Neutral Current

[hde_electric]

If I have a L1 and L2 load being served by one neutral this will be a correct connection?

EX: L1 - L2 = Amp in Neutral
20a - 10a = 10a in Neutral

If I Have 2 L1 Loads being served by one Neutral is this a dangerous connection?
Will the load amps add up in the neutral?

 

[iwire]

Re: Neutral Current

Originally posted by hde_electric:
If I Have 2 L1 Loads being served by one Neutral is this a dangerous connection?
Will the load amps add up in the neutral?

Yes, 10 amps on each "L1" conductor will result in 20 amps on the neutral.

(Edit)

I reread your post

10 amps on "L1" and 10 amps on "L2" will result in zero amps on the shared neutral, cool huh?

[ September 17, 2003, 04:19 PM: Message edited by: iwire ]

 

[Guest]

Re: Neutral Current

Your question is somewhat confusing to me but when I put on my magic decoder ring here's what I get:

L1 and L2 are on different phase legs but sharing a common neutral. It is a muli-wire circuit, and it is an unbalanced load.

The end result is that since L1 exceeds L2 by 10-amps there will be a 10-amp load on the neutral.

That's my best answer assuming my magic decoder ring is working properly. If my answer is wrong, please restate the question to match my answer

[ September 17, 2003, 04:25 PM: Message edited by: awwt ]

 

[mclain]

Re: Neutral Current

It would depend on the type of service. If it is a Wye 120/208 service and you are using two legs to feed a panel, the formula below would be used to calculate the neutral current.

√(A*A+B*B+C*C)-(A*B+B*C+C*A)
√(10*10+10*10+0)-(10*10+10*0+0*10)
√(100+100+0)-(100+0+0)
√(200-100)
√100 = 10 Amps