ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Ever wonder about that grey mystery box lurching in the corner of your basement? The strange buzzing sound it makes, or how the heck it even works? We've drawn up some informational illustrations for you to better understand some concepts...
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Electricity flows from the local utility provider in your area and travels along the wires at approx. 7,500 volts. It then travels to a transformer which steps-down the voltage to 240v and 120v.
The electricity flows down the wire from the pole to the "riser" or "service mast" of your home and down to your meter. (Side note, the meter is owned by the local utility company, and no-one is allowed to tamper with or remove it. There are fines, and possible legal issues if you decide to pull your own meter). Everything else, aside from the overhead service wire and the meter, are considered the homeowner's property. Including the meter-base, which houses the meter.
From the meter, power travels to your main electrical panel. This is usually where the main shut-off for your house is located. All houses are different however, so we suggest you pinpoint where your main breaker is located in case of an emergency. It's either in your main panel, or located in a "disconnect" typically near or on the meter-base itself.
The panel houses breakers which protect you from the risk of fires caused by an "overloaded" circuit. I.E. too many things plugged in at once. Certain breakers also protect from "arc-fault" situations, where increased heat due to arcing or "sparking" will trip the breaker. And finally, "ground-fault" breakers (or GFCI breakers) protect your home from increased moisture levels and or water directly coming into contact with the circuit, which can cause a short circuit. Typically with you becoming the victim of the fault. It might sound callus, but these breakers aren't designed to protect people. They're designed fully to protect the wiring system of your home. If the wires are protected, you're protected.
If a breaker keeps tripping, causing a nuisance for you're workshop, or simply any time you try to run multiple things at once. Do not try to increase the size of the breaker! The breaker is rated at the maximum amount of amps the wire is designed handle, typically 20 or 15 amps. Think about it, the breaker is tripping for a reason. Something else must be the issue. It's highly recommended to call a licensed electrician at that point, we can find the problem and address the issue as needed. Increasing the breaker size might temporarily fix the problem, but will lead to an overload or fires. As a customer once told me it's "like peeing your pants to keep warm," it works for a little bit, but it's worse in the end.
Beyond the panel, circuits start to veer off as 120v or 240v circuits, which we can dive into the difference of these two later. Just keep in mind that 120v circuits are typically smaller loads such as lights or receptacles (outlets). 240v circuits are typically larger appliances such as your range (oven), dryer, water heater, or HVAC system.
The final piece of this web of wires is the grounding system. These wires are typically ran outside to "ground-rods," or your homes plumbing system. There are multiple ways we can ground a home, but the most preferred method are by installing ground-rods. Grounding is important as it serves as a back-up emergency connection that lies in wait to carry current when a fault happens.
Looking at figure 2 you'll see a standard home electrical panel. Most houses have either a 100 amp or 200 amp service, and your panel should match the service size. This limits the amount of breakers you can install. The size is typically written on the main breaker of your panel.
Electricity flows in on the two black wires which can be called the "line", "phase", or "hot" wires. Whatever electricity isn't used by the black phase conductors travels back on the white neutral wire. This neutral is essentially a ground wire which always carries some type of current on it, mostly in small amounts. The two black wires carry large amounts of electricity, up to 200 amps in certain cases.
One black wire will carry 120 volts of electricity, and the other black wire will carry another 120 volts. These wires are connected, through the main breaker, to the busbar of your electrical panel. This bar is essentially the "guts" of your panel. To utilize a circuit which only requires 120 volts of electricity, such as a simple lighting circuit, the breaker needs to make contact with just one of the black wires. In order to power a larger appliance such as a dryer, more voltage is required. Another breaker is required, which now connects to both of the black wires. 120 volts + 120 volts = 240 volts.
Voltage is not necessarily our biggest concern when dealing with circuits, though it is a factor. Voltage is essentially a measurement of "pushing" power.
Current, or Amps, I consider to be the "processing power" of the circuit. Current flow represents the actual flow of tiny electrons in the circuit. The more electrons, the more Amps, the more work that can be achieved. In an electrician's world, everything revolves around Amps. It determines the size of the wire, the breaker size, it shows us what's right and what's wrong with a circuit. We use this measurement for most interactions with your electrical system.
More to come later...