A large store downtown has a heavy FOUR wire triplex feeding the
building. 3 wires are black insulated, the other is the bare neutral.

The thing that caught my attention to it, is that the 4th wire is not
connected to anything. All the triplex I've ever seen is 3 wire, two
are insulated, one is bare. That's for a standard 240V single phase
system.

Im thinking that this cable was intended to be for three phase wiring.
Three hot, and the neutral. Is this right?
Maybe that building once had 3 phase service, or they just had that
cable on hand when they wired it, and used what they had...

On 1/13/13 5:57 AM, wrote:
A large store downtown has a heavy FOUR wire triplex feeding the
building. 3 wires are black insulated, the other is the bare neutral.

The thing that caught my attention to it, is that the 4th wire is not
connected to anything. All the triplex I've ever seen is 3 wire, two
are insulated, one is bare. That's for a standard 240V single phase
system.

Im thinking that this cable was intended to be for three phase wiring.
Three hot, and the neutral. Is this right?
Maybe that building once had 3 phase service, or they just had that
cable on hand when they wired it, and used what they had...




Triplex to me means three wires, not four. I would call that wire
quad.
The bare wire would be for the equipment ground, not the neutral.
The neutral is current carrying and is supposed to be insulated.
There have been some code changes regarding single phase wiring in the
U.S. Electric stoves and clothes dryers are what I'm thinking of. It
was acceptable long ago to wire them with three wires. The equipment
ground and neutral were permitted to be combined. That is no longer
permitted in new wiring. The current carrying neutral and the normally
non current carrying equipment ground have to be separate.

On Jan 13, 6:57*am, wrote:
A large store downtown has a heavy FOUR wire triplex feeding the
building. *3 wires are black insulated, the other is the bare neutral.

The thing that caught my attention to it, is that the 4th wire is not
connected to anything.

If it's not connected to anything, why are you identifying it
as the neutral? You have 3 wires that are apparently
current carrying conductors and one that is bare, not
connected. Assuming this is overhead, ie going from the
pole to the building, sounds like the bare wire is for
support only and you have a 240V service, with two
hots, one neutral.

On 1/13/2013 6:57 AM, wrote:
A large store downtown has a heavy FOUR wire triplex feeding the
building. 3 wires are black insulated, the other is the bare neutral.

Likely you mean it has a drop using quadplex aerial cable?


The thing that caught my attention to it, is that the 4th wire is not
connected to anything. All the triplex I've ever seen is 3 wire, two
are insulated, one is bare. That's for a standard 240V single phase
system.

Im thinking that this cable was intended to be for three phase wiring.
Three hot, and the neutral. Is this right?
Maybe that building once had 3 phase service, or they just had that
cable on hand when they wired it, and used what they had...

A large store downtown has a heavy FOUR wire triplex feeding the
building. 3 wires are black insulated, the other is the bare neutral.

The thing that caught my attention to it, is that the 4th wire is not
connected to anything. All the triplex I've ever seen is 3 wire, two
are insulated, one is bare. That's for a standard 240V single phase
system.

Im thinking that this cable was intended to be for three phase wiring.
Three hot, and the neutral. Is this right?
Maybe that building once had 3 phase service, or they just had that
cable on hand when they wired it, and used what they had...


*It could be a 3 phase delta service. How many transformers are on the
pole?

On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 05:57:42 -0600, wrote:

A large store downtown has a heavy FOUR wire triplex feeding the
building. 3 wires are black insulated, the other is the bare neutral.

The thing that caught my attention to it, is that the 4th wire is not
connected to anything. All the triplex I've ever seen is 3 wire, two
are insulated, one is bare. That's for a standard 240V single phase
system.

Im thinking that this cable was intended to be for three phase wiring.
Three hot, and the neutral. Is this right?
Maybe that building once had 3 phase service, or they just had that
cable on hand when they wired it, and used what they had...


The bare wire is the "suspension" cable..

On Jan 13, 10:01*am, wrote:
On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 05:57:42 -0600, wrote:
A large store downtown has a heavy FOUR wire triplex feeding the
building. *3 wires are black insulated, the other is the bare neutral.

