On Nov 28, 12:12*pm, "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

That would be my quick suggestion also. Find a ground somewhere.
connect one side of your meter or one side of light bulb to that. With
lights switched on.

Any wire wire that has potential to that ground is most likely the
live (today black) wire and is either a direct live from the supply
fus/breaker or a switched live.

The wire that has zero or a very low potential to that ground
(although even cheap digital multimeters can be deceiving) is most
likely the neutral (white wire).

Don't mess around with readings of 30 or or some odd voltage on wires
which are disconnected or switched off. In fact a light bulb is often
a better tester than a meter that can pick up odd induced voltage from
other circuits or wires!