OT: american vs european 220 - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

1 Feb 2011

...
  Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2011 12:22:11 +0100 (CET)
 From: Christian Corti <cc at informatik.uni-stuttgart.de>
 Subject: Re: OT: american vs european 220
 To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts"
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 On Mon, 31 Jan 2011, Tony Duell wrote:
  Taht wouldn't work in Europe (since the 2
sides of the 230V mains are not
 balanced about ground), and anyway AFAIK making the protecive ground wire
 carry any current under normal conditions is totally forbidden. 
 In new installations, maybe. But many older houses have just that, they
 use the neutral wire as protective ground (called "klassische Nullung" or
 TN-C system as opposed to a TN-C-S system, see
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthing_system)

 Christian
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And in some places they still have the single wire distribution systems 
where the 'real' earth/ground is the return:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-wire_earth_return