Since when? Can you cite an article from the NEC?

--
______________________________
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




"Michael Dobony" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:54:34 -0500, John Grabowski wrote:

wrote in message
...
Hi!

I have a quick question and wondered if somebody can explain
this to
me. While working on some wiring today, I got a bit of a jolt
from
the neutral wire. When I tested it with my voltmeter, it read
zero (I
had the breaker off). But then, when I grabbed the neutral, I
got a
tingle.

I took my voltmeter and tested it, and it peaked up around 1
to 2
volts, then dropped back to zero. Did it again a few minutes
later
and the same thing.

Upon further investigation, I found that there was one neutral
that
was going to the furnace (on one circuit) and then up to the
sockets
on the other circuit. One circuit (the furnace one) was live
while
the other was dead.

Just so I understand, is the reason why I got a tingle was
because
electricity was flowing through the live circuit? If I turned
off the
circuit for the furnace along with the other one, would this
have
prevented me from getting a little shock? I read one posting
that
said to use the clamp to check for amps. Should I have done
this
along with checking out how many volts are running through it?



*The neutral is a current carrying conductor. It sounds as if
the one that
you are referring to is part of a multiwire circuit that is
shared with the
furnace. When the furnace comes on there will be current
flowing through
it. You should treat it like a live wire even when the circuit
breaker is
off.

This is probably why the new electrical code does not allow
sharing
neutrals between circuits. You may want to check to make sure
the light
circuit is on a different phase than the furnace. Neutrals
should never be
shared on common phase circuits.

Also, get off googlegroups. Many wise NG users block
googlegroups because
google refuses to deal with NG abusers. Blocking all posts
originating
from googlegroups eliminates about 90% of the trash posts!

Mike D.