Electrical theory question...
Let's take as an example 50AMP RV service. A voltmeter between the two hots shows 240 volts, between one leg (or the other) and neutral shows 120 volts. My question concerns what happens when each...
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red31 wrote:
So one uses power from just one leg of the transformer, there is potential on the other leg but no power is being use so none is created/transformed into that leg?
There are three wires in a 50 amp RV wiring scheme (not counting the ground). The three wires are L1, L2, and neutral. Voltage measurement from L1 to neutral should be around 120 vac. Voltage measurement from L2 to neutral should be around 120 vac. Voltage measurement from L1 to L2 should be around 240 vac.
Both 120 vac sources (L1 and L2) are available to supply power to electrical devices in the RV. Typically the manufacturer attempts to balance the loads in the RV so as to draw power from both L1 and L2 evenly.
As has been explained, any imbalance between the load on L1 and the load on L2 is returned through the neutral. In a situation where L1 and L2 loads are "perfectly" balanced, there will be no neutral current.
The vast majority of RVs do not use the 240 vac connection, but some high end RVs can and do use the 240 vac.
