"John E." wrote in message
news.net...
Dick:

If that neutral his only hanging be a few strands you should have it
taken
care of asap because if that breaks you could have serious problems.

Would you please expand on this statement (why, how, etc.)?

Thanks,
--
John English


The neutral provides a center reference of 120V between the two 240V hot
lines. If the neutral breaks, the center reference will be lost. Some
current can flow through the ground system, but often not enough,
particularly if the house isn't feed by city water with metal pipes. With
the neutral connected, the voltage can drift around. If a heavy current
draw appliance is running on one leg, it can put significant voltage on the
neutral line. This will increase the voltage on appliances connected to the
other phase, often damaging them. It's quite common to have all appliances
that have always on electronics to fail... TV, VCR, microwave, DVD, alarm
clocks, etc.