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A receptacle with a bootleg ground. In building wiring installed with separate neutral and protective ground bonding conductors (a TN-S network), a bootleg ground (or a false ground) is a connection between the neutral side of a receptacle or light fixture and the ground lug or enclosure of the wiring device. [1]: 287
Even worse, if the ground screw of the receptacle is connected to the neutral side, electric shock is possible even when the appliance is properly functioning. This is called a "false" or "bootleg" ground and is a serious safety hazard [ 10 ] : 49 often undetected by common receptacle testers .
The neutral wire is identified by gray or white insulated wire, perhaps using stripes or markings. With lamp cord wire the ribbed wire is the neutral, and the smooth wire is the hot. NEC 2008 400.22(f) allows surface marking with ridged, grooves or white stripes on the surface of lamp cord.
The ground potential at different outlets may differ by as much as 10 to 20 volts [4] due to voltage drops from these currents. The diagram shows leakage current from an appliance such as an electric motor A flowing through the building's ground system G to the neutral wire at the utility ground bonding point at the service panel.
The ground pin is round, like those on straight-blade NEMA grounding devices. Referring to the picture, the orientation is the same as the NEMA 5 plug and receptacle, with the neutral blade on the lower right. Adapters are available with the TT-30P plug on one side and a 5-15R or 5-20R receptacle on the other side.
For electrical installations with split-phase (three-wire single-phase) service, the neutral point of the system is at the center-tap on the secondary side of the service transformer. For larger electrical installations, such as those with polyphase service, the neutral point is usually at the common connection on the secondary side of delta ...
5-20RA (Canada) or 5-20R (US) T-slot socket mounted with the earth hole up. The neutral connection is the wider T-shaped slot on the right. The NEMA 5-20 AP variant has blades perpendicular to each other. The receptacle has a T-slot for the neutral blade which accepts either 15 A parallel-blade plugs or 20 A plugs.
A circuit breaker is an electrical safety device designed to protect an electrical circuit from damage caused by current in excess of that which the equipment can safely carry (overcurrent). Its basic function is to interrupt current flow to protect equipment and to prevent fire .