kax Posted February 24, 2011 Report Posted February 24, 2011 I bought a portable heater from the eBay and it says "this appliance must be earthed". What does it mean and what should i do? Is it ok for me to directly connect the plugs and switch it on? Any help would be appreciated.
Apo Posted February 24, 2011 Report Posted February 24, 2011 Odd enough I went on google and got the answer right away... Earthing The earth is made up of materials that is electrically conductive. A fault current will flow to 'earth' through the live conductor, provided it is earthed . This is to prevent a potentially live conductor from rising above the safe level . All exposed metal parts of an electrical installation or electrical appliance must be earthed . The main objectives of the earthing are to : 1) Provide an alternative path for the fault current to flow so that it will not endanger the user 2) Ensure that all exposed conductive parts do not reach a dangerous potential 3) Maintain the voltage at any part of an electrical system at a known value so as to prevent over current or excessive voltage on the appliances or equipment . The qualities of a good earthing system are : 1) Must be of low electrical resistance 2) Must be of good corrosion resistance 3) Must be able to dissipate high fault current repeatedly
Meka Meka Posted February 24, 2011 Report Posted February 24, 2011 Just means it should be grounded. Make sure you have a 3 prong outlet our an adapter that is properly grounded to something. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_%28electricity%29
