UK mains can give quite a jolt when you touch it inadvertently! - Richard
On Saturday, 22 March 2025 at 00:36:58 UTC Adrian Godwin wrote: > We do have a variation for professional outdoor equipment - a building > site will have so-called 'site transformers' ranging from 500W portable > units to multi-output multi-kW units that take the 240V in and produce 110V > with a centre-tapped earth, much like your 220V system. This gives 110V > for site tools in which there's no more than 55VAC from earth. They're not > really used outside the building trade, though. > > On Fri, Mar 21, 2025 at 11:51 PM David Pye <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Not just the UK - the whole EU is like that! >> >> David >> >> On Fri, 21 Mar 2025, 23:40 gregebert, <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Wow! I had no idea the full 220V was present in the UK; that's a very >>> dangerous voltage to touch. In the US, neutral is connected to GND at the >>> point-of-entry to the building and there is also a grounding rod though the >>> electrical code only requires a maximum of 25 ohms to Earth (it varies due >>> to soil condition), and definitely wont suffice as a redundant neutral. >>> >>> On Friday, March 21, 2025 at 5:58:40 PM UTC+7 Adrian Godwin wrote: >>> >>>> GFCI is mandatory on new installations in the UK, typically 20mA. >>>> However there are a lot of older installations without them. >>>> However note that the 230V is not served centre-tapped about earth like >>>> US range power : We have a 230V 'live' terminal and neutral is earthed at >>>> the substation so may be a few volts above earth at the house due to >>>> voltage drops in distribution. So it's nominally 230V above earth too, >>>> there is no possibility of getting 110V without a transformer. >>>> >>>> >>>> On Fri, Mar 21, 2025 at 9:55 AM Rik Declercq <[email protected]> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> GFCI is mandatory in Belgium on +all+ outlets, they're placed in the >>>>> switchboard, right after the main manual switch, before all other fuses. >>>>> There's even 2, actually, one that triggers @ 0.03A (for surviving >>>>> bathroom >>>>> and washing machines.... 'wet' accidents) and one @ 0.3 A for everything >>>>> else. Those are placed in series, so often trigger both if you do >>>>> something >>>>> very stupid. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Fri, Mar 21, 2025 at 8:20 AM gregebert <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> For those who live with 220V mains, I'm curious if anyone has used >>>>>> 110VAC-to-GND for their projects. I'm sure it violates electrical codes, >>>>>> and there are plenty of reasons why doing that is unsafe, but I wouldn't >>>>>> be >>>>>> surprised if it's been tried by folks here. >>>>>> >>>>>> GFCI (ground fault circuit interruptors) are commonly used here in >>>>>> the US for some outlets inside homes, usually in areas like kitchens or >>>>>> bathrooms where water is running, and also outdoors. So, exploiting the >>>>>> GND >>>>>> prong would cause a GFCI to trip; it's also redundant because all >>>>>> outlets >>>>>> have a neutral conductor anyways, so using the GND accomplishes nothing. >>>>>> In >>>>>> other words, we can't get 60VAC using GND (yeah, if we *did*, then I >>>>>> probably would have used it). >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>>> Groups "neonixie-l" group. >>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, >>>>>> send an email to [email protected]. >>>>>> To view this discussion, visit >>>>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/cc46c9e3-2a36-4d2b-8a9f-be150cde0268n%40googlegroups.com >>>>>> >>>>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/cc46c9e3-2a36-4d2b-8a9f-be150cde0268n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>>>>> . >>>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>> Groups "neonixie-l" group. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>>> >>>> To view this discussion, visit >>>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CAFNBpdFRa6aoPw3YfMY%2BAizecLxMqO22BN6PfVXeroLnvFuOFg%40mail.gmail.com >>>>> >>>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CAFNBpdFRa6aoPw3YfMY%2BAizecLxMqO22BN6PfVXeroLnvFuOFg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>>>> . >>>>> >>>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "neonixie-l" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to [email protected]. >>> To view this discussion, visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/fd1d4ff1-2806-46fb-b4ce-178120a0633cn%40googlegroups.com >>> >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/fd1d4ff1-2806-46fb-b4ce-178120a0633cn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "neonixie-l" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> > To view this discussion, visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CAOQ6x0EbfPWxzdbevNvbSm4dC5UgduYqtL9E8tu%2B9mh51vnbgw%40mail.gmail.com >> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CAOQ6x0EbfPWxzdbevNvbSm4dC5UgduYqtL9E8tu%2B9mh51vnbgw%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. 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