Originally Posted by
Chris Padilla
And I think you are saying: In its most basic form, the neutral will need to at least carry the same amount of current as the hot wire in a circuit. In the case of a multi-wire or Edison-wire style, it can carry less if both the red and black hot are drawing. So in a nutshell, each circuit needs its own neutral...except in the multi-wire or Edison-wire style which only needs one neutral despite being two circuits (I think it is appropriate to call such a wiring style as having two circuits?).
I would not call that two circuits but that doesn't really matter one way or the other. In reality, I am sure you know that if the load on a sub panel or multi wire circuit is perfectly balanced, then the neutral wire won't carry any current at all. I left out that little detail because it is likely to cause more confusion than enlightenment.
Actually, the ground can carry current just fine and never trip the circuit breaker. It is there mostly to keep the current flowing back to the panel and not through a person who might touch metal that is accidentally being used to carry current. Now if that circuit has a GFCI on it (receptacle or breaker), THEN the GFCI will trip in this situation since it will detect a large current difference between the hot and neutral (since the white neutral is no longer the return path back to the panel for the current).
Any time the ground wire is carrying any current, it is not just fine. It is a symptom of a very serious problem. If it is caused by a direct short to ground, one hopes that a breaker will trip but it may not. If you are approaching the point that a 15A or 20A breaker will not prevent someone from being electrocuted, and you need a ground wire to do that, then I agree. It is hard concept for a lot of people to accept that simple breakers protect the wiring only.
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