On Friday, November 15, 2013 5:21:18 PM UTC-5, Danny D. wrote:
On Fri, 15 Nov 2013 22:14:25 +0000, Danny D. wrote:



I have two hots and this "thing" which goes into the

ground a few hundred yards from the house.



By the way, the reason (I think) I know that this 'thing'

is a neutral (and not a ground) is that it *must* be

carrying current.



If the two hots were out of phase by 180 degrees, then

we wouldn't need this third 'thing'.



Wrong. The two hots are out of phase by 180.



But, three wire distribution along the poles is such that

the hot wires are only 120 degrees out of phase (IIRC).



Wrong. Any two of a 3 phase system are out of phase by
120. But what comes into your house originates from just
one of those via a center tap transformer.



So, if I'm correct, my two hots are 120 degrees out of phase,

which means current *must* be going somewhere. That somewhere

is this third 'thing'.



Current from the unbalanced portion of the load flows
in the neutral. As others have pointe out, in the case of
your dryer that could be things like the timer, the light, etc.



Since this third 'thing' is designed to carry current, it's

clearly not a ground (since a ground isn't designed to carry

current normally).



It's both.




Now, again, the fact that this third 'thing' goes into the

ground makes it 'look' like a ground (to some); but it *must*

be carrying current; so, semantically, I wouldn't call it a

ground.



Still - I must profess ... this is only how *I* understand the

situation; and I may well be wrong (although I think it's this way).



So, I will try to explain what you guys are trying to tell me

in the next post (this is too long already).