Tripping caused by touching neutral and earth

[Softus]

Softus, turn it around, please!

Er, I'm not fond of speculation, but I'll give it a whirl,

If you think TT's advice is misleading or wrong, would you be so kind as to tell us all what he should have written or indeed define "low" and "high" for us?

I don't know what he should have written, because I don't know what he's trying to convey.

I can't define "low" and "high", because I don't know on what grounds he was claiming the thing that he's claiming.

All I can do is suggest the following improvement to his sentence...

Since the voltage between N & E is likely to be low, it is unlikely that a dangerous current will flow through a human body.

...which would serve the goal of accuracy, but I don't know if that's what TicklyT meant.

It would be much simpler, and quicker, if TicklyT would simply give a quantitative example of a scenario with a low voltage and a high current.

You will notice he has'nt actually contributed to this discussion because that would expose his own inadequacies

Please explain which inadequacies you believe are relevant in this context.

 

[blondini]

... an RCD/MCB will trip if you accidentally connect neutral to earth in a wall socket even with the MCB switched off...

Buns, an MCB shouldn't trip if you bridge the neutral and earth, but an RCD should.

The RCD works by detecting imbalance between the current flowing through it on live and neutral. The neutrals are connected together in the CU so if you bridge any neutral to earth, some of the current that is flowing through neutral from the live circuits will take the alternative path to earth and bypass the neutral path through the RCD. The RCD will detect the imbalance and trip.

Correct me if I'm wrong here sparks, there shouldn't be a dangerous voltage on the neutral in normal circumstances but you should always prove dead before touching.

 

[holmslaw]

..

 

[Softus]

Notice you seem to accept my statement, that your only intention was to subject TicklyT to some of your spiteful ridicule - you are pathetic.

I don't accept it, as I have no intention of ridicule. My intention is to be accurate.

You haven't attempted to explain TicklyT's vague statement, so unless you want to try, it seems that there's nothing else you and I need to say to each other on the subject, which enables you to continue with your goading and me to get on with something else.

 

[plugwash]

Although the voltage between N & E should be low, there is a possibility that the current could be high.

The current into a dead short between could certainly be pretty high. If you assume the neutral and earth have an impedance to each other of half an ohm (and it could easilly be much lower) and a voltage difference of 10V then the current into a dead short would be about 20A.

The current into the human body from a 10V difference on the other hand will be much lower, i'm having trouble finding good figures for the resistance of a human body but even taking a very pesimistic 1K that would still be only 10ma.