Both neutral and ground are eventually connected to earth, to prevent lightning strikes from causing destruction on the rest of the grid (and, as far as I know, there’s no other need for earthing). But the “ground” circuitry in your home should never be connected to earth. The whole point of having a ground is so that if metal casing becomes hot, the easiest path is back through a circuit breaker. If you connect your ground circuit to earth, it can bypass the breaker and hurt someone.
Again, not an electrician, consult a professional, etc etc.
Circuit breakers are on the hot lines, there isn’t a case where high currents “bypass the breaker” (except for a bad install, which for this specific scenario wouldn’t have anything to do with whether the neutral is connected to earth or not).
AFCI and GFCI breakers will care about the return path, but that is in addition to normal circuit breaker “does this exceed the current limit” behavior. And it is a very important reason not to connect the neutral to ground at the appliance level
Both neutral and ground are eventually connected to earth, to prevent lightning strikes from causing destruction on the rest of the grid (and, as far as I know, there’s no other need for earthing). But the “ground” circuitry in your home should never be connected to earth. The whole point of having a ground is so that if metal casing becomes hot, the easiest path is back through a circuit breaker. If you connect your ground circuit to earth, it can bypass the breaker and hurt someone.
Again, not an electrician, consult a professional, etc etc.
Circuit breakers are on the hot lines, there isn’t a case where high currents “bypass the breaker” (except for a bad install, which for this specific scenario wouldn’t have anything to do with whether the neutral is connected to earth or not).
AFCI and GFCI breakers will care about the return path, but that is in addition to normal circuit breaker “does this exceed the current limit” behavior. And it is a very important reason not to connect the neutral to ground at the appliance level
Good to know