Hmm, well then, if you wired it according to code, famous bob, I think maybe you raised a straw man.
Why it creates a shock hazard not to use the neutral line on 110:
Imagine that you are operating an electric drill with a steel case, and the drill's motor winding burns up and shorts to ground. Basically your body is connected in parallel with the current from the short that is trying to flow to ground, and both the neutral and the ground are at close to ground potential. Anything you can do to decrease the resistance to ground means that less of the current will be flowing through you. Remember that the ground wire is connected to the earth at the service entry, near the meter, by a copper-plated ground rod, while the neutral is grounded via the electric utility system's internal ground, through the center tap of the pole transformer. Therefore the utility service's internal ground tends to be of somewhat higher resistance than the earth ground at the service entry. With a separate ground wire, and with the case of the drill connected to it rather than the neutral, more of the short current is drawn to ground than would be the case if the neutral were used for ground, and therefore less of the current passes through you before the breaker pops.
"Ask him what time it is, and he'll tell you how to make a watch!" - Jane Wyman, on her former husband Ronald Reagan.
