Grounding Tek retrofit into wooden canopy? NEW troubles...

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by intarsiabox

Your neutral line (white) also acts a ground wire. The extra green ground wire is in the event a wire comes loose in a metal electric box the electricity will still be grounded to your house and not electrocute someone or cause a fire.

I'll have to disagree with this particular statement. The neutral is a return for the hot wire and should not be considered as what is commonly referred to as a 'ground'. The ground in your residence is connected to a grounding stake or other approved method of providing an 'earth' potential. The neutral (white) goes back to your breaker panel and essentially back to the power provider.

If you take a peek inside a properly wired breaker panel, you will see that the ground wire terminals are separate entities from the neutral wires which are attached to one side of your circuit breakers. EDIT: Ok my bad here, the neutrals are not attached to one side of the circuit breakers, but they are on a separate terminal bar which is connected to one of the lines coming into the house from the power company. The ground terminals are still separate from the neutrals though.

[intarsiabox]

Originally Posted by mike31154

I'll have to disagree with this particular statement. The neutral is a return for the hot wire and should not be considered as what is commonly referred to as a 'ground'. The ground in your residence is connected to a grounding stake or other approved method of providing an 'earth' potential. The neutral (white) goes back to your breaker panel and essentially back to the power provider.

If you take a peek inside a properly wired breaker panel, you will see that the ground wire terminals are separate entities from the neutral wires which are attached to one side of your circuit breakers.

You can disagree with me if you want as it's only my opinion but I think they essentially both do the same thing, one is continuous and the other is only for emergencies. Both take the electricity away (flow through) from the unit to prevent it from over heating or becoming electrified and causing damage to the unit or the unfortunate person who touches it. As you stated one sends the power back to the breaker panel and then onto the grid so it can be sold again and the other sends it back to the breaker panel and then on to the earth were it is lost. I'm not an electrician by trade even though I work with it all the time and I'll have to ask one of my electricians but don't some breaker panels use the same bar for both the neutral and ground wires? Maybe this is old technology and not current code?

[cwatkins]

Since we all know Wikipedia is the source of all factual infomation (), see below:

Ground or earth in a mains (AC power) electrical wiring system is a conductor that provides a low impedance path to the earth to prevent hazardous voltages from appearing on equipment (the terms "ground" (North American practice) and "earth" (most other English-speaking countries) are used synonymously here). Normally a grounding conductor does not carry current.

Neutral is a circuit conductor (that carries current in normal operation), which is connected to earth (or ground) generally at the service panel with the main disconnecting switch or breaker.

This also explains why two conductor plugs always have one bigger prong, so that neutral always goes to the neutral connector in the outlet?

[hillegom]

In my 1970s house, the neutral went back to the breaker box and connected to all the other neutrals. This bus bar was connected to the incomming neutral and to the grounding bus bar and then to a 10 foot (I think 10 ft) grounding rod close to the breaker box

[KrazyKuch]

Originally Posted by hillegom

In my 1970s house, the neutral went back to the breaker box and connected to all the other neutrals. This bus bar was connected to the incomming neutral and to the grounding bus bar and then to a 10 foot (I think 10 ft) grounding rod close to the breaker box

Is correct, your neutral does get grounded at your panel Once and only once, The real difference is that you can get shocked from a neutral since it is carrying a load, but you can't get shocked from a ground..

Myka just make sure that you take the ground wire from your power cord and attach it to your ballast with the same screw you use to hold it in the canopy!

[intarsiabox]

Originally Posted by KrazyKuch

The real difference is that you can get shocked from a neutral since it is carrying a load, but you can't get shocked from a ground..

Is this always the case 100% of the time? I don't understand what the point of having a ground wire is if there is problem (such as a stranded line wire touching the ballast housing at the same time as the proper attachment point) and it can't carry a current away from the fixture in an emergency situation. Can you please clarify this for me.

[wingedfish]

Originally Posted by intarsiabox

Is this always the case 100% of the time? I don't understand what the point of having a ground wire is if there is problem (such as a stranded line wire touching the ballast housing at the same time as the proper attachment point) and it can't carry a current away from the fixture in an emergency situation. Can you please clarify this for me.

It is always the case. The ground is a continous path to earth to protect users. The neutral is a continuous path to earth to carry load. Without a ground wire the hot can touch metal making it live and when you touch it you get a surprise. If it is grounded, it arks sparks and pops a breaker long before. If the metal of the case is touching neutral, you would know nothing of it until your neutral path to ground is broken for some reason at which time it will become live, if not grounded properly.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by KrazyKuch

IMyka just make sure that you take the ground wire from your power cord and attach it to your ballast with the same screw you use to hold it in the canopy!

I thought I would just hard wire the power cord right to the ballast, no screw needed?

[hillegom]

Originally Posted by Myka

I thought I would just hard wire the power cord right to the ballast, no screw needed?

As long as you attach the ground to the surrounding metal of the ballast
(metal surround?) the usual bare or green wire.