On Monday 03 May 2004 23:14, Don Maslin wrote:
  On Mon, 3 May 2004, Patrick Finnegan wrote:
  On Monday 03 May 2004 22:14, Tony Duell wrote:
   208 is
really a 240 volt 3 phase system measured in a star 
 Is it? I'd assumed it was 120V neutral-phase, which is then 208V
 phase-phase. 
 
 Tony is right here.  At least in Indiana, Illinois, and the Code
 Book, 208 three-phase is a "Y" setup with 120V from each phase to
 neutral, and 208V from phase to phase.  240V three-phase is a delta
 setup, with the neutral half-tapped between two phases, giving 240V
 phase-to-phase, 
 Wait a minute!  By definition, a delta configuration can have no
 neutral.  Else it is no longer delta.
                                                - don 
When a neutral is put on a delta, it's wired like:
     A
    / \
   /   \
  B--N--C
At least, that's what I've learned from reading NEC code books.
By contrast, a wye aka Y/star is wired like:
  A     B
   \   /
    \ /
     N
     |
     |
     C
I guess you could also call that a "flux capacitor" arrangement. :)
You can also put the ground one of the three delta phases, and end up
with this:
      A
     / \
    /   \
  B/N----C
I've only heard of that arrangement before, I haven't actually seen it.
In general, though, it seems intuitive to me that you'd want to connect
some part of the secondary to ground, and avoid a floating secondary,
as you might run into "problems" if your 12kV(ish) primary becomes
coupled to the secondary, and there isn't a ground path to trip a
circuit breaker.
There's few things more dangerous than having your 208V line at
12kV+-208V (AC RMS) to ground when you're not expecting it.
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