Just zapped myself (electrical wiring help)

[mimic]

I don't feel like looking for some electrical forum and going through signing on process. I know many of you are highly knowledgeable in electrical wiring and maybe can help me.

I am replacing a ceiling lamp. The previous one had 3 wires 1 ground and 2 not polarized straight copper wires in clear sleeves.

One was connected to 2 white wires twisted together, the other to the single blue one and ground wire to the frame.

I assumed blue is hot and whites are just neutral. Grabbed some tester and touched the blue and white with switch off and the tester remained off. Imagine my surprise when I touched the white ones alone, just to get zapped!!!! WTF!!!!!!?

In the process of me screaming like a a girl I managed to untwist them and the kitchen lights went off!! So they need to stay twisted I can only twist another wire to it.

I started testing again and it turns out one of the 2 twisted white wires is hot at all times!! (or so it seems)

The blue becomes hot when switch is on.

How do I wire this to the lamp that has white/black wires? Instruction calls to connect black to hot

There is also a pair of red wires sticking out, but they were not wired to anything so I'm not touching them.


EDIT: Wired White to white (I decided it's a return from the kitchen light) and Black to Blue. It seem to work ok.

[jennifer]

Jennifer laughed so hard, I almost choked on my muffin,  ...If I am reading that right, My guess is that other white neutral wire is going to another live circuit,  as a pass through to most likely the other lights in the room.

[PL1]

First and foremost, assume that the guy who wired it last time did it wrong and/or used non-standard wire colors.   

Second, where are you located?
- Different countries have different standard colors.
- The wire colors you mention don't seem to match standard colors.

Third, is this ceiling light wired with "3-way" switches? (two switches, flipping either switch will toggle the light on/off)
- Red wires are often used in AC circuits as "traveller" wires.





Fourth, figure out where and how all the wires are connected and diagram the connections.
- The extra unused red wires may have been used for a ceiling fan.

Fifth, pull the circuit breaker when you're connecting/disconnecting wires so you don't do the herky-jerky again.   


Scott

[DaOld Man]

If it is America, and if the light only has one switch.
The white wire going down to the switch will be tied to the hot wires in the ceiling box.
The black wire coming back up from the switch will tie to the hot wire on the lamp (black or in your case blue).
The white wire on the lamp will tie to the other neutrals (whites) in the ceiling box.

The white in the switch box will be hot. This is commonly refereed to as "switch leg" or "switch loop".
It is so a black wire goes back to lamp. (Cant have two whites feeding the lamp.)

Got any pics? Maybe point out the white wire that shocked you?

Retired electrician with over 40 years under my belt.

Here is a crappy drawing I found on the web, maybe it will help.
Also note that if you remove the neutrals (white) wirenut, the load going out will come back on the white you lifted, making that white wire hot. (If the load going out is turned on somewhere).

It is best to kill all the power on a circuit before working on it.

Just a note for future reference. You said the old lamp had copper in clear plastic sleeves. I call this lamp cord. Anyway that cord is polarized. if you look on the plastic housing, one conductor sleeve will have lines in it. This is the neutral. In a few very rare cases, i have found one of the wires is copper colored and the other is silver or nickel colored. In this case, the nickel color is neutral.

[Ropi Jo]

Qualified electrician here, from England (we are called 'sparkies' here). Our colours are different to yours, and so are our installation methods from what I read here. Wires twisted together? What's all that about?

My advice... follow the guidance of qualified bods only, who know your local electrical practices. DaOldMan sounds like he knows what he's talking about.

[jennifer]

D/Oman does know, and thats why the shock, But whats more concerning, wires NOT twisted together?, Thats actually how it is done over here... I am only guessing but being from England, one set of wire @ 220 is the norm?, (wouldn't that waste a lot of wire as compared  to just twisting them together) Another curious question (not related to this mishap) but equipment designed for 3phase, would that then be @ 440 beings how the phase cycle is only at 50?. .Or is it a three wire system still at the 220?, and wouldnt that spin a motor slower than  1720 a min? (Without a pully change)..  If this is true whould that then not just be running faster, with less work energy?...Just curious.

[Titchgamer]

D/Oman does know, and thats why the shock, But whats more concerning, wires NOT twisted together?, Thats actually how it is done over here... I am only guessing but being from England, one set of wire @ 220 is the norm?, (wouldn't that waste a lot of wire as compared  to just twisting them together) Another curious question (not related to this mishap) but equipment designed for 3phase, would that then be @ 440 beings how the phase cycle is only at 50?. .Or is it a three wire system still at the 220?, and wouldnt that spin a motor slower than  1720 a min? (Without a pully change)..  If this is true whould that then not just be running faster, with less work energy?...Just curious.

