On Monday, November 25, 2013 6:45:59 PM UTC-5, Danny D'Amico wrote:
On Mon, 25 Nov 2013 16:26:14 -0500, Ralph Mowery wrote:



the AC power does not use the ground for anything but safety and

not one return leg.

There are a couple on here that will never get it.



If the statement is true, then you should be able to find at least

one reliable reference that supports your supposition. Right?



It's not like the question has never been asked before.



I provided more than a half dozen references which supported the

statement that the ground, in the typical USA AC transmission system,

is the return path to the electric company.



I admit, those references seemed to be from howto, school, and

physics web sites - but it was all that I could find.



However, I could not find a single reference that stated that the

ground is *not* the return path to the power company.



If it's true that the ground is not the return path, given that

clearly a LOT of sites say that it is, then why can't we find a

single reliable reference that explicitly refutes that assumption?



Again, I'm perfectly happy to be wrong if someone can prove they

are right. Merely stating that I'm wrong and that you are right

does nobody any good.



Let's see a single reliable reference that explicitly answers

the question by flatly refuting the (clearly common) assumption

that the ground *is* the return path back to the power company.

Now it's a clearly common assumption? Prior to you bringing
it up, I never heard it before.

Here's a diagram for you:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-phase_electric_power

Go part way down to the animated drawing that shows a 3 phase
power plant connected to it's 3 phase load. Note the 3 wires
and that planet earth is *not* part of the circuit.

That is how power is generated and delivered. They may use the
earth somewhere in the world as part of some power delivery
circuit for something, but if they do, it's the exception, not
the typical 99% part of how power is delivered.