The thing that caught my attention to it, is that the 4th wire is not
connected to anything. *All the triplex I've ever seen is 3 wire, two
are insulated, one is bare. *That's for a standard 240V single phase
system.

Im thinking that this cable was intended to be for three phase wiring.
Three hot, and the neutral. *Is this right?
Maybe that building once had 3 phase service, or they just had that
cable on hand when they wired it, and used what they had...

That says "3 phase".
Three hots and a neutral.

Did you read the part where he says the "neutral"
is not connected to anything? Sounds like a support
wire to me.



You can verify it by looking at the transformers.
If you see 2, one perhaps bigger than the other, it is 3 phase center
tapped delta. (AKA red leg or wild leg)http://gfretwell.com/electrical/red%...ansformers.jpg

If you see 3 equally sized transformers it is usually 3p wyehttp://gfretwell.com/electrical/3%20p%20wye-wye.jpg

On 1/13/2013 9:20 AM, wrote:
....


Did you read the part where he says the "neutral"
is not connected to anything? Sounds like a support
wire to me.

....

Iff'en it "is not connected to anything" how can it support anything?

I'd not think that would be how OP would have written the description if
it were the support cable he was speaking of.

--

On Jan 13, 10:59*am, dpb wrote:
On 1/13/2013 9:20 AM, wrote:
...



Did you read the part where he says the "neutral"
is not connected to anything? *Sounds like a support
wire to me.

...

Iff'en it "is not connected to anything" how can it support anything?

I would assume by "not connected to anything", he means
it is not electrically connected to anything. He doesn't say
anything about whether it's physically connected to the
building, pole, etc




I'd not think that would be how OP would have written the description if
it were the support cable he was speaking of.

--

From what he wrote, a lot isn't clear. Hopefully he will
clarify it.

On 1/13/2013 10:05 AM, wrote:
....

I would assume by "not connected to anything", he means
it is not electrically connected to anything. He doesn't say
anything about whether it's physically connected to the
building, pole, etc


....

Well, if it were physically connected to the structure/pole, w/o it
being electrically connected it would be pretty clear it wasn't an
electrical conductor wouldn't it? And, then it would be even more
unlikely to be said it was "unconnected".

--

On 1/13/2013 10:59 AM, dpb wrote:
On 1/13/2013 9:20 AM, wrote:
...


Did you read the part where he says the "neutral"
is not connected to anything? Sounds like a support
wire to me.

...

Iff'en it "is not connected to anything" how can it support anything?

I'd not think that would be how OP would have written the description if
it were the support cable he was speaking of.

--

The original post mentions describes the "four wire triplex" with one
wire unconnected. "trader" introduced the idea of it being the "neutral"

On Jan 13, 11:10*am, George wrote:
On 1/13/2013 10:59 AM, dpb wrote:





On 1/13/2013 9:20 AM, wrote:
...

Did you read the part where he says the "neutral"
is not connected to anything? *Sounds like a support
wire to me.

...

Iff'en it "is not connected to anything" how can it support anything?

I'd not think that would be how OP would have written the description if
it were the support cable he was speaking of.

--

The original post mentions describes the "four wire triplex" with one
wire unconnected. "trader" introduced the idea of it being the "neutral"- Hide quoted text -


No, I didn't introduce the idea that it was the neutral.
The OP stated that in the first sentence:

"A large store downtown has a heavy FOUR wire triplex
feeding the building. 3 wires are black insulated, the other
is the bare neutral. "

Then he says:

"The thing that caught my attention to it, is that the 4th wire is
not
connected to anything. "

So he's saying he has 3 black insulated, the other is the
bare neutral. The 4th wire is not connected to anything.
I took that 4th wire to be the bare neutral. But it's not
clear what exactly he means by the 4th wire. If it's one of the 3
blacks, I would think he would just say one of the blacks
is not connected.

On 1/13/2013 10:20 AM, wrote:
On Jan 13, 10:01 am, wrote:
On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 05:57:42 -0600, wrote:
A large store downtown has a heavy FOUR wire triplex feeding the
building. 3 wires are black insulated, the other is the bare neutral.

The thing that caught my attention to it, is that the 4th wire is not
connected to anything. All the triplex I've ever seen is 3 wire, two
are insulated, one is bare. That's for a standard 240V single phase
system.

