Grounding Your Circuit

To run a circuit on PSpice, you must have at least one ground connection in your circuit. To ground your circuit, you must place a symbol called 0 (the number zero). There are three ways to place ground symbols  

Select Place and then Ground from the menus. 

Click the LEFT mouse button on the ground button, window (button shown below). 

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When you use any of these methods, the Place ErOUIld dialog box will be displayed  

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No more errors will be indicated when we create a netlist. However, there are still two errors in the drawing. The first is that the circuit is not grounded. The entire circuit is floating. This error would have been caught when we ran the simulation. You must add a part called 0 to your circuit. Select Place and then Power from the Capture menus to place the ground. 

At construction sites, the most common electrical hazard is the ground fardt electrical shock. The OSHA electrical rules require your company to provide either ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) for receptacle outlets or an assured equipment grounding conductor program. Either method can eliminate ground fault electric shock hazards. 

Possible danger from electrical shock or burn improper grounding, liquid spills, short circuits, exposed wires Double-check setup with teacher. Check condition of wires and apparatus. Do not attempt to fix electrical problems. Notify your teacher immediately. 

A current can injure or kill you if you become part of the circuit and as little as 0.1 A can be fatal. Your body offers low resistance to the flow of electrons, and if you give the current a path to a good ground connection you will become a conductor in completing the needed circuit. It is critically important that you use insulation as a means to prevent yourself from coming in contact with an electric current. 

Awareness of the electrical circuit can mitigate risk Being aware of what is electrically hot is critical to maintaining your own safety. Cylinders and structural building components such as I-beams should never be made part of the electrical circuit. All electrical connections, including ground clamps and cables, should be tight, and not worn or frayed. 

Before operating your new injection molding machine for the first lime, check all wiring to see that it has been done correctly. All exposed wires and terminals must be covered. The machine should only be plugged into a GFI outlet. GFI stands for ground fault interrupter. GFI outlets have a circuit breaker as part of the outlet. An electrical short or other problem in the wiring of your machine will flip the circuit breaker off and cut the power to the machine. 

Electrical hazard, safety-toe shoes are nonconductive and will prevent your employees feet fiom completing an electrical circuit to the ground. They can protect employees against open circuits of up to 600 volts in dry conditions. Electrical hazard, safety-toe shoes should be used in conjunction with other insulating equipment and precautions to reduce or eliminate the potential for your employees bodies or parts of their bodies to provide a path for hazardous electrical energy. Note Nonconductive footwear must not be used in explosive or hazardous locations in such locations, electrically conductive shoes are required. Train your employees to recognize that the insulating protection of electrical hazard, safety-toe shoes may be compromised if ... 

If you are not familiar with standard wiring practice, don t attempt this part of the project yourself. Consult a professional electrician. Insure that all wiring conforms to your local code. In this project, the white wire is neutral, the black wire is the hot wire and the bare copper wire is ground. For safety reasons, it is very important that the entire machine be grounded. The machine operates on a 20 amp circuit and as a safety precaution, I suggest plugging the machine into a GFI outlet. GFl stands for Ground Fault Interrupter. This type of outlet is very sensitive to electrical shorts and will immediately shut the circuit down if one occurs. 

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