Formula to calculate neutral current

darekelec

Senior Member
Location
nyc
Good morning

May I ask You for a formula to calculate current on neutral conductor in 2 scenarios?;
1) 2 hot conductors, 1 neutral taken from 120/208V 4 wire 3 phase system
2) 2 hot conductors, 1 neutral taken from 120/240V 3 wire single phase system

Thank You
 

infinity

Moderator
Staff member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Journeyman Electrician
The second one is easy just subtract the smaller number from the larger. The first one is more complex I can't remember it off of the top of my head but someone will chime in.
 

roger

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Fl
Occupation
Retired Electrician
The first would be any two of the following formula.

(A^2 + B^2 + C^2 – AB – AC – BC).
 

roger

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Fl
Occupation
Retired Electrician
Oooops, I left out SQRT.
it would be SQRT (A^2 + B^2 + C^2 – AB – AC – BC)
 
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darekelec

Senior Member
Location
nyc
In the above given formula I have current on A (leg) and current on B (leg) what number do I plug in for C (leg)
 

jim dungar

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Wisconsin
Occupation
PE (Retired) - Power Systems
In the above given formula I have current on A (leg) and current on B (leg) what number do I plug in for C (leg)

Use zero.

Remember this is a simplified formula.
It is easy to use, but it will not work well if the Power Factor of the currents are not close to unity. At the extreme it would give really inaccurate results if the A-N current was all inductive and the B-N current was all capacitive.
 
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