No wire twisting of solid conductors here, puts to much strain on them makes them liable to break off.
Not sure what you mean about the wasteing wire part though?

Our native 3 phase is 415v phase to phase with 240v live to neutral.

As for the motor thing thats a pretty complex subject but the short version is it entirely depends how the motor is controlled and what its speced at.

As for the OP, Sorry cant really help you out, As Ropi has already mentioned out installation methods are totally different to yours in the US.

[jennifer]

The wasting wire, would be the running 2 complete sets as opposed to just hooking them together, But I get what you are saying, always been curious about the differences...Well Mimic, it could have been worse, aparently if you lived in England, that ZAP would have been 220, not 110, That much voltage may have blown you off the ladder too...Sorry for laughing at your misfortune friend.😁

[pbj]

I’ve been shocked so many times I could probably identify the voltages without a voltmeter.

[jennifer]

I know right?... Working  on faulty equipment will do that, I got a thinner still out back that will randomly grab you, and you are like stuck to it and can't pull your hand away. Old slots are bad for randomness too...The worst I would say however, would be a toss up between large filter caps, or a bad monitor, The latter actually shot a lightning bolt though this Princess (twice may I add) and blew a gold filling out of my tooth, I never really got over the fear of that horrible day.

[Vocalitus]

I still test batteries with my tongue.

[bobbyb13]

Getting hit with a loaded neutral sucks (hurts worse than getting shocked by a regular ungrounded/powered conductor)- and it means something is wrong in the way that circuit is wired.

I would look in the wall switch box that operates that thing for the issue myself.

There is power trying to return through that grounded conductor (white/neutral/return/whatever else anyone wants to call it) through something else that is currently (pardon the pun!) asking for power.

Fans have a black and a blue in case you would like to run the fan and light separately from the wall switch location (both of those are ungrounded conductors.)

Da Old Man is absolutely correct.  Kill the power before you work on a circuit- and verify there is no EMF in the box you are working in before you stick your fingers (or tools) in it.

If there is still power in that ceiling box after you shut off THAT breaker than you need to turn ON all other switches in the switch bank in question and keep turning off breakers until everything there is completely dead.

If you see a red wire in that switch box than reply to this with a picture of what you find if you are still having problems.

If you are lucky it is probably made up wrong in the switch box.

Bobby

[Howard_Casto]

I’ve been shocked so many times I could probably identify the voltages without a voltmeter.

Si... Si... Six............Si Sixty Si Si.....  Sixty Six times.... in the head!!!

[Titchgamer]

The wasting wire, would be the running 2 complete sets as opposed to just hooking them together, But I get what you are saying, always been curious about the differences...Well Mimic, it could have been worse, aparently if you lived in England, that ZAP would have been 220, not 110, That much voltage may have blown you off the ladder too...Sorry for laughing at your misfortune friend.😁

Do you mean separate wires going from/to the same location?
If so most of our domestic wiring is done in twin and earth cable where the Live, Neutral and earth conductor are contained within a single cable.
Its actually a flat cable with no insulation on the earth wire (we stick that on during installation).
We also use 3 core and earth for lighting circuits which is the same thing but with 3 insulated wires instead of 2 :p

As for the Voltage difference we have a very different safety system to you guys.

I could be wrong here so please correct if I am but I believe your supply is centre tapped so you have 110v over 2 phases is that correct? 55v phase to earth/ground whatever you call it?

Anyways our supply is as mentioned 240b live to neutral but we rely on very high currents to operate our breakers in a timely manner to prevent injury or damage to stuff.

For instance a direct short over here could produce several thousand amps but has to operate the protection device in less than half a second.
We also have RCD’s etc which detect current differences going down the lines which are for protecting people as opposed to the circuits but I assume you guys use them to?

