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From: Richard Goodwin (no email)
Date: Mon Oct 01 2001 - 08:29:56 EDT
> Having a floating neutral is dangerous, particularly
> in an environment in which one might inadvertently be touching water that is
> grounded.
Agreed. But in the case at hand cutting the grounds apart at the shore
power entrance, and thereby having the neutral be at .45 volts away from
ground shouldn't be a big deal, unless:
1. A short develops in some appliance, in which case the gfi should shut
the system down.
2. Some appliance is designed in such a way that it depends on having
neutral and ground at exactly the same potential. Might not be able to
use this appliance. Why would a 120v device be designed this way in the
first place?
3. A person comes in contact with electrical neutral and ground at the
same time. With only .45 volts, this is no big deal. But you would
still have to ask why/how they are coming in contact with electric
neutral, and FIX IT. :-)
In the case of, say, a lamp with a polarized plug, yes neutral is meant
to be at ground potential, so theoretically you can grab the outer part
of where you screw the light bulb in, and ground, at the same time, but,
well, I don't think I'll do that anyway. Any 120v appliance with a
polarized plug (no ground lug) and a metal case had better not connect
the case to neutral. There are way to many outlets and appliance plugs
connected backwards. I've even seen a licensed electrician hook up one
of the 3 phases of 208VAC to the outer connector housing safety ground,
resulting in a connector welding itself to some floor framing,
fortunately just about 3 inches before I was going to grab it.
Dick
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