Im thinking that this cable was intended to be for three phase wiring.
Three hot, and the neutral. Is this right?
Maybe that building once had 3 phase service, or they just had that
cable on hand when they wired it, and used what they had...

That says "3 phase".
Three hots and a neutral.

Did you read the part where he says the "neutral"
is not connected to anything? Sounds like a support
wire to me.


The version on the newsserver I use does not mention anything about the
"neutral" being unconnected.







You can verify it by looking at the transformers.
If you see 2, one perhaps bigger than the other, it is 3 phase center
tapped delta. (AKA red leg or wild leg)http://gfretwell.com/electrical/red%...ansformers.jpg

If you see 3 equally sized transformers it is usually 3p wyehttp://gfretwell.com/electrical/3%20p%20wye-wye.jpg

On Jan 13, 11:07*am, George wrote:
On 1/13/2013 10:20 AM, wrote:





On Jan 13, 10:01 am, wrote:
On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 05:57:42 -0600, wrote:
A large store downtown has a heavy FOUR wire triplex feeding the
building. *3 wires are black insulated, the other is the bare neutral.

The thing that caught my attention to it, is that the 4th wire is not
connected to anything. *All the triplex I've ever seen is 3 wire, two
are insulated, one is bare. *That's for a standard 240V single phase
system.

Im thinking that this cable was intended to be for three phase wiring..
Three hot, and the neutral. *Is this right?
Maybe that building once had 3 phase service, or they just had that
cable on hand when they wired it, and used what they had...

That says "3 phase".
Three hots and a neutral.

Did you read the part where he says the "neutral"
is not connected to anything? *Sounds like a support
wire to me.

The version on the newsserver I use does not mention anything about the
"neutral" being unconnected.



The confusion is that he first says there are 3 black
wires and a bare neutral. Then he says the "4th wire"
is not connected to anything. Since he was talking
about 3+1 and then says "the 4th wire", I took that
4th wire to be the bare neutral. It's not clear what
the 4th wire is. If the 4th wire is one of the other
three, then I would think he would have said:

There are 3 blacks, one of them is unconnected and
there is a bare neutral. That is the way the rest of you
seem to be interpreting it. Hopefully he'll clarify.

On 1/13/2013 11:27 AM, wrote:
On Jan 13, 11:07 am, George wrote:
On 1/13/2013 10:20 AM, wrote:





On Jan 13, 10:01 am, wrote:
On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 05:57:42 -0600, wrote:
A large store downtown has a heavy FOUR wire triplex feeding the
building. 3 wires are black insulated, the other is the bare neutral.

The thing that caught my attention to it, is that the 4th wire is not
connected to anything. All the triplex I've ever seen is 3 wire, two
are insulated, one is bare. That's for a standard 240V single phase
system.

Im thinking that this cable was intended to be for three phase wiring.
Three hot, and the neutral. Is this right?
Maybe that building once had 3 phase service, or they just had that
cable on hand when they wired it, and used what they had...

That says "3 phase".
Three hots and a neutral.

Did you read the part where he says the "neutral"
is not connected to anything? Sounds like a support
wire to me.

The version on the newsserver I use does not mention anything about the
"neutral" being unconnected.



The confusion is that he first says there are 3 black
wires and a bare neutral. Then he says the "4th wire"
is not connected to anything. Since he was talking
about 3+1 and then says "the 4th wire", I took that
4th wire to be the bare neutral. It's not clear what
the 4th wire is. If the 4th wire is one of the other
three, then I would think he would have said:

There are 3 blacks, one of them is unconnected and
there is a bare neutral. That is the way the rest of you
seem to be interpreting it. Hopefully he'll clarify.

It must have been the other "trader" who argued the point that it was
the neutral...

On Jan 13, 12:58*pm, George wrote:
On 1/13/2013 11:27 AM, wrote:



On Jan 13, 11:07 am, George wrote:
On 1/13/2013 10:20 AM, wrote:

On Jan 13, 10:01 am, wrote:
On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 05:57:42 -0600, wrote:
A large store downtown has a heavy FOUR wire triplex feeding the
building. *3 wires are black insulated, the other is the bare neutral.