[DaOld Man]

Thanks for the info on European wiring titchgamer!
Believe it or not, I have worked on some machines made in Germany, Netherlands, and Switzerland. Though most use our standard of wiring I guess to accommodate us, I have worked on some using the 220 volt layout like you describe.
Our system in US normally has 3 wires coming into a home from the electric pole or transformer. (Im not talking 3 phase).
Factories use 3 phase, whereas there are three hot wires and a ground (or earth).
Anyway, back to home usage, we have two "hots" and one "neutral" coming into the house.
One hot wire is 120 volts to neutral, Other hot wire is 120 volts to neutral, and we get 240 volts between the two hot wires.
Our neutral is tied to ground by either attaching it to a metal water pipe (not as common as years back), or a ground rod, 8 feet long and driven into the earth.
So hence, hot to ground neutral to ground.
Our appliances are mostly 120 volts, some are 240.
we run a hot, neutral, and a ground to each 120 V appliance or outlet.
The hot and neutral carry the current. The ground does not unless there is a fault. Ground is connected to metal frame of the appliance.
Why do we do this? When a loose connection in a current carrying wire occurs, the loose connection will get hot. The connection will eventually open, and if you are using the neutral for the ground, then you are now making the frame of the appliance hot. The ground doesnt normally carry current, so you dont have that worry.
We run two hots and a ground to 240 volt appliances. Again ground does not normally carry current.
If the appliance uses both 240 and 120, we must run 2 hots, a neutral, and a ground. (Clothes dryer, which in latter years we were allowed to use the ground for a neutral, so my dryer outlet has only 3 prongs.)
And our normal colors to identify neutral are white, and ground is green or bare. I think your color for neutral (or common) is blue, and ground is green or yellow with green stripe.
Anyway, sorry for the rambling.
And as far as 220 being more dangerous than 120, some electricians will argue that the 220 will knock you away faster. Ive been shocked by both and cant tell any difference LOL
Jennifer, if you have a tool that is shocking you will you touch it, make sure the ground prong is not cut off on the plug and that the outlet is grounded.
All else fails, attach a wire to the metal or case and run it to a know grounded thing such as a metal water pipe that runs a good distance in the ground.
Here is a diagram of how our homes use 120/240 from the electric company's transformer, usually on a pole.
The neutral is attached to a ground rod at the pole, then again at the entrance into the home.

[Robbbert]

So many differences between countries. Here in Australia the active and neutral come from the power grid which is common to a neighbourhood (no individual transformers). The neutral is earthed in each house's meter box, to make the M.E.N. (multiple-earthed-neutral) system. This ensures that each house has the correct 240 volts with respect to earth, to counter drift due to the resistance of long supply wires.

Please turn off the power (fuse or circuit-breaker) before touching your house wiring. 110 volts might make you dance a little, but 240 can throw you to the ground or even kill. Be sensible.

As for wiring colours, we used to have red for active, black for neutral and green for ground. Then they changed it to brown, blue, and green with a yellow stripe.

[Titchgamer]

Thanks for the info on European wiring titchgamer!
Believe it or not, I have worked on some machines made in Germany, Netherlands, and Switzerland. Though most use our standard of wiring I guess to accommodate us, I have worked on some using the 220 volt layout like you describe.
Our system in US normally has 3 wires coming into a home from the electric pole or transformer. (Im not talking 3 phase).
Factories use 3 phase, whereas there are three hot wires and a ground (or earth).
Anyway, back to home usage, we have two "hots" and one "neutral" coming into the house.
One hot wire is 120 volts to neutral, Other hot wire is 120 volts to neutral, and we get 240 volts between the two hot wires.
Our neutral is tied to ground by either attaching it to a metal water pipe (not as common as years back), or a ground rod, 8 feet long and driven into the earth.
So hence, hot to ground neutral to ground.
Our appliances are mostly 120 volts, some are 240.
we run a hot, neutral, and a ground to each 120 V appliance or outlet.
The hot and neutral carry the current. The ground does not unless there is a fault. Ground is connected to metal frame of the appliance.
Why do we do this? When a loose connection in a current carrying wire occurs, the loose connection will get hot. The connection will eventually open, and if you are using the neutral for the ground, then you are now making the frame of the appliance hot. The ground doesnt normally carry current, so you dont have that worry.
We run two hots and a ground to 240 volt appliances. Again ground does not normally carry current.
If the appliance uses both 240 and 120, we must run 2 hots, a neutral, and a ground. (Clothes dryer, which in latter years we were allowed to use the ground for a neutral, so my dryer outlet has only 3 prongs.)
And our normal colors to identify neutral are white, and ground is green or bare. I think your color for neutral (or common) is blue, and ground is green or yellow with green stripe.
Anyway, sorry for the rambling.
And as far as 220 being more dangerous than 120, some electricians will argue that the 220 will knock you away faster. Ive been shocked by both and cant tell any difference LOL
Jennifer, if you have a tool that is shocking you will you touch it, make sure the ground prong is not cut off on the plug and that the outlet is grounded.
All else fails, attach a wire to the metal or case and run it to a know grounded thing such as a metal water pipe that runs a good distance in the ground.
Here is a diagram of how our homes use 120/240 from the electric company's transformer, usually on a pole.
The neutral is attached to a ground rod at the pole, then again at the entrance into the home.

