[conspire] 1999 called, and wants its backhoe returned

[paulz at ieee.org]

Catching up on last weeks email.  Michael and Texx had tails about building wiring.
Yes, at one time it was considered proper to wire 2 out of phase legs with an under-sized neutral, aka return, wire.  In principle the currents for the two circuits should cancel each other.  
Save on copper.  It was called an Edison circuit.  As has already been said, it worked well enough until it didn't.
Some years ago, my house was experiencing problems with PG&E voltage.  Everytime the neighbors air conditioner turned on, our lights would dim.  PG&E came out and put a recording device on our line.  The weather was cool for the next week, the neighbor's AC didn't run, the recorder didn't see any problem.
Then hot weather returned.  Called PG&E.  The truck arrived well after dark.  He set about making measurements, and quickly found that the power in our house was out of balance by several volts.  If memory is correct, there was also a big difference between neutral and ground.
The power comes down the opposite side of the street.  One cable comes across to a short pole at the corner of the 2 lots.  Then separate cables to each house.  So there are some common connections between the two houses.  

About 11 PM he went back to his truck, turned on the work lights, started the cherry picker, and set about replacing the cable from the pole to our house and obviously making new connections.   Almost midnight (is that 12AM?) all was well and he drove off.
Texx: How hard did Cupertino Electric laugh at the melted buss bar? 

Paul


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