How the Earth pin is connected in the appliances: In a 3-pin plug, the wire that is connected to the ground pin of a plug is also connected to the metal body of the equipment. If any current leakage is appearing on the metal body of the equipment then, it must be discharged safely to ground.

Why do we include an earth pin in a three pin plug?

When we insert a 3-pin plugin into a 3-pin socket, the earth pin is the first to make a contact with the socket as compared to the Live and Neutral Pins. The earth pin is the last to disconnect from the socket when removing the plug from the socket. i.e. Line and Neutral disconnect first and then the earth pin.

Where should be the earth wire connected in the three pin plug?





In the 3-pin plug, the top pin is the earth or ground connection. This grounding or earthing helps any dangerous residual electricity or excess electricity from being passed.

Can I use 3 pin plug without earth wire?

When you attach an appliance with 3 unattached wires (live, neutral, earth) to a plug, what happens if you don’t attach the earth wire? The system without third wire will work fine but without any safety feature! Third wire (earth wire) is a critical part of electrical system.

Why is the earth pin kept thick in 3 pin socket?

The earth pin is long so that the earth connection is made first. This ensures the safety of the user because if the appliance is defective, the fuse will blow off. The earth pin is made thicker so that even by mistake it cannot be inserted into the hole for the live or neutral connection of the socket.

Can I use a plug without earth pin?

The earth pin activates the shutter mechanism in the socket. Without it, you won’t get the plug in.

What is difference between earthing and grounding?





The key difference between earthing and grounding is that the term “Earthing” means that the circuit is physically connected to the ground which is Zero Volt Potential to the Ground (Earth). Whereas in “Grounding” the circuit is not physically connected to ground, but its potential is zero with respect to other points.

Where does the earth wire go in a plug?

In a plug, the blue neutral wire goes to the left, the brown live wire to the right and the green and yellow striped earth wire to the top. The fuse fits next to the live wire.

How do you wire a 3 pin plug UK?

Quote from the video:
Quote from Youtube video: Then thread the brown wire into the top of the right-hand pit tighten the screw at the top of the pin. So there's absolutely no movement then do the same for the other three wires.

Which is neutral in 3 pin plug?

The Three Pin Plug

  1. The LIVE wire is BROWN. This is connected to a fuse on the live pin. …
  2. The NEUTRAL wire is BLUE. This is the route the electric current takes when it exits an appliance; it is for this reason the neutral wire has a voltage close to zero.
  3. The EARTH wire is GREEN & YELLOW. and connected to the earth pin.



What is difference between earth and neutral?

Generally, the neutral point is earthed at the distribution transformer. It helps in keeping the earth and neutral in the same potential which protects the equipment against dangerous voltages in neutral.



Difference Between Earth and Neutral.

Parameter Earth Neutral
Conversion It cannot be turned into the neutral wire. It can be turned into the earth wire.

What is the use of ground pin?

If there’s something wrong with your appliance, the grounding prong creates a new, low-resistance grounding path down to the main electrical panel. This trips the breaker, stopping the electrical current and preventing damage to your appliance, a house fire, or an electrical shock.

Why is earthing necessary?



Earthing is used to protect you from an electric shock. It does this by providing a path (a protective conductor) for a fault current to flow to earth. It also causes the protective device (either a circuit-breaker or fuse) to switch off the electric current to the circuit that has the fault.

Do plug sockets need to be earthed?

There is no requirement to provide an Earth connection from a socket outlet, with an Earth connection, to the box. It’s not technicaly required by the regs providing it’s a modern socket front with continuity through one of the faceplate screws to the fixed lug in the back box.

Why do some UK plugs have a plastic earth pin?

This is a safety feature to prevent other items from being inserted into the socket, such as 2 pin plugs, fingers and so on. Some class II (double insulated) appliances have plugs with plastic earth pins. Since they do not require an earth connection, the only function of the earth pin is to open the socket shutters.

How do you connect ground to earth wire?

Quote from the video:
Quote from Youtube video: The earth wire connected to the metal pipe goes all the way down to the ground and into the earth providing an alternative path for leakage current to flow to the earth.

How do you ground a plug?



Grounding the Receptacle. Attach the grounding wire to the grounding terminal. If the grounding wire has become loose or disconnected, loop the grounding wire over the green terminal screw and tighten with a Philips or flathead screwdriver. Make a loop at the end of the copper wire with a pair of needle-nose pliers.

What happens if grounding is not done properly?

If there is no ground connection or a poor ground connection in the house, electricity could travel through your body to the ground. In this case you would end up becoming the ground connection – a condition that can lead to serious injury or also death.

Can neutral and earth be connected together?

Earth and neutral can be connected together but not at the socket as it is outright dangerous may any wiring fault occur. If neutral wire gets disconnected anywhere, the enclosure of the device will be at live voltage. Neutral and earth are the same thing.

What happens if earth and neutral wires touch?

In Short if neutral wire touches a earth wire,



An earth wire carrying load current is a risk of electric shock because a person touching this earth may present an alternative path for the load current and thus the risk of electric shock.

Why do we separate neutral and ground?



With ground and neutral bonded, current can travel on both ground and neutral back to the main panel. If the load becomes unbalanced and ground and neutral are bonded, the current will flow through anything bonded to the sub-panel (enclosure, ground wire, piping, etc.) and back to the main panel. Obvious shock hazard!