Whats The Green Wire Do?

[ronaldrc]

Use to back say about 40 years it was not uncommon to get a very bad shock if you touched the clothes dryer and the washer at the same time.

This probably was not caused by a completely loose neutral but maybe a bad connection some where in the neutral.

The illistrations in the link below explains what was going on and how the equipment grounding conductor prevents it.

For the less versed in this field the equipment ground is the bare wire in romex and the green wire in a conduit system

http://home.comcast.net/~ronaldrc/wsb/grd.htm

 

[celtic]

A little cloudy image wise(od scan I guess?)..but a great explanation of "WHY?"

Thanks.

 

[LarryFine]

For the less versed in this field the equipment ground is the bare wire in romex and the green wire in a conduit system

. . . or the conduit system itself, of course.

There are too may variables to pinpoint one appliance as the cause. 40 years ago, when it was permissable to use the dryer's neutral to also serve as the EGC, and branch-circuit grounding was questionable, it may well have been the washer, and not the dryer, with the higher-than-zero-volts potential on the cabinet.

Testing to an independently-grounded conductor would have been the best way to troubleshoot such an issue.