On 11/26/2013 1:20 AM, nestork wrote:

...

You can't have current without voltage. Ergo, there is always going to
be some net voltage sine wave in that neutral buss, and therefore in the
ground wire cable coming out of the main panel. So, how can you NOT
have current into and out of the Good Earth through the grounding rod or
pipe if there is a voltage imposed on that grounding cable by the white
buss?

I'm not saying that current flows back to the generating station through
the ground. Or, at least, I'm not saying that yet.

...
And, I can't see why a net voltage sine wave in the neutral buss
wouldn't cause current flow into and out of the Good Earth at the
grounding rod or plumbing pipe.

And, according to one of the pictures posted by G. Fretwell, the current
measured through his grounding rod is 0.142 amps. And that's without
any intentional effort to imbalance the electrical load at the main
panel.

Where am I wrong there?


The current in the legs of a split phase service are not likely to ever
be balanced with a zero neutral current, so most of your post is kinda
irrelevant. There will be a neutral current.

Since the utility transformer neutral is earthed, and the house service
neutral is earthed, the earth is a parallel path to the neutral wire.
That produces some current in the parallel earth path. But the
resistance of the neutral wire is far lower than the ground path. A very
good resistance to earth at a house might be 10 ohms. What is the
resistance of the neutral wire? What fraction of the neutral current
takes the parallel earth path? Not much.

This earth current is not an intentional current flow, but a result of
how electrical systems are earthed for safety. Electrical systems use a
metal path for power distribution.