"Brian Running" wrote in message
m...
Secondly, I still don't get how the current on the one phase makes a
return path if the neutral is disconnected.

I know it's AC, but what's being described is like disconnecting one of
the leads to a battery. Maybe somebody can better describe the term
'broken neutral wire'.

The 120V service in your house is between one of the hot legs of the line
from the pole and ground. If you look inside your breaker panel, you'll
see that the neutral from the pole, the white "neutrals" from all the
branch circuits, and the bare copper or green-jacketed "ground" wires from
the branches are all bonded together and to a grounding electrode driven
in your yard somewhere. So, assuming there is still power at the hot legs
of the service from the pole, there will still be 120V from either leg to
ground. It'll just be the ground at the electrode in your yard rather
than the ground at the transformer on the pole.

Still, if the neutral is broken at the transformer, you still don't have a
return path.