Ahh so you are actually 240v centre tapped.
I got that bit right then just the wrong voltages lol

I am suprised to hear you have appliances that are both 240v and 120v thats quite mind boggling to me haha.

Thanks for the info though, Its interesting to know how other countries work in that respect.

I believe you guys call 3 phase poly-phase over there?

I have worked on lots of European and Japanese equipment but never American.

Thats mostly because I have worked for 2 different Japanese companies though.

They have different voltages again, They use 200v 3 phase for industrial equipment.

Always had to be very careful at the first place I worked as we had both 415v and 200v distribution systems!
Then we had other stuff that was neither and had to be run from local transformers lol.

Although as evidenced by this thread domestic wiring has the potential to be just as confusing!! 

[Titchgamer]

So many differences between countries. Here in Australia the active and neutral come from the power grid which is common to a neighbourhood (no individual transformers). The neutral is earthed in each house's meter box, to make the M.E.N. (multiple-earthed-neutral) system. This ensures that each house has the correct 240 volts with respect to earth, to counter drift due to the resistance of long supply wires.

Please turn off the power (fuse or circuit-breaker) before touching your house wiring. 110 volts might make you dance a little, but 240 can throw you to the ground or even kill. Be sensible.

As for wiring colours, we used to have red for active, black for neutral and green for ground. Then they changed it to brown, blue, and green with a yellow stripe.

We use the same system for the most part except we call it PME (protective multiple earths).
Its also called TN-C-S but that leads down a whole other patch of discussion in relation to TT and TN-S systems which is largely irrelevant lol

[DaOld Man]

As far as industrial, we have 3 phase Y and 3 phase Delta. (I think its called poly phased too, but I never heard that phrase much.)

Some appliances that require both 240 and 120 are such things as clothes dryers (heat element is 240, motor is 120), and some stoves (eyes are 120 and oven 240, however these oven setups like that have become non existent. Most stoves are all 240 parts.)

Our hots coming in are fused in the panel (breaker or old houses may still have dual "main " fuses.)
The panel splits the hots into two busses, so that each branch comes off one buss for 120 volts, or two busses for 240.
The neutral has a buss set aside for neutrals and another for grounds. Ground buss is attached to the metal frame or can of the breaker panel. The ground wire from the ground rod attaches to the ground bus, as do all the branch circuit ground wires.
In the first breaker panel, the neutral buss attaches to the ground buss. (Usually a green screw you put in the buss that bonds it to the frame of the panel.
Some older panels have only a neutral buss and all branch neutrals and grounds attach to it, as does the ground rod and the frame of the panel.
If you have a shed or out building or garage with a breaker panel installed in it, code calls for the ground and neutral buss to be separate in that panel. (At least my local code requires it.
So you have to run 4 wires to the shed, unless it only has 120 volts, then 3 wires.
My shed has a 55 amp 8 circuit breaker panel in it. I ran 4 wires underground to the house and tied to a 50 amp breaker in the main panel. I also drove a ground rod at the shed and attached it to the ground buss in the shed panel. My shed has metal siding, so i also grounded it at one point.
Grounding is very important, not just for safety from shocks, but also to supply a good path for lightning to get to ground.
I grew up in the 60's. When a lightning storm would come up mom would tell us to go pull the main fuses on the fuse box cause lightning may run in and set the house on fire. 
We didnt know then, but I later learned in life that the lightning comes in on the ground wire, and pulling the mains does not open the neutral wire coming in, so that precaution Mom would have us do was pretty much pointless.

Side note: Anyone like to know how a GFCI breaker or outlet works? Or have I rambled enough?

[Titchgamer]

As far as industrial, we have 3 phase Y and 3 phase Delta. (I think its called poly phased too, but I never heard that phrase much.)

Some appliances that require both 240 and 120 are such things as clothes dryers (heat element is 240, motor is 120), and some stoves (eyes are 120 and oven 240, however these oven setups like that have become non existent. Most stoves are all 240 parts.)

