"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
mmunications...
Ivan Vegvary wrote:
Up in the attic. Have to bring hot wire to junction box with three
legs going out. Each leg goes to ceiling light of different rooms.
YES, I can power them up and the wall switch in each room turns on
its respective light. BUT, what's an easy way to test that I don't
have hot and neutral reversed. The old romex in the attic (two
wire, cloth wrapped) is NOT color coded in any way.

Do I simply drag a neutral wire from a different circuit and probe
the bulb socket in each room? Is there an easier way? My A.C.
voltmeter obviously does not indicate polarity.

All replies appreciated. Sheetrock guy is coming tomorrow a.m. and
I have to solve this today!

Ivan Vegvary


I'll assume that the presence of two wire romex means that none of
the outlet boxes themselves are grounded, so you can't use them to
test against.

No warranty on this advice, but if you're using an "electronic"
(digital) voltmeter, and are standing on something which insulates
you from ground, then you can jsut touch one of the voltmeter leads
with your hand and probe the shell and center contacts of the
sockets with the other lead. Your body capacitance will provide
enough of a load to cause the
voltmeter to indicate some voltage when it's lead is connected to
the "hot" side iof the line. It probably won't read the full 120
volts, but enough so you can easily tell the difference.

Even if you are using a real cheap neon tester, this method works to
find a hot wire, Just hold the end of one lead and touch the other to
the wires, the neon bulb will light up dimly when you hit a hot wire.
You won't feel a thing.

Good suggestion; that also helps with the confusion sometimes that
phantom voltages present.