The thing that caught my attention to it, is that the 4th wire is not
connected to anything. *All the triplex I've ever seen is 3 wire, two
are insulated, one is bare. *That's for a standard 240V single phase
system.

Im thinking that this cable was intended to be for three phase wiring.
Three hot, and the neutral. *Is this right?
Maybe that building once had 3 phase service, or they just had that
cable on hand when they wired it, and used what they had...

That says "3 phase".
Three hots and a neutral.

Did you read the part where he says the "neutral"
is not connected to anything? *Sounds like a support
wire to me.

The version on the newsserver I use does not mention anything about the
"neutral" being unconnected.

The confusion is that he first says there are 3 black
wires and a bare neutral. *Then he says the "4th wire"
is not connected to anything. *Since he was talking
about 3+1 and then says "the 4th wire", I took that
4th wire to be the bare neutral. * It's not clear what
the 4th wire is. *If the 4th wire is one of the other
three, then I would think he would have said:

There are 3 blacks, one of them is unconnected and
there is a bare neutral. *That is the way the rest of you
seem to be interpreting it. *Hopefully he'll clarify.

It must have been the other "trader" who argued the point that it was
the neutral...- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Now you're adding to the obfuscation, implying that I
argued the point that "it" was the neutral. What "it" are you
refering to? The OP wrote:

"3 wires are black insulated, the other is the bare neutral. "

So there is an "it" and it's the OP saying it's the neutral,
not me.

Then he says:

"the 4th wire is not connected to anything. "

So we have 3+1. Now maybe YOU are a mind reader,'
but it's not clear what the 4th unconnected wire he's referring to
is. I took it to mean the bare wire. gfretw
thinks it's 3 phase and all are actually connected.

You, well, it's not clear what you think because all
you seem more interested in is trying to pick apart my
interpretation, which I believe is a perfectly reasonable
one, because the OP was unclear on what the 4th
wire is that he's referring to.

On Jan 13, 11:58*am, wrote:
On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 08:27:47 -0800 (PST), "





wrote:
On Jan 13, 11:07*am, George wrote:
On 1/13/2013 10:20 AM, wrote:

On Jan 13, 10:01 am, wrote:
On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 05:57:42 -0600, wrote:
A large store downtown has a heavy FOUR wire triplex feeding the
building. *3 wires are black insulated, the other is the bare neutral.

The thing that caught my attention to it, is that the 4th wire is not
connected to anything. *All the triplex I've ever seen is 3 wire, two
are insulated, one is bare. *That's for a standard 240V single phase
system.

Im thinking that this cable was intended to be for three phase wiring.
Three hot, and the neutral. *Is this right?
Maybe that building once had 3 phase service, or they just had that
cable on hand when they wired it, and used what they had...

That says "3 phase".
Three hots and a neutral.

Did you read the part where he says the "neutral"
is not connected to anything? *Sounds like a support
wire to me.

The version on the newsserver I use does not mention anything about the
"neutral" being unconnected.

The confusion is that he first says there are 3 black
wires and a bare neutral. *Then he says the "4th wire"
is not connected to anything. *Since he was talking
about 3+1 and then says "the 4th wire", I took that
4th wire to be the bare neutral. * It's not clear what
the 4th wire is. *If the 4th wire is one of the other
three, then I would think he would have said:

There are 3 blacks, one of them is unconnected and
there is a bare neutral. *That is the way the rest of you
seem to be interpreting it. *Hopefully he'll clarify.

That is why I said "look at the transformers"

The topic is called "what is FOUR wire Triplex for? and the answer is
"3 phase"
I bet if he posts a picture, you are going to see that bare wire
connected to the strand on the pole and one might believe that is not
connected to anything but that is the neutral.

around pittsburgh many aerial drops use a bare wire not connected to
anything but the pole and building mechanically... no electric
connections....

On 1/13/2013 12:07 PM, bob haller wrote:
On Jan 13, 11:58 am, wrote:
On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 08:27:47 -0800 (PST), "





wrote:
On Jan 13, 11:07 am, George wrote:
On 1/13/2013 10:20 AM, wrote:

On Jan 13, 10:01 am, wrote:
On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 05:57:42 -0600, wrote:
A large store downtown has a heavy FOUR wire triplex feeding the
building. 3 wires are black insulated, the other is the bare neutral.

