Common electrical myths, misunderstandings, and bad idioms.
I'd love to see another pinned post on this sub breaking down electrical myths and common idioms that are incorrect. They all show a lack of understanding of how the things we work on every day actually work, and could potentially lead to dangerous situations if taken at face value.
I've been a member of this sub for 8 years or so and all the time I see allegedly qualified electricians spouting absolute nonsense, common electrical myths, and demonstrating an obvious deficit in understanding of basic electrical theory.
Stuff like:
Current takes the path of least resistance
No, current takes all available paths inversely proportional to their resistance.
Current goes to ground
No, current goes back to its source, it will use the ground as an additional path when available because we bond the source to ground at the source.
Its the current that kills you, not the voltage
Kind of, except the current will always be a function of your bodies resistance, the source voltage, and the nature of the fault. The voltage of the system is the primary factor in determining how dangerous a system is to touch. Basic math shows that its safer to touch a circuit that operates at 12 volts carrying 1000 amps than it is to touch a circuit operating at 600v carrying 1 amp.
When you touch a neutral your body takes the full current of the load
This one really gets me. So many electricians seem to go blind and forget that ohms law still applies regardless of the color of the wire. I've been in mutiple discussions with folks that INSIST that if a circuit is carrying 15amps and you touch that neutral or bridge the neutral in series with your hands then the load will push that same 15amps through your body regardless of the fact that your body is now a part of that circuit and brings its own resistance into the equation.
touching phase to phase is more dangerous than phase to neutral because each phase pushes current in opposite directions and they cross at your heart.
Yeah, I've genuinely had this discussion with someone IRL. It makes zero sense because if each phase pushed current in opposite directions then obviously you could never have a current flowing through a load since they'll push against each other.
What other myths and common misunderstandings do you all see?
Please feel free to start discussions. I'm happy to elaborate and discuss these topics with anyone who wants to learn.