switched neutral
- Thread starter drees
- Start date
- Status
- Location
- Massachusetts
Only if your switching the other circuit conductors at the same time.
ptonsparky
Tom
- Occupation
- EC - retired
Am I the only person confused?
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
Nope --- I am sure you're not aloneptonsparky said:
Pierre C Belarge
Senior Member
- Location
- Westchester County, New York
Load side (secondary) conductors from a 24v source...which conductor is the "neutral" conductor?
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
That's what I was trying to figure out. Thought I was missing something.Pierre C Belarge said:
dbuckley
Senior Member
- Location
- Canterbury, New Zealand
Since to switch the (so-called) neutral you would need another pair of isolated contacts, why not just put that pair of contacts immediately 'after' the PLC contacts? No confusion.
As for neutral - for one wire to be a neutral it would have to be grounded, giving the other wire a 'hot' relationship to ground. If there is no ground connection then both wires are isolated from ground, and are equal in all respects. However, one wire is, in most circuit configurations, a 'common', the return from your lamps, relays and solenoids etc. Most folks get confused when the common line is switched, cos its, well, uncommon..... (sorry, couldn't resist)
As for neutral - for one wire to be a neutral it would have to be grounded, giving the other wire a 'hot' relationship to ground. If there is no ground connection then both wires are isolated from ground, and are equal in all respects. However, one wire is, in most circuit configurations, a 'common', the return from your lamps, relays and solenoids etc. Most folks get confused when the common line is switched, cos its, well, uncommon..... (sorry, couldn't resist)
drees said:
I've seen motor starters wired like this. The overload contact it in series with the coil on the neutral side.
drees said:
If you have a "hot" going to the PLC output card, than there is no neutral to break. The switching is done through the PLC's internal electronics and the "neutral" for the output switching is supplied from the backplane. Unless theres a PLC manufacturere that requires a neutral that I am unaware of, in which case it would be just as easy to switch the hot as the neutral.
ptonsparky
Tom
- Occupation
- EC - retired
Just for clarification, which conductor is hot on a 24 vac control circuit? The black one, or the blue one? And in reference to what?
- Location
- Illinois
- Occupation
- retired electrician
Common isn't the correct word either. If it is a grounded system, then the correct term is grounded conductor. If it is an ungrounded system, there is no word for that conductor.
don
- Status