240-120 Split Phase Service

245

07:35:22

This circuit represents a typical North American residential service.  The two transformers shown represent a single transformer with a single primary winding and a center-tapped secondary winding.  The two 100 ohm resistors represent typical 120V loads such as a lamp or TV.  The 200 ohm resistor represents a 240V load such as an electric dryer or oven.  Try changing the value of one of the 120V loads.  This causes the two "legs" to become unbalanced, which in turn causes a current to flow in the neutral line, represented by the Amperemeter.  (NOTE: In reality, 240V or 120V are RMS values, which means the peak voltages are higher than shown here.  RMS values are used for easier comprehension.)

published 8 years ago

BillyT

8 years ago

Fair enough, just remember that the service supply transformer won't pull down like this.

GuyHardy

7 years ago

Very good. Normally everything is not balanced, so current will be flowing on the neutral. Another common residential service is 120/208V. Current is ALWAYS flowing on that service.

GuyHardy

7 years ago

The comment before is that the high side would not pull as much current as it is showing. You have to put some resistors on the high side like 0.01 on high and low.

add comment in editor

EveryCircuit is an easy to use, highly interactive circuit simulator and schematic capture tool. Real-time circuit simulation, interactivity, and dynamic visualization make it a must have application for professionals and academia. EveryCircuit user community has collaboratively created the largest searchable library of circuit designs. EveryCircuit app runs online in popular browsers and on mobile phones and tablets, enabling you to capture design ideas and learn electronics on the go.