Since *all* last-mile power lines are underground in Netherlands (and in many EU countries) the common way to distribute power is to send mid voltage to a "transformerhouse" which resembles a garage or sometimes a small house in a residential neighborhood, which houses the transformer to step the mid voltage down to 400V (3x 230V) as well as the breakers and other switchgear for the local distribution. This transformer's secondary center (Neutral) connection was isolated from the mid voltage and grounded (bonded, staked) to provide a grounded Neutral even though the PE ground was ALSO carried from that transformer into each house, so a fault in the Neutral down stream would still not cause a dangerous situation. In Europe the housing of anything is NEVER connected to either of the power wires, because even today most EU outlets (not in all countries) allow you to freely rotate the plug 180 deg anf plug in with the two wires reversed, so you always have to account for either wire to be phase or Neutral. The switchgear in the transferhouse included more than just breakers: the one nearest to one house I lived in could be heard to produce a loud *clang* at dusk and then the street lighting in the whole neighborhood came on. This transformer provided this street light circuit in addition to the 3 phase power that ran under the street and sprouted a short branch into every home's crawl space, poking into the utility closet and terminated at the hidden "utility fuse" that protected the meter. Woe the person who overloaded their circuits to the point that they blew their utility fuse (remember, typically 25A or upgraded to 35A) and had to wait for the utility company to come, break the seals and install a new fuse. Smaller homes typically had between 4 to 7 circuits all fused at 16A (or in later years, breakers) but still going to the same single phase meter and utility fuse... So, no turning on your washing machine AND your dryer AND your dishwasher AND boiling a kettle AND the microwave... because then darkness ensued, even though the individual 16A circuits could easily carry that, the limit was built-in at the utility entrance.
On Mon, Mar 11, 2024 at 6:55 PM (-Phil-) via EV <ev@lists.evdl.org> wrote: > > The difference is historically whether there has been a bonded neutral. My > understanding is this wasn't common in EU until more recently. (Bonded > means a stake is driven in the ground at your house and connected to one > side of the line that is then designated as the "neutral", meaning it has > no voltage differential (or very little) with respect to the earth. > > In the US the "center tap" of the 240v transformer is what is bonded, so > thus each leg is only 120V over the earth. > > On Mon, Mar 11, 2024 at 6:33 PM EV List Lackey via EV <ev@lists.evdl.org> > wrote: > > > On 11 Mar 2024 at 17:37, Cor van de Water via EV wrote: > > > > > In my homes in either Netherlands or India, only the phase was > > > protected with a breaker. > > > > I have heard that that's the case in the UK also - breakers are single > > pole, > > and open only the hot side. > > > > Maybe branch circuit breakers are double pole only in France. I think > > that > > historically - maybe still - there was / is no standard for polarizing > > French receptacles. Ungrounded plugs will fit them either way. > > > > So it's not possible to guarantee that the shell of the E27 lamp socket in > > my desk lamp is at ground potential. > > > > Again, it's like the USA many years ago, when 2-pin plugs there were > > unpolarized. > > > > David Roden, EVDL moderator & general lackey > > > > To reach me, don't reply to this message; I won't get it. Use my > > offlist address here : http://evdl.org/help/index.html#supt > > > > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > > > > We can't solve problems by using the same kind > > of thinking we used when we created them. > > > > -- Alan Kay > > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Address messages to ev@lists.evdl.org > > No other addresses in TO and CC fields > > HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/ > > > > > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20240311/67dd27ec/attachment.htm> > _______________________________________________ > Address messages to ev@lists.evdl.org > No other addresses in TO and CC fields > HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/ > _______________________________________________ Address messages to ev@lists.evdl.org No other addresses in TO and CC fields HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/
