"Andrew Erickson" wrote in message
...


For separate outbuildings, I think (but I'm not sure about this,
not
being an electrician) the usual practice is to have a separate
ground
rod and bond that to the neutral bus at the outbuilding's main
panel,
omitting a separate safety ground wire between the buildings.
In other
words, the outbuilding is wired as though it were an isolated
installation, not as a subpanel in the main building. In this
case, for
the main panel in the outbuilding, neutral and ground would
again share
the same bus bar(s). Any difference in ground potential between
the
house ground and the outbuilding ground would, of course, result
in a
current flow over the neutral wire; the assumption, I guess, is
that
there shouldn't be a large potential difference and hence not
too great
of a current flow.


My Dad bought an older home and built a detached 2-car garage
around 1950 or so. I vaguely remember when the garage was being
built and watching the electrician wire it for a single light and
one plug, controlled from a switch both at the house and at the
garage/

As a teen, later on, I bought a little booket at Sears, called,
"How to wire a house," which I thought was an incredible insight
into the secrets of wiring. However, something never made sense
to me until later on, when I was wiring homes myself as a means to
continue college. There were only two wires running between the
house and garage. It finally dawned on me why in the summer, the
light wasn't as bright and why it would dim so much when I'd plug
a drill or small saw into the duplex receptacle.

I investigated and for the first time, noticed the bare wire
running from the old switch down to a rod driven into the ground.
That was the light leg and when it was summer in MO, it was
usually dry. The electrician had saved probably $2 in wire, back
then, deciding instead to use the earth as a ground/neutral.

--
Nonny

What does it mean when drool runs
out of both sides of a drunken
Congressman’s mouth?

The floor is level.