Larry Caldwell wrote:
In article ,
(Valid User) says...

Larry Caldwell wrote:


condition. The neutral is bonded to the ground in your breaker box, so
every ground circuit in your house may be carrying a lethal voltage.

Does that ground can be energized? If so, then those bare ground wires
can be dangerous, as they attache to all the metal covers. What I am
missing here?


Yes, the ground can be energized. A code ground has to be less than 25
ohms to ground. In dry weather, you can connect a 20 amp breaker
directly to a ground wire and the breaker won't pop. The circuit
depends on the neutral back to the transformer, and if that goes bad,
the ground circuit can get very hot indeed.


So suppose your outlet boxes and cover plates are metal, and there is
loose neutral connection leading upto the outlet. Then it would be
dangerous to touch the cover plate, when that outlet, or some
down the circuit, is plugged in?