On Mon, 27 Jan 2014 01:24:48 -0500, wrote:

At the time I thought this was a terrible code violation, but I didn't
say anything to the landlord. 40 years later the house is still
standing. It never burned down because of that code violation. Of
course those neons draw less than one watt, so I guess it's not really
dangerous, but still a code violation none the less....

The neon lighted switch was the reason for the 500 microamp exception
to using the ground for a neutral existed in the listing standard;. As
long as the series resistor is around a meg ohm you get in under 500
UA easily.
They removed that well over a decade ago tho. It was never
specifically allowed in the NEC but as long as it was internal to a
listed device you could do it. (manufactured grounding the neon to the
yoke).
Now you can't even make a switch like that and they have a white wire
coming out.

So you're saying it was legal to connect it to the box ground years ago.
This was around 1978 when my landlord did it. That was what I was
trying to find out. Not that it matters anymore, I moved out of that
house long ago, but I was wondering about it all these years. I know
those neons draw so little power that it's almost not worth mentioning
it in the NEC, but I know these days they tend to go overboard with a
lot of stuff.

Those cheap neon testers will light from any source if there is power,
and the box ground is common for testing. I seriously can not imagine
one of them starting a fire, no matter how they are grounded.
I have not seen them in the stores for years, but I have not looked for
one either. Today they are probably LEDs. Those neons did tend to burn
out after several years. I guess the gas inside them just vaporizes or
something.