You've found the famous Dave's Garden website! Join this friendly global community that shares tips and ideas for home and gardens, along with seeds and plants!
Check out the DG homepage for a brief overview of what you'll find in this gardening mega-site.
Login
If you don't have an account yet, visit the registration page to sign up.
On multiple circuits using common ground(white wire), and the ground is split(cut at outlet) and each wired back to the replaced outlet, we find voltage sometimes as high as 200 volts.
This is a 208/120v system.
[we get 120 by using any one leg of the 208v plus ground]
We also use Grounded (green) wires in all permanent circuits.
Why do we get the higher voltage when we split the common ?
reasoning:
We do this when replacing older style outlets which allowed a single wire to wrap both conductor screws, but the newer replacement outlets do not.
Our solution is to wire nut the two ends of the cut ground(white) wire, with another short piece of white to secure under the ground(white) screw.
Usually the "hot" is the black, and the neutral is the white, and the ground is bare (or green).
To get 208/220, normally requires two black, one white, and the ground, and would be on a separate fuses or breaker with a double pole - one for each black.
There are duplex plugs that receive power from a single black, return on a single neutral, and also have a green screw for the ground. Some of these have a tab between the two recepticles (on both sides) that you can break away to allow separate circuits to control each. This could be used to put a switch in line for one, but not the other.
