In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 27 Jul 2019 15:31:46 -0000 (UTC), "Arlen G.
Holder" wrote:


From the US homeowner's perspective of working backward from a wall outlet
o What is the difference between ground and neutral in the US?

A friend is debugging why the washing machine metal case is hot only when
the water pipes are hooked up and water flowing through them

What kind of water hoses does she have.

If they are rubber only, no metal cladding, and if you are accurate that
the it's hot when the water is coming into the tub and not hot when the
water is no longer coming in, the problem, as unlikely as it seems, is
in the electric water valve inside the washing machine (just on the
other side of where the hoses connect). That's why disconnecting the 4
wires from the solenoids and then testing again, in my previous post, is
an important step.

If they are metal-clad, I can see how at the water pipes a metal pipe
could make electric contact with the metal end of the hose, and if at t
he washing machine end the fitting is metal, that would be enough to
charge the washing machine case, but if the charge is coming from the
water pipes, I find it very unlikely that whether the water is running
or not would make a difference.

People often misreport symptoms and test results. She needs to do the
testing again.

when I tried
to explain to that homeowner over the phone the difference between ground
and neutral - where - I'm not sure I have it all figured out myself.