Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/179253
SERVICE & SET-UP This Could Be Very Shocking!! BY GEORGE PORTER Obviously we are talking about electricity here; nothing else shocks most people anymore. So what is electricity? First you have to know what an atom is. An atom is the smallest part of something. Everything is made up of atoms. Atoms are made up of three parts. There are: Protons These parts of an atom have a positive charge. They are in the middle of the atom, called the nucleus and they do not move. Neutrons These parts of an atom have no charge. They are neutral and part of the nucleus of an atom with the protons. Electrons These parts of the atom are very small and weigh a lot less than the protons and neutrons. Electrons are not part of the nucleus of the atom, instead they move around in orbits outside the nucleus. Electrons are the only part of an atom that moves. So what does this have to do with electricity? Electricity is the flow of moving electrons. To understand why electrons flow you need to understand that atoms can lose electrons by rubbing against another material. Think about when you rub your head against a balloon. Believe it or not, your hair is actually getting some electrons from the balloon. Because your hair has more electrons then protons, we say it is negatively charged. But, what about the balloon? Well the balloon has more protons than electrons so it is positively charged. Just like magnets the positive and the negative attract each other and two of the same repel each other. Electricity flows from positive to negative. Some compounds are composed of very stable atoms that hang on to their electrons tightly. They don't flow and these compounds are known as insulators. Some release the electrons on the outer shell of the atoms easily and these are known as conductors. So this is the "detail" side of electricity and goodness knows there is a whole lot more but this is enough for me and I imagine you too. OCTOBER 2013 14 THE JOURNAL It is good to know some of this stuff but what we really need to know are things like what color wire goes on which screw on an outlet. And it does matter. The National Electric Code is a really big book of rules for wiring up anything from a skyscraper to an outhouse. One of the rules for our homes is that we need a four wire system. Because we have a steel frame we need to have an extra ground for it. We have in our homes one wire that is the green ground for the electrical system and a bare copper wire for all the metal parts. When installing a multi-section home there is a wire that goes from one frame to the other under the home. It is mandatory that this wire be properly connected so all the frames become grounded. If you are replacing an outlet remember the phrase "B to B". This means that the Black wire goes to the Brass screw. The green wire is always the ground, and the white is for the silver screw. You can mess this up by switching the white and black; but you will be reversing the polarity and could cause small bits of electricity to produce little electric shocks off of metal parts of the home or appliances. One big exception to the "small effects" of reversed polarity is a light socket for a light bulb. When the wiring is wrong the light still lights the same so what is the big deal? The problem is safety. If you look inside of a light bulb socket you see a metal piece in the bottom of the socket and a threaded metal collar on the sides that is used for screwing in the light bulb. Normally when the wiring is correct the little button at the bottom is the hot spot and the threaded part is neutral. Reverse the wires and it is the other way around and it is easy to touch the edge of the threaded part or even the metal base of the light bulb when you are screwing it in. That is when you will learn all about traveling electrons! In a worst case scenario you may learn something; but it may not be useful to you very long. You may have heard that electricity follows the path of least resistance well… that is not quite true. It follows all paths and the best conductor gets the most of it. As little as 1/5 of an amp can be fatal and a house circuit usually has a minimum of 15 amps before the breaker pops. You could be toast. If you really want to do something stupid put the hot wire to the ground screw. Now you have 110 volts going to the frame of the home. If the breaker didn't pop for some reason as soon as you did this you will easily kill somebody when they lay on the damp ground and touch the frame. As installers I certainly we have more sense than to do something like this. But….sometimes we have to work on a used home that the homeowner has been "maintaining" all by himself. Be afraid! Be very afraid!! Even better, be very cautious. You need a few cheap tools. $15 will buy it all. One is a circuit tester and the other is a voltage detector. The circuit tester is a little plastic thing with an electric plug on the end and three little lights. It will tell you all about the circuit polarity, grounding and even test the GFI if it has the extra button on it. You need one so you know something about what you are working on. The second item is the voltage detector. It looks like a sort of ballpoint pen and when it touches something and detects voltage it lights up and makes a buzz. Before you go under any home pull this device out of you shirt pocket; turn it on and touch the frame. If it lights up, immediately withdraw your hand and kiss the thing. It just paid for itself. More shocking news next month. T J George Porter is a consultant to the manufactured housing industry. His Company is Manufactured Housing Resources, P.O. Box 863, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971, (302) 645 5552, Web: www.georgeporter.com Some of his services are both in person and On-line training for certification in many states plus expert witness and investigation for the industry.