Wayne Parham Messages: 18787 Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
Lots of equipment and appliances were made that way back in the 2-wire AC days. If you had two appliances side-by-side, one might have the chassis connected to one side and the other to the other side, so touch them at the same time and get a shock. More common was the arrangement like you described, or floating grounds, which often had the chassis sitting at 70v. Gotta love the good old days!