OT. John T.or Other Electrician

60 acre hillside · Dec 9, 2012

I was a sheetmetal worker and occasionally installed gas furnaces. I know not to put switches on the neutral wire. I had to replace a thermostat transformer on a gas furnace after it had been turned off with a toggle switch for several months,. During these summer months there had been a lot of lightning. In replacing the transformer I discovered that the toggle switch was on the neutral wire. I have wondered if the improper wiring contributed to the lightning ruining the transformer.

Geo-TH,In · Dec 9, 2012

Lightning usually causes the 24v transformer to go bad and some just go bad. If the switch was off, I would say it just went bad.

Keep a spare on the shelf. They usually go bad on a weekends, on holidays or very late at night.

Greg K · Dec 9, 2012

Paul from MI · Dec 9, 2012

Switching in the neutral probably didn't cause the transformer to go bad, but it sure could have caused your heart to go bad before you found it. A perfect example of why you never switch in a neutral.

Walt Davies · Dec 9, 2012

Think about this lighting can jump several miles across just air in the sky it can totally destroy a tree. How much would it take to jump across a small space in your wiring. Lightning hit my grandparent transformer in the forties it destroyed everything in the house.

John T · Dec 9, 2012

I sorta doubt thats what trashed the transformer. The reasons for NOT switching the Neutral in 120/240 grounded residential circuits have more to do with convention, safety and return current paths so breakers operate. Many of those types of transformers are isolation transformers and many are just 2 wire maybe 24 volts etc. Sure it even has a true Neutral???

Hard to say sittin here but still a good question for thought

John T

OT. John T.or Other Electrician

60 acre hillside

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Geo-TH,In

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Greg K

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Paul from MI

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Walt Davies

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John T

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