electrical phase

Albert,

There's no way to separate a 2-pole 220v breaker to one side or the other. I think we all know that? No matter what you do the noise from your 220 circuits will always be present on either side of the panel.

You could in theory separate all your 110v breakers to one leg of the panel, but that's not necessarily a great idea.

The main objective when terminating a panel is "load balancing" That is to say an equal amount of amps on each side. This will reduce the load on the neutral conductor. When you have 50amps on one leg and 50 amps on the other there is zero amps on the neutral.

However if you had 100 amps on one leg and 10 amps on the other you would have 90 amps on the neutral (Grounded conductor) This poses some serious concerns. Electricians and engineers always seek to reduce the load on the neutral by distributing the load equally to both sides of a panel. The same holds true in three-phase power distribution.

You may also want to consider labeling your outlets with a P-touch labeler. You could mark the phase (A, B or C) plus the circuit number and panel designation. That may come in handy when moving things around.

Take care

Balancing the panel= Best installation

I am reading the two phases that come into the house, the third phase as mentioned already, goes to the big commercial AC unit that keeps us comfortable during the hot Texas summers.

Glen, regarding your comment: There's no way to separate a 2-pole 220v breaker to one side or the other. I think we all know that? No matter what you do the noise from your 220 circuits will always be present on either side of the panel.

Looks like from what you said that the 220 shares with both circuits, but the two 120 Volt drops ARE separate, and therefore could be dedicated specifically to the stereo for one drop and noisy ( refrigerator, computers, etc.) on the other.

Back again to the fact that they can be separated, and that is what I prefer to do. Your suggestion to balance the panel is your answer to best sound. So until someone has a bunch of time on their hands to try this both ways (would that prove anything owing to the differences home to home?) we are still two opinions.

Al, I give up :^)

See you on the next thread

I've been informed (don't know if it's true) that you/we only have one 'phase' coming into our houses on two seperate 'legs', not 'phases'.

Is this correct, Glen?

I had mentioned in several postings that by moving the amp's circuit breaker to the opposing 'leg' where the other audio circuit breakers reside, I had elminated a fairly audible transformer hum coming from my amp. That is a true statement.

However, I had no idea that affect would occur. I originally moved the amp's circuit to the opposing 'leg' just to see if I would gain any sonic benefits as I had heard that tip from audioasylum or audiogon forums.

I did not notice any sonic improvements.

-IMO