Our hots coming in are fused in the panel (breaker or old houses may still have dual "main " fuses.)
The panel splits the hots into two busses, so that each branch comes off one buss for 120 volts, or two busses for 240.
The neutral has a buss set aside for neutrals and another for grounds. Ground buss is attached to the metal frame or can of the breaker panel. The ground wire from the ground rod attaches to the ground bus, as do all the branch circuit ground wires.
In the first breaker panel, the neutral buss attaches to the ground buss. (Usually a green screw you put in the buss that bonds it to the frame of the panel.
Some older panels have only a neutral buss and all branch neutrals and grounds attach to it, as does the ground rod and the frame of the panel.
If you have a shed or out building or garage with a breaker panel installed in it, code calls for the ground and neutral buss to be separate in that panel. (At least my local code requires it.
So you have to run 4 wires to the shed, unless it only has 120 volts, then 3 wires.
My shed has a 55 amp 8 circuit breaker panel in it. I ran 4 wires underground to the house and tied to a 50 amp breaker in the main panel. I also drove a ground rod at the shed and attached it to the ground buss in the shed panel. My shed has metal siding, so i also grounded it at one point.
Grounding is very important, not just for safety from shocks, but also to supply a good path for lightning to get to ground.
I grew up in the 60's. When a lightning storm would come up mom would tell us to go pull the main fuses on the fuse box cause lightning may run in and set the house on fire. 
We didnt know then, but I later learned in life that the lightning comes in on the ground wire, and pulling the mains does not open the neutral wire coming in, so that precaution Mom would have us do was pretty much pointless.

Side note: Anyone like to know how a GFCI breaker or outlet works? Or have I rambled enough?

GFCI I am guessing is your equivalent of a RCD for us?
Device that measures current going down the live/hot and returning down the Neutral looking for any earth leagage?

Poor OP his thread has been totally derailed by international sparkies lol

Sorry :p

[jennifer]

Well since we are down the rabbit hole anyway, and probably confused most of the planet by now...It should also be noted, for the new players, that 220 is actually more efficient since the voltage is higher (than 110) it actually runs the circuit with less current (moving voltage) for the same workload , saving energy since moving current is what causes your wires to heat up (heat = wasted energy), sooo long story short, you can use a smaller gauge wire than its 110 counterpart, saving money on materials too...In my house Jenn uses 3 phase machines when I can, because of not only those facts, but the machines themselves are generally considered commercial and few people buy them for home use (Less competition in buying surplus equipment) and usually can be had pretty reasonable as compared agian to its 110 equivalent...To do this,I have to rely on VFD (variable frequency drive) 3PH converters however, which creates transient voltage spikes and is really hard on motor bearings...But upside is, I then have variable speed 3PH commercial tooling in my house.😁

[DaOld Man]

Wow jennifer, you are my kind of lady! LOL
I do apologize to OP for hijacking his thread.
I still think we need an electrical sub forum on here. Thats kinda what I wanted with Automated Projects but that dont seem to garnish much interest.

[Howard_Casto]

I thought automated projects was for stuff like a rotating monitor.... you know back before lcds were cheap and people still wanted to do stuff like that. 

[DaOld Man]

I thought automated projects was for stuff like a rotating monitor.... you know back before lcds were cheap and people still wanted to do stuff like that.

Thanks Howard. I see why everyone loves you now.

[Osirus23]

I've never heard 'poly-phase' used much in the US.

This guy did a pretty good job explaining 120/240V in North America.

[Howard_Casto]

I thought automated projects was for stuff like a rotating monitor.... you know back before lcds were cheap and people still wanted to do stuff like that.

Thanks Howard. I see why everyone loves you now.

Not sure what that attitude was all about I'm being serious.  We just had to talk an old timer out of putting a lcd in a cabinet they restored. 

[nitrogen_widget]

I tried to replace a dimmer switch in my parents living room for the ceiling fan that was also on a 3-way circuit.
after hooking it up and turning it on there was the loudest hum from the switch and the breaker in the basement when I took it from off to half brightness.

I called my buddy the electrician and he reminded me that he does the AC and I do the DC.
I can't do house wiring for crap.

But I can find the fusible link for a mid-70's rear defroster using the schematic in the chiltons manual.
pretty sure it's the only reason my friends kept me around.

[Osirus23]

Dimmer switches are great at making things buzz and hum.

