Re: leviton vizia RF switches (Z-wave)

["Robert L Bass" <no-sales-spam@bassburglaralarms>]

>> If the neutral opens any unbalanced load
>> goes directly to the ground which might
>> not be of sufficient gauge to handle it.
>> This could lead to overheating and possibly
>> fire.
>
> That's not quite true Bob...

You're right.  I wasn't thinking right.

> ... I'm not sure whether the ground does
> much more than provide an exit path for a stray lightning bolt that gets into the house wiring.

In the event there's leakage it will travel
through the grounding conductor.

> I have seen the neutral fail twice.  One was
> an undersize neutral fuse that popped in our
> apartment building, and the other was the
> neutral feed from the pole broke...

I've seen it happen when someone incorrectly
connected the neutral wire in a lighting
system.  The result was several blown, high
current bulbs.  I've also seen an electrician
accidentally opening a shared neutral.

> In both cases the voltage divided very unequally
> across the two phases, and some electrical
> devices were damaged.

Same here.

> Please note that I am not advocating unbalanced
> loads.  If you take a careful look at X10 and
> non-X10 loads in an average house, reapportioning the circuits so that all X10 loads are on the same
> phase may not cause any significant unbalance.
> It could actually be better than the electrician did in the first place.

This will vary from house to house.  No two are the
same, even among identically built homes because
people connect different loads to different outlets.
Balancing loads requires some thought and some
understanding, not only of stated ratings on various
fixtures and appliances but also of their usage.
For example, some lights are almost always on
when the family is home and awake.  Others are on
only occasionally.  The same applies to appliances.
Although I'm a strong advocate of DIY, unless the
homeowner is technically knowledgeable, I prefer
to have an electrician manage the breaker panel.

--

Regards,
Robert L Bass

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