Does Current Flow on the Neutral?

There are a lot of people out there discussing this whole neutral thing and it can be a little difficult to understand what is going on without being able to see what is happening.

01:10 - Panel Drawing
03:50 - Conductor drawing
05:00 - Magnetic field examples
05:36 - moving on
06:00 - Example of current on a neutral
07:00 - Better analogy
07:57 - Why does current disappear?
10:00 - Field interaction cancellation
12:00 - Circuit Diagram view
15:00 - Math (Ohms Law)
18:25 - Jules law
20:40 - Bringing it all home.

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#electrician #electrical #electricity

Let’s start this off by stating yes, current does flow in a neutral. But there are times when it doesn't. To understand this we need to look at exactly where in the circuit we’re examining. If we are near a device, somewhere in a branch circuit, there will most likely be current flowing at that point. If we look further forward in the circuit, to the electrical panel, this is where things get interesting.

If a panel is perfectly balanced, and we have 2 loads that we are looking at, then each of those branch circuits will have neutral current flowing throughout the entire branch(es). But the neutral from the electrical panel back up to the transformer, will not. When two loads are turned on, and are exactly the same, the neutral current can actually balance out and, in fact, cancel each other out.

Neutral conductors from a panel back to a source will carry any imbalanced current that exists between any two phases on the system.

[dhflannagan]

I was under the impression that the white wires were the safe ones. I was 19 years old up on a twelve foot ladder working in a commercial building. I was working the fluorescent lights hot because it was a problem shutting them off. So 10 feet off the ground I learned that the white wires are extremely dangerous. Fortunately I didn't fall or get injured. After that horrible shock from 277 volts, I was really having second thoughts about the trade I was getting started in. I'm a retired 68 year old electrician and by the grace of God, still able to talk about it.

[GregSr]

I am a senior technician, self-employed in the PCB manufacturing industry. Back when I was struggling with the difference between ground and neutral, I came up with an analogy using water that helped me better understand. Imagine you had an upstairs laundry room. Of course, there would be a drain in the middle of the floor just in case the washing machine sprung a leak. But, in normal use, the water in the washing machine would go down the intended path through the drain behind the machine. The drain in the floor acts the same as a ground. It's not an active part of the washing machine plumbing but if necessary it can carry the water away to avoid flooding the downstairs. The drain behind the machine acts as the neutral because it is intended to carry the water away in normal operation.

[mattsmith]

I wish all electrical tradesman were as cool and down to earth as this guy and willing to teach... I would've learned so, much faster and much sooner in my career.

[chadblechinger]

Learned more about electrical in two vids than talking to more than 200 electricians. Thanks for the solid work man.

[frederickcwinterburn]

I think the best way to explain it, is to actually draw the sine waves showing the cancellation of voltages with balanced loads. That way, the neutral (transformer centre tap) looks more like the voltage balancing wire that it actually is since both upper and lower sine waves naturally oppose one another relative to the centre tap. Make it all in phase for the drawing so that a second set of amperage sine waves is positioned below the voltage sine waves with equal and varied amplitudes for equal and unequal loads. And any time it is unequal, show what proportion of current is flowing in the neutral compared to the rest of the circuit.

[kevinmach]

For what's it worth, I actuallty liked that you didn't have the "schematic" drawn already. Not sure why, I have seen you draws these dozens of times, I guess it just gives me time to process it things and get my mind in the right frame for what you're about to discuss.

[brianhoch]

Get in between a neutral splice and you'll find out REAL QUICK...!!! 😳💥⚡

[DominickRuocco]

Electrician U is easily the best source of info for Electricians on YouTube. I always recommend this channel to the Apprentices on my job sites.

[RUFFFHOUSE]

I believe it was Einstein that said that you can’t be sure that that you know something until you can explain it to a 6 year old. I am pretty sure Dustin can explain these fairly complex concepts to a 3 year old . Half of the enjoyment I get from watching this channel is watching Dustin put his excellent communication skills on display. Dustin you have a great gift to be thankful for . Thanks for sharing it with us!

[wwdh]

We had fires in our office cubicle walls back in the 1990s due to excess neutral wire current.
The cubicle outlets were spread among three 120V phases with a shared neutral wire. We all got office computers that had non-linear power supplies: their AC inputs were bridge rectifiers feeding big capacitors. AC input current only flows in spikes on the peaks of the AC voltage to charge the capacitors.
In a 3 phase configuration with balanced resistive loads, there is zero neutral current; the current flows (push and pull) cancel. In our configuration, the current spikes on the AC voltage peaks occurred 120 degrees apart, so there was no cancellation. The neutral wires were overloaded and caught fire.
Facilities opened up the circuit breaker panels and used an infrared scope to look at the neutral wires to find the ones that were hot. They then ran new dedicated circuits to feed the computers on those wires.

[coltstover]

This is absolutely incredible, I remember watching this 3-4 years ago just out of curiosity for the trade. Seeing this channel grow and continue to educate is amazing, I really appreciate the time and effort put into this. I’m a chef, not even an electrician and I watch most of these videos.. so thank you!

[Robnord]

I knew the answer, but watched anyway because I like your teaching style and enjoy watching. A topic you may want to consider is (for the general public) how to select the proper size generator or inverter to meet grid down needs. I find myself giving the same advice in comments over and over, and would rather just refer them to a good vid.

[erikdaelectrician]

I been watching your vids since I was an apprentice and they helped me a lot to get my Journeyman’s card. Now I’m on my way to get my masters and I’m sure I’ll pass it.

[texassparky]

MFn' Dustin! I'm a JM trying to graduate to a Master. Huge difference between people who can be laid out at a construction site and run a 100' of 1/2" conduit for an 8 hour day and an electrician that actually understands how things work and arn't just following builder plans. I chose to go to service department years ago. I learned all I needed to know about how buildings are built. In service you really gotta study and understand how things really work. Love your videos! Thank you good Sir.

[skipgilbert]

It would be nice to see real wiring, real light bulbs and real meters showing the amps and voltages. Nice informative channel.

[light_year]

Dustin is so good that one of my teachers in my trade school just used his videos to fill up the entire class period on Zoom. Maybe because he was lazy, who knows but the fact that these videos are so educational and informative that they can be used as real in-class school material is amazing and shows its quality and value haha.

[stevesargent]

This is probably one of my favorite videos you've done. Good job! I liked how you got into the more scientific way of explaining your point, but keeping it simple enough for the beginners and apprentices. Keep up the good work. Thumbs up!

[smitlag]

As a practical point to novices doing wiring. Of course whenever possible turn the power off before connecting wires. But remember if you touch between two neutrals you can become a load. In effect you put your body in series with that circuit path. So the assumption that some people have that "the white wires are safe" is bs.

[boshboshish]

I swear you are a lot better explaining material than college professors … keep going brother … wish to see more valuable videos

[SilverAlert]

Dad was a master electrician. Damn near short of an electrical engineer. He could build a circuit board to do just about anything. He taught me a ton but there is so much more to learn.

He always laughed when I got (oh and I still do), confused on three way switches.

I also remember him talking about balancing out large starting loads like motors or pumps. He said at the start of the motor it’s at its least efficiency. If you could (forgive me I can’t remember the exact terminology) balance the startup of the motor, you would save money in the long run on your electric bill. I asked why there isn’t a balancing device built in. He said it comes down to cost.

He passed in 2019. I have so many questions now. I almost became an electrician. I missed the apprenticeship by one year. They never offered it again at GM.

THANKS! I enjoyed the lesson.