Neautral wire overheating
A while back the neutral wire coming OUT of my EMS-HW30C surge protector was over heating. On 2 separate occasions I cut/cleaned the wire and secured as tight as i could in the terminal. Now the neutr...
Forum Discussion
Hard to guess at answers, but a couple of comments;
-don't assume the bus bar, or terminal block is aluminum. Most these days aren't, but are alloy or plated copper.
-clean the block, but don't get aggressive. You don't want to damage plating or create ridges
-it is hard to get good connections on wire or blocks that have overheated, because of material characteristic change. Generally recommend replacing the overheated parts.
-is your system 50 A or 30 A? If it is 50 A and the surge protector is connected incorrectly, the neutral could be carrying more current than the phase.
-I would be surprised if this problem is caused by long extension cord. That causes voltage drop and can cause connection to overheat. You may just have bad luck, but I am surprised to see two neutral connections that overheated, and no overheating in the phase.
-is there evidence of overheating in the distribution panel, or just in the surge protector?
From the pictures, it appears the phase and neutral connections are made the same way so it is surprising to see the issue only in the neutral. Is there anything else connected to the circuit and have you checked all of the incoming wiring. As I said, one bad connection I can see understand, but two on the same wire indicates higher current than expected (but doesn't negate bad workmanship).
Finally, some loads can result in harmonics that will overheat the neutral, but this occurs usually in 110/220 circuit.
Good luck
-don't assume the bus bar, or terminal block is aluminum. Most these days aren't, but are alloy or plated copper.
-clean the block, but don't get aggressive. You don't want to damage plating or create ridges
-it is hard to get good connections on wire or blocks that have overheated, because of material characteristic change. Generally recommend replacing the overheated parts.
-is your system 50 A or 30 A? If it is 50 A and the surge protector is connected incorrectly, the neutral could be carrying more current than the phase.
-I would be surprised if this problem is caused by long extension cord. That causes voltage drop and can cause connection to overheat. You may just have bad luck, but I am surprised to see two neutral connections that overheated, and no overheating in the phase.
-is there evidence of overheating in the distribution panel, or just in the surge protector?
From the pictures, it appears the phase and neutral connections are made the same way so it is surprising to see the issue only in the neutral. Is there anything else connected to the circuit and have you checked all of the incoming wiring. As I said, one bad connection I can see understand, but two on the same wire indicates higher current than expected (but doesn't negate bad workmanship).
Finally, some loads can result in harmonics that will overheat the neutral, but this occurs usually in 110/220 circuit.
Good luck
