The earth pin is long so that the earth connection is made first. This ensures the safety of the user because if the appliance is defective, the fuse will blow off. The earth pin is made thicker so that even by mistake it cannot be inserted into the hole for the live or neutral connection of the socket.
Why is the top pin on a plug longer?
Why it is Longer? The earth pin should be the first to connect and the last to disconnect with electric supply. This is why earth pin is longer than the live and neutral pin on 3-pin plugins.
Why earth pin is longer and broader?
Generally the ground pin is a bit longer and can carry more current than the other pins because it’s more important in case of a failure of insulation in the device for the ground connection to remain connected long enough for the fuse or circuit breaker to open the circuit.
What is the longest pin of a three pin plug?
One of the pins in a three-pin plug is longer and thicker than the other pins for the following reasons: To make contact with the earth point in the power socket before the line and neutral while inserting the plug.
Why is the neutral wire thicker?
The neutral wire should be thicker than phase wire when no. of loads uses a common neutral. Generally, in house wiring purpose a common neutral wire is used for all loads, in this case, the neutral should be thicker because the neutral wire carrying more current than phase currents.
Why do some 3 pin plugs have a plastic pin?
Half of the live and neutral pins are insulated with plastic, so that a plug partially inserted into a socket does not become a shock risk. If someone put their fingers behind the plug and the pins were not insulated, they would receive an electric shock.
Why the dimensions of all sockets are not same in an electric three pin socket?
The smaller pins on the plug, the live and neutral pins can go into the larger hole, but the larger pin will never go into a smaller hole and any live wire cannot be connected to the body of the equipment.
What is difference between neutral and earth?
Neutral has no current at all. The major difference between the two is that earthing provides you with a grounding point, that idle the current moves into the earth while the neutral provides you with a returning point for the flow of electricity, that is the electricity wire just returns back. 3.
Why is the earth wire thick?
The pin connected to the earth wire is thicker and longer than the pins connected to neutral and live wires in a plug, because The earth pin is longer so that the appliance is first earthed. The earth pin is thicker, so, that even by mistake it cannot enter into the live hole of the socket.
Why the third pin of a three pin plug should not be removed?
The third prong on an electrical cord is the ground plug.If one of these wires breaks or becomes dislodged, the electrical current won’t flow correctly though the device. At best, this ruins your device. At worst, the misdirected current could give a nasty and potentially lethal shock.
Why is the ground prong longer than the other two in a plug?
The ground pin is longer so when you insert the plug, the earth connection is made to the equipment first. It is longer than the other two pins so that when you plug it the connection is earthed before any live connections are made.
Why neutral is smaller than phase?
Because neutral will carry only leakage or unbalance current of three phase. Unbalance neutral current constitutes very small percentage of phase wire. So to reduce cost, size of neutral wire is reduced.
Does the neutral need to be the same size?
Part (c). The grounded neutral conductor of a 4-wire, 3-phase system supplying nonlinear loads must be the same size as the ungrounded phase conductors. The Code considers the grounded neutral conductor a current-carrying conductor due to the harmonic currents generated by these loads.
Can the neutral wire be smaller?
It is possible to downsize a feeder or service neutral according to the calculations in the National Electrical Code here: 220.61 Feeder or Service Neutral Load.
What is a 3 pin plug made of?
copper wires
The cable between the device and the three-pin plug contains three copper wires that are coated with plastic. Each part of the plug has a function.
Plugs.
| Features of a plug | Function |
|---|---|
| Neutral wire | Copper wire coated with blue plastic that also connects to the cable in the wall and completes the circuit |
Why is the ground pin plastic?
Why is the Earth pin of some 3-pin plugs made of plastic? It is provided for better safety and prevent electrocution.
Why are plugs covered in plastic?
Every mains plug in the UK seems to come with a plastic cover over the pins. This serves no detectable purpose and simply goes immediately to landfill.
Which is neutral in 3-pin plug?
The Three Pin Plug
- The LIVE wire is BROWN. This is connected to a fuse on the live pin.
- The NEUTRAL wire is BLUE. This is the route the electric current takes when it exits an appliance; it is for this reason the neutral wire has a voltage close to zero.
- The EARTH wire is GREEN & YELLOW. and connected to the earth pin.
Why 3-pin plug is safer than 2 pin plug?
Why is a 3 prong plug safer than a 2 prong plug? – Quora. With 100+ volts the third wire provides safety if it is connected to metal on the device. It provides an extra path to earth ground. The third prong gives wayward current a quicker path to ground rather than through you.
How do you check earthing in 3-pin sockets?
Insert the Negative wire in the Earthing of the Socket (Top single Hole). The Bulb must Glow with Full Brightness as before. If the Bulb does NOT Glow at all then there is NO Earthing / Grounding. If the Bulb Glows Dim, then it means the Earthing is Not Proper.
How neutral is generated?
A neutral can be produced by a transformer if the the transformer has a winding that is center tapped…. Similar to a center-tapped transformer used in a DC full-wave rectifier circuit.. The center tap is used as the return path to ground of the DC power supply..
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