Open Neutral you say? A story of carnage at Gooontrons house.

[lax luthier]

Re: Open Neutral you say? A story of carnage at Gooontrons house.

I know this is an older thread, but... So how about not connecting or disconnecting the RV power cord unless the supply circuit has been turned off?

[goontron]

Re: Open Neutral you say? A story of carnage at Gooontrons house.

I know this is an older thread, but... So how about not connecting or disconnecting the RV power cord unless the supply circuit has been turned off?

Not sure what you mean by that. Its a direct run between the meter and the socket. No fusing or disconnect.

[Sparkey55]

Re: Open Neutral you say? A story of carnage at Gooontrons house.

Not sure what you mean by that. Its a direct run between the meter and the socket. No fusing or disconnect.

I fully understand what he means. Their should never be a unconnectable live circuit between the power source and the building power entrance. Power source> Service head> Meter (disconnect)> Service panel (main breakers)> then individual line circuit breakers. In that order. Any thing else is illegal.

[R_J]

Re: Open Neutral you say? A story of carnage at Gooontrons house.

That might be illegal in the usa but not everywhere, in Canada the service comes into the meter and goes straight to the panel main breaker totally legal

[Sparkey55]

Re: Open Neutral you say? A story of carnage at Gooontrons house.

That might be illegal in the usa but not everywhere, in Canada the service comes into the meter and goes straight to the panel main breaker totally legal

Exactly as I stated above. The electrical meter is the switch ( disconnect point by phyiscally pulling it out of the circuit). That action of pulling the meter prevents you from receiving power.

In Goontrons case Rv"s would have (or should have) a metal switch box with a lockable throw switch to connect power to his service entrance RV or trailer.

[goontron]

Re: Open Neutral you say? A story of carnage at Gooontrons house.

I fully understand what he means. Their should never be a unconnectable live circuit between the power source and the building power entrance. Power source> Service head> Meter (disconnect)> Service panel (main breakers)> then individual line circuit breakers. In that order. Any thing else is illegal.

Negative.

Service header > Meter(pan) > underground run > service pedestal that consists of a single range/RV socket > Run into the house > Busbars of the breaker panel.

That plug IS the customer-side disconnect.

[stj]

Re: Open Neutral you say? A story of carnage at Gooontrons house.

interesting fact,
in europe we have connectors 63A or higher that have an extra pin that is shorter,
this pin loops back in the plug from another pin and controls a big contactor in the socket housing.

so if you try to pull the plug it will break the power before the contacts seperate to prevent an arc.

[lax luthier]

Re: Open Neutral you say? A story of carnage at Gooontrons house.

The configuration you describe is improper in any location in the world. I think you have demonstrated the reason for this requirement: The damage that your equipment suffered. Please have it corrected.

This is the section of the Canadian Electrical code which addresses not connecting live (ungrounded) conductors directly to the buss bars immediately following the load side of an electrical service meter:

https://www.electricalindustry.ca/la...i-instalment-8

December 6, 2015
William (Bill) Burr

The CE Code is a comprehensive document. Sometimes it can seem quite daunting to quickly find the information you need. This series of articles provides a guide to help users find their way through this critical document. This is not intended to replace the notes in Appendix B or the explanations of individual requirements contained in the CEC Handbook, but will hopefully provide some help in navigating the code.

Section 14 is a general section of the Code and the Scope applies to all electrical circuits and apparatus installed in accordance with the requirements of the Code unless amended or modified by other sections. As with other sections of the Code, the Appendix B notes contain much valuable information on the use of the rules in Section 14.

Section 14 is divided into three main parts covering general requirements, protective devices, and control devices.

In the General requirements part:

• Rule 14-010 specifies that protective and control devices are required to be provided for electrical apparatus and ungrounded conductors. It provides the most fundamental requirement in the Code: to install control devices in order to manually disconnect all ungrounded conductors of a circuit or to automatically open the circuit if a current in a circuit reaches a value that will produce dangerous temperatures or in the event of a ground fault. The rule is needed to prevent damage or injury due to overloads, short circuits or ground faults, and also hazards caused by a low or no voltage situation. Protective devices include fuses and circuit breakers while control devices include switches as well as circuit breakers.Note that a fuse is not a control device and must be used in conjunction with a switch where control is required.

I hope you will find it to be helpful.

[stj]

Re: Open Neutral you say? A story of carnage at Gooontrons house.

regardless of "codes", it's pretty standard at both camping grounds and docks/marina's to just have a posts with a meter followed by a multipole breaker and then the socket.

the rest of it (distribution panel etc.) is expected to be in the boat/truck etc on the other end of the cable.

[goontron]

Re: Open Neutral you say? A story of carnage at Gooontrons house.

regardless of "codes", it's pretty standard at both camping grounds and docks/marina's to just have a posts with a meter followed by a multipole breaker and then the socket.

the rest of it (distribution panel etc.) is expected to be in the boat/truck etc on the other end of the cable.

I don't even have the breaker

[stj]

Re: Open Neutral you say? A story of carnage at Gooontrons house.

that's not good, in theory you could blow the meter up - it has to have a current limit before something burns!

[goontron]

Re: Open Neutral you say? A story of carnage at Gooontrons house.

that's not good, in theory you could blow the meter up - it has to have a current limit before something burns!

Indeed i could. Im just waiting for the day when the plug/socket fails and the whole run burns up.

[stj]

Re: Open Neutral you say? A story of carnage at Gooontrons house.

LOL
maybe trip over it on the 4th next month!

[momaka]

Re: Open Neutral you say? A story of carnage at Gooontrons house.

"Don't overload your electric meter"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut5DXxK1dvk