Ahhhh! Not again!!!

Status
Not open for further replies.
peter d

peter d

Senior Member
Location
New England
So I just finished watching a safety video that I received in the mail from Northeast Utilities. (I'm sure you other guys who are licensed in Connecticut or on NU's list got it too.)

Anyway, guess what was in the video? Yup, you guessed it. "Electricity is always seeking the path to ground."

I wanted to scream.
 
Is it really seeking a path to dirt, or is it seeking a path back to the source?

I don't get as upset about it as Pete but I do agree with him that the safety video was keeping a myth alive.

This belief by many that electricity is trying to get back to the earth greatly ads to their confusion about what grounding electrodes functions are.
 
steve66 said:
You may scream even louder, but I have to ask:
Doesn't electricity seek a path to ground?
Click to expand...

Of course it does, because usually the path to ground is one of the paths to the source. The more accurate statement is "Electricity seeks all available paths to the source." The ground is not just a magical electron sink that many think is is....it's simply a (semi)conductive part of the circuit.

I think the "Electricity always seeks the path to the ground" misconception is one of the reasons why grounding and bonding is so misunderstood in this trade.
 
I hate boring films if they are not accurate....the best illistration I've ever seen for electrical safety is our poco's "hot dog" show.....wow that will get your attention seeing hot dogs blow up or cooked crusty black... simular to human meat, all right before your eyes mind you.....shew!!!
 
peter d said:
Of course it does, because usually the path to ground is one of the paths to the source. The more accurate statement is "Electricity seeks all available paths to the source." The ground is not just a magical electron sink that many think is is....it's simply a (semi)conductive part of the circuit.

I think the "Electricity always seeks the path to the ground" misconception is one of the reasons why grounding and bonding is so misunderstood in this trade.
Click to expand...
So we can start using aluminum ladders again??
 
iwire said:
I don't get as upset about it as Pete but I do agree with him that the safety video was keeping a myth alive.
Click to expand...

I'm not really upset about it. I'm just expect a company like N.U. to know better and be putting out technically accurate information. But then again, maybe not.
 
steve66 said:
Doesn't electricity seek a path to ground?
Click to expand...
Not exactly. Electricity seeks a path from one terminal of the source to another terminal of the source through the earth.

The only reason electricity attemps to travel through the earth is because we choose to ground one of the supply conductors.

That makes the other supply conductors appear hot relative to earth. A floating supply cuases no earth current with the first contact.
 
Last edited:
Electricity takes all paths back to the source.

Will some of the current take a path through earth? Yes. It will such an insignificant amount of current though due to the high Resistance of the earth.

It is just plain old misleading for an entity such as a utility company to say this in a video they are passing out.
 
Shouldn't it be seeking a path to enlightenment. :-? It's why I come to this forum. I too am seeking one side of the source and it does not go through the earth.:smile: It makes me nuts too when people that should know better say stupid stuff.
 
250.4(A)(2) Grounding of Electrical Equipment

&

250.4(A)(3) Bonding of Electrical Equipment


If these two sections were read, and understood, the elctrical world would be so much simpler!!!
 
Some people dont need the technical ease to confuse them.
They dont care how things work. All they need to know is that if I contact a primary standing on the ground you can just call me PORTERHOUSE.
Get out the Peter Lugar sauce.
Unfortunately some of these people think they know enough to teach this to others now and it is not a total myth. It is in fact true to the extent of ohms law and under the right conditions it can conduct a verry substantial amount of current..
The thing that they do not understand is this ground path was intentionally created by electricians and the POCO.
 
quogueelectric said:
Unfortunately some of these people think they know enough to teach this to others now and it is not a total myth. It is in fact true to the extent of ohms law and under the right conditions it can conduct a verry substantial amount of current...
Click to expand...

Electricity is no more 'seeking' the earth then it is seeking any conductor connected to an electrical system

The Earth is not an electron sponge that soaks up 'extra' electricity.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top