On Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:46:17 GMT, in alt.home.repair,
(Doug Miller) wrote:

In article , Sam E wrote:
[snip]

Oh, you mean that if both legs are fully loaded, there's no current being
drawn at all?

Sorry, but you don't understand. The current in the neutral is in fact zero,
if both legs are loaded exactly equally -- and if all the loads supplied are
120V loads, then it is in fact drawing 400A @ 120V.

That current is 200A. That 400A is obviously not in the neutral. WHERE
is it?

There's no current in the neutral if the loads are balanced.

How can people get this so wrong? It's basic electricity, you all should
have learned this in high school.

In a 200A 240V split phase service, any SINGLE 120v load can draw up to
200A, no more. Because it is split phase, you can have two such loads. Now
the math. 200A@120V + 200A@120V = 200A@240V, NOT 400A@120V. Because two
200A 120V loads on a single split phase panel are in fact operating in
series (whether you deliberately wired them that way or not), presenting a
de facto 200A 240V load on the panel. And, yes, in that case the neutral
conductor current is zero.

--
Due to Usenet spam, emailed replies must pass an intelligence test: if
you want me to read your reply, be sure to include this line of text in
your email, but remove this line before sending, otherwise my filters
will delete your email with all due prejudice. Thanks!