[jennifer]

T/gamer... After rereading your post a few times, left me with more questions than answers (will have to research A bit more in depth), However our conductors over here are like yours in a flat cable, (2 insulated with 1 bare ground) the only real difference there is it is generally a solid core wire, not stranded...like the Old guy says, rather than a center tap, the fuse panel kind of acts more as an adder through a circuit breaker (120v X 2 for the 220v), and from there througout the building 14 ga wire is used, on shorter runs, and some times 12 or 10ga.  for more current demanding circuits, or longer runs,, and like said earlier, quite common to twist the wires together in junction boxes along the way, basicly just adding to the circuit (without over loading it, but by design), and then with like dimmers/3 way switches the wiring can get quite elaborate at this point even confusing, since then the wiring is run point to point as extentions of the switch, and depending on how it was done you may even find a black wire tied to a group of whites at some point (generally not more than 4 at any 1 connection however)...As for your circuits, it doesn't sound the same, starting with the 220 inputs at assumed quite high amp, on the surface sounds like extreme potential for disaster...Just saying, be careful man.

[jennifer]

*As a disclaimer...Jenn is not an electrician However...And Yes TheoldMan, I do follow local building codes...Eventually.😈

[Titchgamer]

T/gamer... After rereading your post a few times, left me with more questions than answers (will have to research A bit more in depth), However our conductors over here are like yours in a flat cable, (2 insulated with 1 bare ground) the only real difference there is it is generally a solid core wire, not stranded...like the Old guy says, rather than a center tap, the fuse panel kind of acts more as an adder through a circuit breaker (120v X 2 for the 220v), and from there througout the building 14 ga wire is used, on shorter runs, and some times 12 or 10ga.  for more current demanding circuits, or longer runs,, and like said earlier, quite common to twist the wires together in junction boxes along the way, basicly just adding to the circuit (without over loading it, but by design), and then with like dimmers/3 way switches the wiring can get quite elaborate at this point even confusing, since then the wiring is run point to point as extentions of the switch, and depending on how it was done you may even find a black wire tied to a group of whites at some point (generally not more than 4 at any 1 connection however)...As for your circuits, it doesn't sound the same, starting with the 220 inputs at assumed quite high amp, on the surface sounds like extreme potential for disaster...Just saying, be careful man.

Well I am a electrician so have to deal with this stuff daily lol.

What question do you have specifically Jen?

Our twin and earth cable does come as solid core also but I think most people prefer stranded for ease of use.

As for the currents as I mentioned above our whole safety system is based on generating a high current to operate the protective devices quickly.

Circuit breakers and fuses are designed to protect the circuit not the user (despite common belief).
But to operate them fast you need much higher currents than what they are rated for.

For instance a 6A fuse will allow 6A to flow all day, Now people think that if you put say 10A through it that it will blow.
But thats not really the case, They will blow eventually but it will take quite a while as such a small increase takes so long to heat the fuse up sufficiently to melt.

However if it pulls say 100A it will blow instantly (as you would hope!) This prevents cables etc heating up sufficiently to do damage.

Its the same principal with circuit breakers, Theres actually graphs which plot the time taken for fuses etc to blow at certain ampages over time.

But yeah our system is designed so that in the event of a short the fault current will operate the circuit protection in fractions of a second.
But in order to do that it can pull several thousands of amps lol

[DaOld Man]

Here is an interesting video of breaker VS fuse:

[jennifer]

I dont really have any more specific questions as you have covered the bases T/gamer...But since you opened my eyes to the facts of potential differences I want to look into like building codes and such just to make sure I am not potentially missing out on a different way to skin a cat (so to speak) in other facets of electrical studies (yes I do alot of that, Lol) Like Induction, or how to safely wire a scratch built machine, for example, even small differences in comparative ways and materials might make the difference to my understanding of such...The biggest crossover problem I have to deal with is the Metric vs Imperial thing on materials, but Even that has gotten considerably easier with the online conversion charts available today...THX.😘

[Titchgamer]

I dont really have any more specific questions as you have covered the bases T/gamer...But since you opened my eyes to the facts of potential differences I want to look into like building codes and such just to make sure I am not potentially missing out on a different way to skin a cat (so to speak) in other facets of electrical studies (yes I do alot of that, Lol) Like Induction, or how to safely wire a scratch built machine, for example, even small differences in comparative ways and materials might make the difference to my understanding of such...The biggest crossover problem I have to deal with is the Metric vs Imperial thing on materials, but Even that has gotten considerably easier with the online conversion charts available today...THX.😘

Glad it helped.

I find it interesting to find out other countries do it to