Ground: The Earth

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mbrooke

Batteries Included
Location
United States
Occupation
Technician
Why is Mike getting made fun of in this thread for clarifying the term ground? He is correct, ground means earth and a picture of the planet is needed to clarify a term which has grown to have 100 different meanings many of which are fallacious. Being honest that thread kind of gets me the wrong way "Imagine the dumbest electrician you've worked with and remember this book had to pander to him, too." Many of the smartest electricians and most experined engineers need to learn the definition of ground because typically they have it wrong. I notice people who are truly gifted, smart and advanced in any area are thought dumb or crazy when truth is presented to that unwashed.



https://www.reddit.com/r/electricians/comments/lc20b8
 

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
"Imagine the dumbest electrician you've worked with and remember this book had to pander to him, too."
That statement reminds me of how little electrical theory many of the "mechanics" I worked under and with knew.
 

romex jockey

Senior Member
Location
Vermont
Occupation
electrician
'earthing' is a better term for grounding imho.

consider, one can be grounded, but not 'earthed' .....

~RJ~
 

K8MHZ

Senior Member
Location
Michigan. It's a beautiful peninsula, I've looked
Occupation
Electrician
The chassis. Mobile and motor homes have been dealing with metal frames for decades.
So they changed the name of the 'third wire' to the chassis conductor? And GFCI's to Chassis Fault Circuit Interrupters?

Edit to add: I have been working on such vehicles for decades. Most of the time when they were being driven down the road they had no electrical connection to the earth.
 

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
Ok, so why do we consider equipment "grounded" when it has an effective ground fault current path?
Because "we've always done it that way." :giggle:

Is this discussion about what's technically correct or the words we're in the habit of using?
 

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
So they changed the name of the 'third wire' to the chassis conductor? And GFCI's to Chassis Fault Circuit Interrupters?
The first one is what we usually call the EGC because it is traditionally earthed. Again, what is this discussion about?

The second one usually involves the earth, but we weren't asked for our opinions when the devices were invented.

Edit to add: I have been working on such vehicles for decades. Most of the time when they were being driven down the road they had no electrical connection to the earth.
We have used the term ground to refer to a metal frame or chassis since before any of us were around.[/QUOTE]
 

K8MHZ

Senior Member
Location
Michigan. It's a beautiful peninsula, I've looked
Occupation
Electrician
The first one is what we usually call the EGC because it is traditionally earthed. Again, what is this discussion about?

The second one usually involves the earth, but we weren't asked for our opinions when the devices were invented.


We have used the term ground to refer to a metal frame or chassis since before any of us were around.

But the premise of this thread is that ground and earth are synonymous by virtue of the NEC definition. They are used interchangeably, but are not the same thing. We all know that. To say explicitly that ground = earth and that's that, has not been fully integrated into the NEC.
 

StarCat

Industrial Engineering Tech
Location
Moab, UT USA
Occupation
Imdustrial Engineering Technician - HVACR Electrical and Mechanical Systems
This website was linked to on this forum in the past:
This is " Supposed " to be an ? Engineering Forum?
Possibly located in India.
Apparently they do not have the same understanding as in the USA and NEC.
 
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