded broken neutral is connected to transformer flux density to gives motor current passess right Thanking you,

[@maxcooper9852]

how did you add the resistive loads together

[@maxcooper9852]

Nevermind i understand now. Its 1/30+1/45=ans^-1=18 for anyone else who was confused on the math

[@irey1978]

So is this why my shop has 140 volt on a sub panel and 110v in my house main. If true then either my feeder neutral wire to panel is shot or my service drop has an issue.

[@alchemy1]

Since when did 120V circuits get all hooked up to two hot legs and a neutral? One black and one white wire to my knowledge. Did I fall asleep along the way, when the rules changed? If I unhook my white wire from my outlet, the outlet is dead and yours?

[@allensandven0]

Ok I have a serious question, I stopped by to see an old friend and noticed his lights were dimming and then going super nova ( bright) and asked him how long that’s been going on ? He replied that it’s been doing it for a few months but just got even worse. I noticed he had a new fridge and his new last fridge was out side and new he had power issues , I tested the panel main and it was way out of balance from phase 150/90 volts variance , as I went to see if he cut the ground somehow the overhead service neutral was broke completely in half I told him get the power company out here . He is the most Stubborn dumbshit friend I have . Should I call the power company anonymously before he burns the place down . Hell I don’t even want to take a piss for fear of getting zapped . Am I over reacting ?

[@tedlahm5740]

A totally confused. Unbalanced portion of the current goes back to the transformer on the neutral, not voltage? Never explained why open neutral, out on the SERVICE DROP toward the transformer is dangerous. confusion abounds. thank you.

[@hugotarko7867]

ty

[@alchemy1]

None of my 120 circuits are connected to two hot legs. If I disconnect a white neutral wire from an outlet, that outlet is dead. I don't know what is going on here? 120-volt circuits are not hooked up to two hot legs. You lost me.

[@donaldlee6760]

Blue Ocean - maybe this is if there is a "shared neutral". I got shocked by the neutral wire when changing an outlet in my 1960's house. I turned off the breaker to the circuit so was very surprised to get shocked. I later confirmed voltage on the neutral with my meter. I ended up turning off several breakers to make certain there was no voltage. A common example of shared neutrals is 2 circuits that control a stairway light at the top and bottom of stairs. They are normally 3-way switches at the top and bottom and in older homes are wired with a shared neutral. The two circuits are typically on two adjacent breakers, which I assume are on opposite phases. I think this means the neutral wire will carry no or little current when both circuits are in use (because the hot line on each circuit is on opposite phases). I'm just a DIY homeowner that got shocked so I'm a bad source of information, but I now religiously use my non-contact tester on all wires when replacing switches and outlets instead of just the hot wires.

[@TropicalVibesHD]

Yes in your case the outlet would not be energized so the appliance plugged will simply not work. However the "broken neutrals" lesson assumes you plug in a device and turn it on (say a light). Again in your case the light will not glow or come even though the switch is on. Now the problem comes if someone makes contact with the broken neutral (specifically the side that is continuous with the outlet and plugged in/turned on appliance). That person will be in contact with 120V or whatever the line voltage is! Because your connected device will simply serve as a conductor and there would be no voltage drop across it. Now if this person holding that 120 V side of of the neutral is grounded (e.g. barefooted or wearing relatively conductive shoes) or also simultanouses touches both ends of the neutral a closed circuit will be created and the 120V from the line will be apportioned between the appliance/light and that's person's body i.e. he/she will be shocked. The threshold current for fatality (via cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation) is as low as 30mA. For dry skin the resistance is about 100k ohms...which will give a tingle of 1mA if grounded at 120V i.e. I=V/R and ignoring the resistance of the light bulb/appliance which would be relatively low compared to 100k ohms. If the skin is wet/moist/sweaty, the body resistance can dramatically drop to about 1000 ohm...(now the appliance/light bulb etc resistance will also become significant). The current will be much higher though at around 100mA or greater and electrocution or fatal injury very likely.

[@bobbrumley3964]

The scenario is the neutral opens up at the source not at the loads. When you loose a neutral you put the loads in series with each other across the two hot legs. Basic Ohms law voltage will divide proportionally to resistance in a series circuit. The higher resistance higher voltage drop, lower resistance lower voltage drop. That’s why when this happens it’s the electronics burn up because high in resistance.

[@ahmednor5806]

🙏🙏🌹🌹

[@ewellfossum]

Dude use a microphone vid sound sucks