Jack Stein wrote:
....
Just out of dumb curiosity, does this mean if you don't split off 120,
you don't need a neutral? Normally, with 120 you need 2 wires plus
ground, hot, common and ground. I don't know zip about 220 but are you
guys saying 220 can have 2 wires, both hot, plus a ground (no common),
and you connect one of the hots to the light, and what normally would be
common or neutral to the ground? I'm in the dark here, just asking.
Doesn't 220 always need a common ground (neutral?), just like 120?

By NEC it now does to be Code-compliant.

For roughly 100 years, split-voltage appliances such as ranges, dryers,
etc., used (and were Code-compliant!!!!) the ground as neutral for the
110V side.

Only w/ a relatively recent Code revision was this changed to require
the 4-wire connection in all cases.

While granted it's not current Code, there are zillions of appliances
still in service and certainly a fair number of drill presses and other
machine tools wired the same way. There's absolutely no evidence they
have been a major safety issue in that time period.

Hence, while granted it's no longer within _current_ Code, there's
little real justification for that change being a big deal.

$0.02, etc., etc., ...

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