The thing that caught my attention to it, is that the 4th wire is not
connected to anything. All the triplex I've ever seen is 3 wire, two
are insulated, one is bare. That's for a standard 240V single phase
system.

Im thinking that this cable was intended to be for three phase wiring.
Three hot, and the neutral. Is this right?
Maybe that building once had 3 phase service, or they just had that
cable on hand when they wired it, and used what they had...

That says "3 phase".
Three hots and a neutral.

Did you read the part where he says the "neutral"
is not connected to anything? Sounds like a support
wire to me.

The version on the newsserver I use does not mention anything about the
"neutral" being unconnected.

The confusion is that he first says there are 3 black
wires and a bare neutral. Then he says the "4th wire"
is not connected to anything. Since he was talking
about 3+1 and then says "the 4th wire", I took that
4th wire to be the bare neutral. It's not clear what
the 4th wire is. If the 4th wire is one of the other
three, then I would think he would have said:

There are 3 blacks, one of them is unconnected and
there is a bare neutral. That is the way the rest of you
seem to be interpreting it. Hopefully he'll clarify.

That is why I said "look at the transformers"

The topic is called "what is FOUR wire Triplex for? and the answer is
"3 phase"
I bet if he posts a picture, you are going to see that bare wire
connected to the strand on the pole and one might believe that is not
connected to anything but that is the neutral.

around pittsburgh many aerial drops use a bare wire not connected to
anything but the pole and building mechanically... no electric
connections....

They must have a different take on things. Standard practice is to bond
bare wires than can become energized for any reason even if unused.

On Jan 13, 11:58*am, wrote:
On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 08:27:47 -0800 (PST), "





wrote:
On Jan 13, 11:07*am, George wrote:
On 1/13/2013 10:20 AM, wrote:

On Jan 13, 10:01 am, wrote:
On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 05:57:42 -0600, wrote:
A large store downtown has a heavy FOUR wire triplex feeding the
building. *3 wires are black insulated, the other is the bare neutral.

The thing that caught my attention to it, is that the 4th wire is not
connected to anything. *All the triplex I've ever seen is 3 wire, two
are insulated, one is bare. *That's for a standard 240V single phase
system.

Im thinking that this cable was intended to be for three phase wiring.
Three hot, and the neutral. *Is this right?
Maybe that building once had 3 phase service, or they just had that
cable on hand when they wired it, and used what they had...

That says "3 phase".
Three hots and a neutral.

Did you read the part where he says the "neutral"
is not connected to anything? *Sounds like a support
wire to me.

The version on the newsserver I use does not mention anything about the
"neutral" being unconnected.

The confusion is that he first says there are 3 black
wires and a bare neutral. *Then he says the "4th wire"
is not connected to anything. *Since he was talking
about 3+1 and then says "the 4th wire", I took that
4th wire to be the bare neutral. * It's not clear what
the 4th wire is. *If the 4th wire is one of the other
three, then I would think he would have said:

There are 3 blacks, one of them is unconnected and
there is a bare neutral. *That is the way the rest of you
seem to be interpreting it. *Hopefully he'll clarify.

That is why I said "look at the transformers"

The topic is called "what is FOUR wire Triplex for? and the answer is
"3 phase"
I bet if he posts a picture, you are going to see that bare wire
connected to the strand on the pole and one might believe that is not
connected to anything but that is the neutral.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yes, I agree, IF they are all in fact connected. But
that sure isn't what he's saying. And as I've said,
from the confusing post, it's not clear exactly what
the 4th allegedly unconnected wire is, ie the bare or
one of the conductors.

On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 07:20:23 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

Did you read the part where he says the "neutral"
is not connected to anything? Sounds like a support
wire to me.

I did *NOT* say that.....
Learn to read for comprehension!!!

wrote:
"

Did you read the part where he says the "neutral"
is not connected to anything? Sounds like a support
wire to me.

I did *NOT* say that.....
Learn to read for comprehension!!!

