According to Doug Miller :
In article , "Wade Lippman" wrote:

That is not really a concern; you can't get a shock off a neutral unless it
is unconnected at the breaker box

FALSE!

The neutral is a current-carrying conductor under normal operation. Contrary
to common belief, electricity does not follow "the path of least resistance."
Rather, electricity follows all possible paths, and when you touch the
neutral, you create with your body a second, parallel path to ground for the
current flowing in the neutral. Granted, that's probably (though not
necessarily) a fairly high-resistance path, which makes it *unlikely* that you
will be shocked.

But definitely *not* impossible.

If the neutral isn't broken between you and the panel, the _maximum_
ground-neutral voltage you'll see in the OP's scenario is a volt or two.
You won't notice it anymore than you'll notice a shock from a D cell.

Your statement is false twice, actually: suppose the neutral is connected just
fine *at* the breaker box, but is disconnected somewhere between there, and
where you're working. In that case, you're putting yourself in *series* with
the neutral current, not in parallel with it, and that makes a shock from
touching it *likely* (if the circuit is energized).

If the neutral is cut between you and the panel, for all intents and purposes
it's a hot if anything is switched on with the corresponding "real" hot.

The dangers with common neutral arise when the neutral is broken without
killing both hots. That's impossible in most code-compliant situations (unless
you do your rewiring on hot circuits).

[In the CEC, it's _all_ code-compliant residential situations. The NEC has
an exception for circuits "not on the same strap"]
--
Chris Lewis,

Age and Treachery will Triumph over Youth and Skill
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.