First Class Two Hot Wires One Neutral
The use it at different times because of the nature of alternating curent.
Two hot wires one neutral. A multi wire branch circuit two hots from different phases sharing 1 neutral is often found in the kitchen where it powers one receptacle which has the jumper connecting the upper and lower outets removed. 2 white neutral wires but need only one 2 black hot wires 1 copper ground wire. Black means hot white signifies neutral and green indicates ground.
However if you need to rewire a light switch or a plug socket you may occasionally come across two black wires. Current loading on circuits if we look at a residential electrical system in north america then we will find two hot wires a neutral wire and some ground wires. And canadian homes mirrors the main wiring feeding the home from the power company.
It s essential that you determine which black wire is hot before proceeding. A particular kind of circuitry often found in u s. At the panel both breakers should be bonded together so it is not possible to have one on and one off.
This sort of arrangement saves a little wire and. After i finished wiring the outlet i turned the circuit at the breaker and tested the outlet with an ac outlet ground tester and it displayed correct. Multiwire branch circuits are very common and there are specific guidelines for these installations including having the two circuits on opposite phases like you described.
The hot wire carries the electricity from the power supply to the load and the neutral wire carries the used electricity back to the power supply. The hot wires are 240 volts apart from each other and each is 120 volts from the neutral. In the vast majority of the us the main panel or more properly the service entrance panel or sep is the panel where the electrical supply enters the building it will be supplied by a triplex cable 2 hots and a neutral coming from the utility pole or underground junction box.
The two incoming hot wires share the returning neutral. It is called a multiwire branch circuit but for our purposes it would be clearer to call it a two circuit cable. The united states has strict codes relating to home wiring including clearly defined colors on the outer casing of the wires.