Your original characterization of the so-called '4th' wire was
ambiguous. Not even ambiguous, more like (unintenionally) misleading.

Effective communication is a responsibility primarily of/on the sender,
only secondarily the receiver.

The sender is supposed to recognize the limitations of the media and
know that the receiver cannot see inside the head of the sender to know
what he was thinking about when he said what he said.

You said at the opening:

A large store downtown has a heavy FOUR wire triplex feeding the
building. 3 wires are black insulated, the other is the bare neutral.

3 like wires and then 'the other' would cause a normal reader to call
the other the 4th, different, wire.

Then you said:

The thing that caught my attention to it, is that the 4th wire is not
connected to anything.

I believe that it would be normal for the receiver to interpret that the
bare, neutral, different, 4th wire is not connected.

Your original does not 'select' one of the 3 otherwise identical black
insulated wires to be the '4th' wire (not connected).

The criticism of the communication breakdown should not be assigned to
the receivers comprehension or lack or mind-reading skills here.

It wasn't until later that you began to try to clarify what you were
thinking and seeing at the wires.



--
Mike Easter

On 1/14/2013 3:55 PM, Mike Easter wrote:
wrote:
"

Did you read the part where he says the "neutral"
is not connected to anything? Sounds like a support
wire to me.

I did *NOT* say that.....
Learn to read for comprehension!!!

Your original characterization of the so-called '4th' wire was
ambiguous. Not even ambiguous, more like (unintenionally) misleading.

Effective communication is a responsibility primarily of/on the sender,
only secondarily the receiver.

The sender is supposed to recognize the limitations of the media and
know that the receiver cannot see inside the head of the sender to know
what he was thinking about when he said what he said.


Sure, and it it is the receivers fault if they simply don't ask "what
did you mean?" instead of turning it into a 100 response thread about
how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.


You said at the opening:

A large store downtown has a heavy FOUR wire triplex feeding the
building. 3 wires are black insulated, the other is the bare neutral.

3 like wires and then 'the other' would cause a normal reader to call
the other the 4th, different, wire.

Then you said:

The thing that caught my attention to it, is that the 4th wire is not
connected to anything.

I believe that it would be normal for the receiver to interpret that the
bare, neutral, different, 4th wire is not connected.

Your original does not 'select' one of the 3 otherwise identical black
insulated wires to be the '4th' wire (not connected).

The criticism of the communication breakdown should not be assigned to
the receivers comprehension or lack or mind-reading skills here.

It wasn't until later that you began to try to clarify what you were
thinking and seeing at the wires.

On Jan 15, 9:36*am, George wrote:
On 1/14/2013 3:55 PM, Mike Easter wrote:





wrote:
"

Did you read the part where he says the "neutral"
is not connected to anything? *Sounds like a support
wire to me.

I did *NOT* say that.....
Learn to read for comprehension!!!

Your original characterization of the so-called '4th' wire was
ambiguous. *Not even ambiguous, more like (unintenionally) misleading..

Effective communication is a responsibility primarily of/on the sender,
only secondarily the receiver.

The sender is supposed to recognize the limitations of the media and
know that the receiver cannot see inside the head of the sender to know
what he was thinking about when he said what he said.

Sure, and it it is the receivers fault if they simply don't ask "what
did you mean?" instead of turning it into a 100 response thread about
how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.





You said at the opening:

A large store downtown has a heavy FOUR wire triplex feeding the
building. *3 wires are black insulated, the other is the bare neutral.

3 like wires and then 'the other' would cause a normal reader to call
the other the 4th, different, wire.

Then you said:

The thing that caught my attention to it, is that the 4th wire is not
connected to anything.

I believe that it would be normal for the receiver to interpret that the
bare, neutral, different, 4th wire is not connected.

Your original does not 'select' one of the 3 otherwise identical black
insulated wires to be the '4th' wire (not connected).

The criticism of the communication breakdown should not be assigned to
the receivers comprehension or lack or mind-reading skills here.

