Re: How does the typical mains power connect in the USA anyway?

Why would the heating, ventilation and air conditioning go back to the power generating station ?

"Danny D'Amico"

** The simple answer is it doesn't - so the question is absurd.

Home solar power goes nowhere until the current generated exceeds that being consumed by the house - the excess then goes to the neighbour's houses via the local grid.

Ground conductors plus the earth itself carry NO current UNLESS a fault exists.

Ground conductors exist for safety reasons.

FYI:

Ask Google a crazy question = get a crazy answer.

... Phil

High voltage A/C.

Modern polyphase power has no ground for reference. This is a major pain in the ass when trying to find 120Vac on top of a mountain.

I don't see the earlier comment, but from the links and the search question, I presume the conversation was about a circuit term referred to as "return".

A lot f folks are fixated on naming one power lead as "return", when there is nothng related to any sort of "return" taking place in a circuit.

There are 2 conductors.. and one is a higher potential than the other. That's all there is to it, but you'll probably never fnd ths statement in any text book.

The power is disspated at the load, and there is nothing to return to any other location.

I don't know where the fantasy of a return originated, but there is none iin an electrical circuit. Hydraulic circuit, yes, thre is generally always a return line.. for obvious reasons.

The earth, meaning the planet, is not half of an electrical crcuit.. with maybe one exception being lightning strikes. Hills and terrain affect RF energy, and the ground/earth at the base of an antenna is often imbedded with conductors to form a ground plane.

Electrical circuts deliver power to an appliance, tool, light bulb etc as the two differing potentials, and the power is disspated as heat, light, motion etc at the device beng powered.

It is aburd to belive that power is returned thru many miles of distribution gear and back to the generation source, or that it's returned thru the soil. Yet, the majorty of folks believe and continue to express/repeat this concept.

-- Cheers, WB .............

This is a piece of a approx 192 post thread at a.h.r where Danny thinks the earth is used as a conductor in power distribution. Everyone disagrees, but he is not convinced. And the usual tangents.

His reference at howstuffworks has huge problems, as detailed at a.h.r

Wild_Bill scrit:

The guy gfretwell showed us a few amps of current heading directly into the ground.

Where did those few amps come from, and where did they go?

Maybe you could explain this hypothetical, sort of electricity for dummies.

Use a DC source (because electrons actually flow through a wire and we don't have to worry about B and H waves.) 9 volt battery, incandescent lamp like a flashlight bulb, two wires (high potential and "not return.")

Light and heat are produced in the lamp.

What changes in the electrons flowing through the wire? Energy must have been sucked out of them, and that must be reflected in some physical change to said electrons. They should be different pre-lamp and post-lamp.

What happens in the "not return" line? Do electrons get past the lamp back to the battery?

Apologies in advance if your statement was only meant for AC.

Of course it does. It's a wye at the substation. The center *is* ground.

...and here I thought the problem was getting the wires up there in the first place.

Nonsense.

You can't have current without a closed loop.

No current = no power.

You're blind.

The same reasons.

It certainly can be, but isn't normally.

Irrelevant.

Now talk about the other half of the story.

It's absurd to deny the fact that a "return" exists.

...and they're correct.

Idiot. Read this:

--
Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to 
have a DD214, and a honorable discharge.

I think it was used in the early days of the REA.

Where has it been used in the US in the last 50 years.

I don't remember ever seeing transmission or distribution lines without a neutral.

Cut a bunch to keep AIOE happy.

Article here

talking about power distribution. It was written by a fella with a BSEE and an MSEE. He spent a bunch of years working in the power industry. He writes about a possible project in Alaska. Single wire earth return similar to what the Aussies do.

He says: A single wire, ground return circuit will require a waiver from the Alaska legislature or Department of Labor since it does not comply with the NESC. However, the author does not believe that the single conductor, earth return circuit should be considered and firmly believes that a multi-grounded, neutral be considered on all single phase and three-phase, four-wire circuits. End quote.

The fact that using the earth return system requires a waiver implies that it is used very infrequently.

We had it well inside the city but it was about 50 years ago.

You've never seen a delta? HV lines are often deltas. There really isn't any need to carry a neutral around. It cost$.

"Many national electrical regulations (notably the U.S.) require a metallic return line from the load to the generator. In these jurisdictions, each SWER line must be approved by exception."

The previous "no return" statements are the same for AC or DC.

With 2 wires from the battery positve (+) terminal connected to a lamp, there will be no light or heat.

Without utilizng the battery minus (-) terminal the two wires from the plus (+) terminal have no difference in voltage potential.

The difference between the 2 voltage potentials (9V) is what will light the lamp.

Plus volts (+)-------------- lamp filament resistance --------------------(-) Zero

As the lamp resistance drops the (+) voltage to zero at the lamp's zero voltage terminal, there is nothing to "return" to the battery.

The power is dissipated within the lamp fillament as the plus voltage is reduced to zero.. the results are heat and light. The low potential wire only brings the zero terminal close to the lamp, there is nothing to return onece the plus potential is reduced to zero.

Several of the dimwits replying can't even recognize that I wasn't referring to a single-wire scenario.. indicating how far up their asses their heads are.

-- Cheers, WB .............

In essence, the voltage travels from the negative to the positive. Along the way a resistance is encountered before flowing through a parallel path to the positive. This only splits the current flow. To which extent depends on each respective conductor's length or overall resistance.

The resistive load (the light) emits radiation. Heat, light, and an electro magnetic field (stable).

Wild_Bill udtrykte præcist:

The current in a circuit with only one path, i.e. no resistors, lamps etc in parallel, is the same everywhere, both in the positive and the negative wire.

If the current can't return to the battery, no current can flow.

Saying you don't need a return is like saying you only need the upper side of the chain on the bicycle, as this is where the pedals pull the wheel. A chain does not push, so the lower part is not needed.

(And a tyre is only flat at the part touching the road, the rest is fine)

--
Husk kørelys bagpå, hvis din bilfabrikant har taget den idiotiske  
beslutning at undlade det.