Phil Allison wrote:
"Dave Platt"
Sylvia Else

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.
It's a huge issue.


** Sylvia lives in Sydney, Australia and is a MASSIVE TROLL.

Nuts of her the post such a COUNTRY SPECIFIC message to a US newsgroup.

Last time I checked, multiphase power supply was pretty universal, and
the principles to be applied in understanding the consequences of faults
would be the same. Or perhaps you want to argue that the different
voltage in Australia is the deciding factor.

Sylvia.