Sylvia Else wrote:
I have to phases of power supply to my house - so three power lines, two
phases plus neutral.

I've on occasion wondered what would happen if we lost the neutral line.
It seems to me that we'd then have the voltage between the two phases
across two sets of appliances, one set attached to one phase, and the
other set attached to the other phase, with the two sets in series as a
result of their common connection to the neutral wire. Since the two
sets are unlikely to represent equal loads, the net result would be a
large overvoltage on one set of appliances.

My electrician says it's not an issue, but I can't see why.

Any thoughts?

Sylvia.

I had exactly this happening two years ago.
My supply has 3 phases and I lost part of the neutral connectivity through
corrosion on the terminal coming in from the power pole.

The result was a brown out on some and over voltage on other phases. In top of
this I got a tingling zapping in the shower.

I guess, depending on the quality of the earth rod, this can be a pretty bad
situation. Where will the returning current go if there is no neutral? Through a
different phase I guess. Neutral will have a more or less floating potential.

Tony