RE: Urgent point of inquiry re: wiring conventions.

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <couturejh-at-telocity-dot-com>


Ed -

I agree the color does not make the wiring any safer. It is the function or
purpose of the two wires that are important. The white wire is the return
current wire and also takes care of the unbalanced currents. This wire
should only be grounded at the panelboard feeding the circuit. This wire
must have insulation (white) because it can have voltages to ground during
normal operation creating a hazard.

The green wire guarantees the overcurrent device will operate correctly and
must be properly sized. It should be grounded and can have multiple grounds.
This wire does not create a hazard during normal operation because it does
not have currents thru it at this time. However, during a fault there is
current in this wire and the wire should be large enough so the overcurrent
device will operate properly. I have investigated fires that were started
because the green wire was too small and the fuse did not open the circuit
in time.

I believe the secondary coil ground wire should be a color other than white
or green because its function is more like what these colors represent
(danger).

I hesitated to send this reply but realized it would give old timers a good
laugh. Tesla coils are so dangerous that all wiring is an accident ready to
happen.

John Couture

--------------------------


-----Original Message-----
From: Tesla list [mailto:tesla-at-pupman-dot-com]
Sent: Sunday, October 14, 2001 12:53 PM
To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Re: Urgent point of inquiry re: wiring conventions.


Original poster: "Ed Phillips by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<evp-at-pacbell-dot-net>

Tesla list wrote:
>
> Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<couturejh-at-telocity-dot-com>
>
> Matt, All -
>
> The color coding for Tesla coil wiring has been mentioned before but I do
> not believe that the following questions have been clarified.
>
> 1. What are the different functions of the green ground wire and the white
> neutral wire when used with Tesla coils?
>
> 2. Which color should be used for the primary ground wire and the
secondary
> ground wire?
>
> 3. Where should the green wire and the white wire be connected together?
>
> 4. What are the safety concerns in using two separate wires that are
> grounded?
>
> John Couture

	Seems fine to me to use color conventions in the power line wiring, but
don't think it adds any safety in the coils.  They are potentially
lethal devices, and any reliance on color codes could easily result in
disaster!

Ed