I see some posters mumble about "earthing" vs. "grounding" in the
context of lightning protection, and have hard times deciding whether
what they say has some sense to it, or is complete balderdash.

I am meaning in the direction of believing that it is complete
nonsense.

Any comments?

i

The term grounding and earthing are one in the same but earthing is the
preferred term in British English whereas grounding is the American
preference.

Other terms like this are things like flashlight/ torch wrench/spanner etc.

Other times this can lead to some funny things. In British English a "pack
of fags" refers to a pack of cigarettes and if you were to "knock up" a girl
you hardly knew, that would be just fine in the UK but big trouble in the
US.


"Ignoramus6419" wrote in message
...
I see some posters mumble about "earthing" vs. "grounding" in the
context of lightning protection, and have hard times deciding whether
what they say has some sense to it, or is complete balderdash.

I am meaning in the direction of believing that it is complete
nonsense.

Any comments?

i

On Mon, 2 Apr 2007 14:28:54 -0700, "Roger Shoaf"
wrote:

The term grounding and earthing are one in the same but earthing is the
preferred term in British English whereas grounding is the American
preference.

Other terms like this are things like flashlight/ torch wrench/spanner etc.

Other times this can lead to some funny things. In British English a "pack
of fags" refers to a pack of cigarettes and if you were to "knock up" a girl
you hardly knew, that would be just fine in the UK but big trouble in the
US.

So if you knock up a girl in the US, can you make everything good by
sending her to the UK?

Ignoramus6419 wrote:

I see some posters mumble about "earthing" vs. "grounding" in the
context of lightning protection, and have hard times deciding whether
what they say has some sense to it, or is complete balderdash.

I am meaning in the direction of believing that it is complete
nonsense.

Any comments?

Truck / Lorry
Elevator / Lift
Gas / Petrol
Ground / Earth

Just what you grew up with.

On Apr 2, 4:38 pm, Ignoramus6419
wrote:
I see some posters mumble about "earthing" vs. "grounding" in the
context of lightning protection, and have hard times deciding whether
what they say has some sense to it, or is complete balderdash.

I am meaning in the direction of believing that it is complete
nonsense.

Any comments?

It's early American.

Was it Winston Churchill (his mother was an American!) that said that
we were two people separated by a common language?

Ignoramus6419 wrote:
I see some posters mumble about "earthing" vs. "grounding" in the
context of lightning protection, and have hard times deciding whether
what they say has some sense to it, or is complete balderdash.

I am meaning in the direction of believing that it is complete
nonsense.

Any comments?

i
I have some computer equipment - don't remember any more which device it
is - marked "this device must be earthed". Made in ?Mexico.

On Apr 2, 7:14 pm, Norminn wrote:
Ignoramus6419 wrote:
I see some posters mumble about "earthing" vs. "grounding" in the
context of lightning protection, and have hard times deciding whether
what they say has some sense to it, or is complete balderdash.

I am meaning in the direction of believing that it is complete
nonsense.

Any comments?

i

I have some computer equipment - don't remember any more which device it
is - marked "this device must be earthed". Made in ?Mexico.

Wouldn't be a bad idea for some of MS stuff using the American
"earthing".

Harry K

Term paper in English course in college was based on difference in
spelling between the two countries across the waters. Had a blast
writing it and it was received well.

On Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:38:29 -0500, Ignoramus6419
wrote:

I see some posters mumble about "earthing" vs. "grounding" in the
context of lightning protection, and have hard times deciding whether
what they say has some sense to it, or is complete balderdash.

I am meaning in the direction of believing that it is complete
nonsense.

Any comments?

i

Ignoramus6419 wrote:
I see some posters mumble about "earthing" vs. "grounding" in the
context of lightning protection, and have hard times deciding whether
what they say has some sense to it, or is complete balderdash.

I am meaning in the direction of believing that it is complete
nonsense.

Any comments?


Electric power systems use "grounding". Grounding has 2 major functions.

One is to provide a low resistance path for a short circuit to reliably
trip a breaker. The "neutrals" and "grounds" are connected at services
as part of that path. If a failure connects a "hot" to a metal frame,
current is carried by ground wires back to the service, then to the
source neutral and back to the supply transformer. The earth does not
play any significant part in providing this low resistance path.

For the second function, the neutral-ground connection is also connected
to earth via water service pipes, ground rods, or several other means.
Connecting to earth limits the voltage from earth to frames, conduits,
.... and minimizes the voltage from earth to the hot and neutral wires.
It also provides a path to dump surges resulting from lightning - the
surge follows a path from clouds to the earth. An earth connection is
very important particularly in lightning surges.

The second function is sometimes called "earthing" to make clear which
"grounding" function is being discussed. If a surge suppressor must be
"grounded" it is not terribly clear what is intended. If it is earthed,
it is very clear.

The code chapter on grounding may be the most difficult to understand.
IMHO one of the reasons is not making the 2 funcitons of grounding clear.

It might help to read the NIST guide on surges and protection:
http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/p.../surgesfnl.pdf

--
bud--

Bud-- writes:

The second function is sometimes called "earthing" to make clear which
"grounding" function is being discussed. If a surge suppressor must be
"grounded" it is not terribly clear what is intended. If it is earthed,
it is very clear.

Nope.

"Earthing" is simply the British English for the American English term
"grouding".

Kind of like they say "tension" instead of our "voltage".

A "high tension" line just means "high voltage". Has nothing to do with
how tightly the wires are strung.

The global character of Internet discussion has worsened an age-old
problem.

On Wed, 04 Apr 2007 15:40:01 -0500, Richard J Kinch
wrote:

Bud-- writes:

The second function is sometimes called "earthing" to make clear which
"grounding" function is being discussed. If a surge suppressor must be
"grounded" it is not terribly clear what is intended. If it is earthed,
it is very clear.

Nope.

"Earthing" is simply the British English for the American English term
"grouding".

Kind of like they say "tension" instead of our "voltage".

A "high tension" line just means "high voltage". Has nothing to do with
how tightly the wires are strung.

The global character of Internet discussion has worsened an age-old
problem.

That "tension" comes from "retension" (meaning 'keeping', for those
unable to say what they mean). It's a polite way of saying "Really
keep away from those wires. They bite." :-)

Richard J Kinch wrote:

Bud-- writes:


The second function is sometimes called "earthing" to make clear which
"grounding" function is being discussed. If a surge suppressor must be
"grounded" it is not terribly clear what is intended. If it is earthed,
it is very clear.


Nope.

"Earthing" is simply the British English for the American English term
"grouding".


That is the UK usage. This newsgroup, at least for electrical, is almost
exclusively US-Canada. This side of the pond "earthing" is not common
usage but refers to a connection to earth.

--
bud--