According to Doug Miller :
In article , (Chris Lewis) wrote:
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.
That depends entirely on how well you are (or aren't) grounded. Under normal
circumstances, there won't be enough current to do any damage. One sweaty hand
on a grounded junction box, and the other sweaty hand touching an active
neutral, though...
I'll repeat what I said. In those circumstances, the voltage between
neutral and ground is at most a volt or two, dependent on IR voltage
drop on the neutral due to the load. It doesn't matter how sweaty you
are, you're not going to feel it. How sweaty do you have to be to
feel 3V off two AA batteries?
The minimum "feel voltage" is at least 10V, and usually considerably
higher. If the neutral was connected to ground yet was still showing
10V or more relative to the ground, it'd probably be glowing red hot.
Now, if you skewered yourself in the heart muscle with the ground and
neutral, you'd feel it. But people tend to avoid that.
The hazard with shared neutrals is contacting a disconnected-from-the-main
neutral without having all the hots shut off.
--
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.