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Subject - Neutral or not
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Electricman
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Here's a head scratcher. Is the white wire in a 120 volt single phase circuit technically a neutral or a grounded conductor. I say grounded conductor. I would think you would have to have at least 2 phases of current for it to be neutral. Whats your take?
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David Hyatt
| It would definatley be a grounded conductor. Like you said it takes 3 wires to make a neutral. The word neutral only appears a few times in the code book. The neutral carries the unbalanced load. The closest thing I have found in the code to define a neutal is in 310.15B3.
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Scott Vickrey
| That's correct. I still call the white wire the neutral even if it's part of a 120 volt circuit for simplicity's sake but, technically the word neutral is only used in the code book to refer to the grounded wire that carries the unbalanced load of service or feeder. Most people including some electricians tend to get confused when you mention the grounded conductor. Same thing with the "hot" wire.
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JimmyDee
| To add to this remember that to be a neutral it also has to be a grounded conductor. 
Jim
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FireAlarmPro
| new here just wanted to add when i was in school we were taught a little saying "neutral is always white but white isnt always neutral"
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iwire
| Don't forget the grounded conductor is not always the neutral.
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FireAlarmPro
| TRUE
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