High-leg delta

High-leg delta (also known as wild-leg, stinger leg, bastard leg, high-leg, orange-leg, or red-leg delta) is a type of electrical service connection for three-phase electric power installations. It is used when both single and three-phase power is desired to be supplied from a three phase transformer (or transformer bank). The three-phase power is connected in the delta configuration, and the center point of one phase is grounded. This creates both a split-phase single phase supply (L1 or L2 to neutral on diagram at right) and three-phase (L1-L2-L3 at right). It is called 'orange leg' because the wire is color-coded orange. By convention, the high leg is usually set in the center (B phase) lug in the involved panel, regardless of the L1-L2-L3 designation at the transformer. High-leg delta (also known as wild-leg, stinger leg, bastard leg, high-leg, orange-leg, or red-leg delta) is a type of electrical service connection for three-phase electric power installations. It is used when both single and three-phase power is desired to be supplied from a three phase transformer (or transformer bank). The three-phase power is connected in the delta configuration, and the center point of one phase is grounded. This creates both a split-phase single phase supply (L1 or L2 to neutral on diagram at right) and three-phase (L1-L2-L3 at right). It is called 'orange leg' because the wire is color-coded orange. By convention, the high leg is usually set in the center (B phase) lug in the involved panel, regardless of the L1-L2-L3 designation at the transformer. High-leg delta service is supplied in one of two ways. One is by a transformer having four wires coming out of the secondary, the three phases, plus a neutral connected as a center-tap on one of the windings. Another method requires two transformers. One transformer is connected to one phase of the overhead primary distribution circuit to provide the 'lighting' side of the circuit (this will be the larger of the two transformers), and a second transformer is connected to another phase on the circuit and its secondary is connected to one side of the 'lighting' transformer secondary, and the other side of this transformer is brought out as the 'high leg'. The voltages between the three phases are the same in magnitude, however the voltage magnitudes between a particular phase and the neutral vary. The phase-to-neutral voltage of two of the phases will be half of the phase-to-phase voltage. The remaining phase-to-neutral voltage will be √3/2 the phase-to-phase voltage. So if A-B, B-C and C-A are all 240 volts, then A-N and C-N will both be 120 volts, but B-N will be 208 volts. Other types of three-phase supplies are wye connections, ungrounded delta connections, 'ghost' leg configuration delta connections (two transformers supplying three phase power), or corner-grounded delta connections. These connections do not supply split single-phase power, and do not have a high leg.