2 or 3 wire question

[myillwillinc]

if there are 3 physical wires coming out of the plug, why is it called a 2 wire setup?

[speeddemonrodsteration]

they don't count the ground as a wire

[pickleboy]

this was just explained to me the other day by my electrician buddy. the old way to wire 220 volt was with 3 wire cable that had 2 hot wires and a ground. today if you ask for 3 wire you will get 4 wire cable that has 2 hots a neutral and a ground. reason being before all the electronic controls on ovens and dryers the 3 wire was fine because the circuit had 2 hots and a ground. on the newer stuff that has clocks and such on them, the elements still have 2 even hots but the electronics draw some from only one side/ hot wire and then unbalances the circuit, this means you need the common neutral to rebalance the circuit so you dont get stray voltage to the case by way of the ground. so they came up with the 4 wire system to correct the problem. this has been the case in all countries except the US for about 5-7 years, and only in the US for about the past 2-3. hope this clears some of the confusion up.