It wasn't until later that you began to try to clarify what you were
thinking and seeing at the wires.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Apparently, like everyone else here, Mike agrees that
the post was unclear. After 3 posts, the poster finally
clarified what he meant. It was all settled yesterday to
everybody's satisfaction, except of course, you.
So, here you are, bitching because the thread took
so many posts. As if this is the first time an unclear
question resulted in that. And it's YOU who just made
3 new posts on the thread, not about the result, but about
the process. Go figure....

On Jan 15, 9:36*am, George wrote:
On 1/14/2013 3:55 PM, Mike Easter wrote:





wrote:
"

Did you read the part where he says the "neutral"
is not connected to anything? *Sounds like a support
wire to me.

I did *NOT* say that.....
Learn to read for comprehension!!!

Your original characterization of the so-called '4th' wire was
ambiguous. *Not even ambiguous, more like (unintenionally) misleading..

Effective communication is a responsibility primarily of/on the sender,
only secondarily the receiver.

The sender is supposed to recognize the limitations of the media and
know that the receiver cannot see inside the head of the sender to know
what he was thinking about when he said what he said.

Sure, and it it is the receivers fault if they simply don't ask "what
did you mean?" instead of turning it into a 100 response thread about
how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.


How well did that work out for you?

Early on you asked for clarification and there was no response to your
query:

"Likely you mean it has a drop using quadplex aerial cable?"

The very wording of all of the responses, including yours, indicated a
lack of clarity in the original post. Don't you think that it is the
responsibilty of the OP to read through the responses, realize that he
was misunderstood (no fault being placed here) and take steps to
clarify?

If my wife says to me "That's a hot dress!" and I respond by asking
"Is it made of wool?" isn't it her responsibility to clarify that she
was talking about the look, not the material? I didn't do anything
wrong and niether did she, but there was a misunderstanding anyway.
Since I (the receiver) can't read her mind, it's her (the sender)
responsibilty to clear things up.

That was something that the OP did not do until his third post. Now,
it's very possibly that the OP doesn't access/respond to a.h.r as
often as some of us, so there might be a lot of posts based on the
misunderstanding while we wait for the clarification. However, in this
case the OP responded (his 2nd post) but didn't clear anything up. At
that point, it would be quite proper to place some of the blame on
him.


You said at the opening:

A large store downtown has a heavy FOUR wire triplex feeding the
building. *3 wires are black insulated, the other is the bare neutral.

3 like wires and then 'the other' would cause a normal reader to call
the other the 4th, different, wire.

Then you said:

The thing that caught my attention to it, is that the 4th wire is not
connected to anything.

I believe that it would be normal for the receiver to interpret that the
bare, neutral, different, 4th wire is not connected.

Your original does not 'select' one of the 3 otherwise identical black
insulated wires to be the '4th' wire (not connected).

The criticism of the communication breakdown should not be assigned to
the receivers comprehension or lack or mind-reading skills here.

It wasn't until later that you began to try to clarify what you were
thinking and seeing at the wires.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

On 1/14/2013 2:46 PM, wrote:
On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 07:20:23 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

Did you read the part where he says the "neutral"
is not connected to anything? Sounds like a support
wire to me.

I did *NOT* say that.....
Learn to read for comprehension!!!


Exactly, the thread grew because trader ran with that and then later
declared it was your fault that he did.

On Jan 13, 10:55*am, wrote:
On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 07:20:23 -0800 (PST), "





wrote:
On Jan 13, 10:01*am, wrote:
On Sun, 13 Jan 2013 05:57:42 -0600, wrote:
A large store downtown has a heavy FOUR wire triplex feeding the
building. *3 wires are black insulated, the other is the bare neutral.

The thing that caught my attention to it, is that the 4th wire is not
connected to anything. *All the triplex I've ever seen is 3 wire, two
are insulated, one is bare. *That's for a standard 240V single phase
system.

Im thinking that this cable was intended to be for three phase wiring..
Three hot, and the neutral. *Is this right?
Maybe that building once had 3 phase service, or they just had that
cable on hand when they wired it, and used what they had...

That says "3 phase".
Three hots and a neutral.

Did you read the part where he says the "neutral"
is not connected to anything? *Sounds like a support
wire to me.

The bare wire on the pole is the neutral.



But again, he says the neutral wire in the service cable that
he is talking about is not connected. It can't be a neutral
if it's not connected.