on 7/2/02 7:32 AM, David VanHorn at dvanhorn@CEDAR.NET wrote:

Hey Dave,

> Black is the "hot" lead, and is the one that you should interrupt.
> In a series circuit, from an academic point of view, it does not matter,
> but from a safety point of view, I should never be able to touch a white
> wire that is hot. (loads of things violate this, but that's how it should be)

As an Australian and too young to remember anything OTHER than a 3-wire MEN
system, I am curious about the US 3-wire system. Is the White leg
(equivalent to what we term a neutral, I assume) connected to Earth at some
point in the building's electrical system or is it floating?

ie; in a new building with 3-wire outlets throughout, is the white neutral
leg tied to earth back at the distribution board?

Also is the colour coding still Black, White and Green? The Green/Yellow
combination is not used?

I lived in Taiwan for about 8 years, and they STILL use what I assume to be
a copy of the OLD 2-wire US System - One white and one black. I can tell you
I never trusted either of those suckers and made sure there was a dual pole
isolation switch between me and the nearest power station at all times -
then checked with a meter just to be sure! :-)

Regards,

Sean

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