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fbs7
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Several years ago I got in a big argument with the folks that wired a new control room (a project I had nothing to do with, but jumped in as a concerned employeed).
These guys provided 3-terminal power outlets, but on each terminal they connected the ground to the return, based on the practice in my home country of providing just two wire cables between the distribution box and the wall outlets.
They argued that if they had carried 3-wire cables to the distribution boxes, they would ground the neutral bar anyway, so they could just as well do that in the outlet and save on the cables.
I argued that if the return wire broke or had a bad connection before the distribution panel, the supposedly grounded chassis of the electric equipment would get the line voltage and they would eletrocute someone - to what I was called alarmist.
As the contract didn't specify one way or another (it just said 3-terminal outlets), and the building code in my home country is (or was at the time) suspiciously silent about that, the contract manager couldn't get the contractors to rewire the building.
So, was that really a danger as I stated? In that case, if rewiring the building is not an option, what would be the best palliative for that situation?
These guys provided 3-terminal power outlets, but on each terminal they connected the ground to the return, based on the practice in my home country of providing just two wire cables between the distribution box and the wall outlets.
They argued that if they had carried 3-wire cables to the distribution boxes, they would ground the neutral bar anyway, so they could just as well do that in the outlet and save on the cables.
I argued that if the return wire broke or had a bad connection before the distribution panel, the supposedly grounded chassis of the electric equipment would get the line voltage and they would eletrocute someone - to what I was called alarmist.
As the contract didn't specify one way or another (it just said 3-terminal outlets), and the building code in my home country is (or was at the time) suspiciously silent about that, the contract manager couldn't get the contractors to rewire the building.
So, was that really a danger as I stated? In that case, if rewiring the building is not an option, what would be the best palliative for that situation?