On Jan 14, 10:40*am, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Jan 14, 10:17*am, "
wrote:





On Jan 14, 9:44*am, DerbyDad03 wrote:

On Jan 13, 7:20*pm, "
wrote:

On Jan 13, 7:14*pm, DerbyDad03 wrote:

wrote:
On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 06:52:52 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

On Jan 13, 6:57 am, wrote:
A large store downtown has a heavy FOUR wire triplex feeding the
building. *3 wires are black insulated, the other is the bare neutral.

The thing that caught my attention to it, is that the 4th wire is not
connected to anything.

If it's not connected to anything, why are you identifying it
as the neutral? *You have 3 wires that are apparently
current carrying conductors and one that is bare, not
connected. *Assuming this is overhead, ie going from the
pole to the building, sounds like the bare wire is for
support only and you have a 240V service, with two
hots, one neutral.

Yep, the bare wire is the support, but it's also the neutral. *There are
3 insulated wires wrapped around the bare one, not the usual two. *And
yea, as another person said, it's not really TRIPLEX, because that would
be 3 wires. *I'm not sure what they call the 4 conductor stuff, but it's
the same type of cable. *The way it's connected, it's a 240V feed. *So
my guess is that either they had 3 phase feeding that store in the past,
or else they just used the cable they had on hand when they installed
it. *It's been there awhile, the building is probably close to 100 years
old. *I noticed it because there is a deck on the building next door,
and I was on the deck last week. *The entrance head is probably only 12
feet up from that deck, it's easy to see the unused wire. *I tend to
notice stuff like that, after doing construction most of my life.

Your original post is unclear. When you say the 4th wire is not connected
to anything, are you referring to the bare wire?

If so, then I gotta repeat the question trader4 asked:

How can it be a neutral if it's not connected to anything? Furthermore, a
neutral carries current and therefore must be insulated. How can you call a
bare wire not connected to anything a neutral?

If it's not connected it's neither a hot, a neutral or a ground. It's just
a wire. If it's bare, then it wouldn't be a neutral even if it was
connected to something.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

He just clarified that 4th unconnected wire is
one of the insulated conductors. *So, like he says,
if that is what;s there, then it's apparently a 240V
service that might have been 3 phase before.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I guess I'm missing where he specifically "clarified that 4th
unconnected wire is one of the insulated conductors".

Did I miss a post?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

He made two posts. *In the second he said:

"Yep, the bare wire is the support, but it's also the neutral.
There are *3 insulated wires wrapped around the bare one,
*not the usual two. "

If it's the neutral, then it has to be connected. *The only
remaining possibility is that one of the three insulated
conductors is the unconnected 4th wire.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Right, I saw that second post.

We're still taking his word for it that it's the neutral. Even you
said: *"If it's the neutral, then it has to be connected."

He also said that the way it's connected, ie with one of
the 4 wires unconnected, it looks like a 240V service.
With a 240V service, you have two hots and a neutral,
all of which are connected.
Yes, he didn't come right out and say that it's one of
the insulated conductors that is unconnected, but it's
the only interpretation that makes sense.





As long as we're still starting our sentences with "If" there's still
room for confusion.

I rented a house in the Outer Banks this summer and saw where there
were 2 insulated wires and a bare wire coming from the pole. At first
it appeared to me that the bare wire was only the support and that
there as no ground (which made me curious), but closer investigation
showed it to be the ground also. That was the first time I had seen a
set up like that.



That is the classic case. It's how alll the overhead services
I've seen are done. They use the base wire as both
support and neutral.



Where's the picture (or a more detailed description) from the OP that
will clarify all this?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

About 80% of this thread would have been eliminated
if the description would have been clearer. How hard
is it to just say "One of the 3 insulated conductors is
not connected."