Niel wrote:
I just bought a house and the inspector tagged four of six basement
outlets as hot/neutral reversed.
I open the first two, see the problem, and fix it (one of two blacks
was going to silver and one of two whites was going to brass).
However, the other two "bad" outlets are already wired correctly
(white to silver/black to brass).
Plus, these two outlets have one set of wires (white/black/ground)
instead of two sets, which may not be a problem, but could be a clue.
Supposedly, if I switch the wires, the plugs won't be reversed
anymore. But that would put white on brass and black on silver.
Maybe the electrician got the white and black wrong at the head end,
wherever that is. So switching the two at the plugs will be the right
thing to do.
If the inspector was right, what is wrong with the wiring and how do I
fix it?
If the inspector was wrong, how could that be, as he was right about
two other plugs in the same room?
Or do I need to spend a couple of bucks on a sensor to check for
myself whether the inspector was right?
---------------
Danger is Hot, Black, and Brass. Make it so.
To find which wire is Hot, measure it to a solid ground like a water
pipe. Neutral is Dead, White, and Silver, like the bare Safety Ground.
Put a 200 VAC voltmeter, or DMM set to that range, from Hot to
Neutral, this should show 120VAC. Then from Hot to Ground, you
should again see 120 VAC.
The hot should be 120VAC to EITHER of them separately!
If not, then Hot is not connected to the "hot"!!!
Try neutral to both each separately, see if it is BOTH 120VAC to
ground and also the black. If so then the neutral and hot are
switched and should be switched back at the bus. Of course, use
insulated probes, rubber gloves if you are dim-witted, and switch
off the breaker when you change things. I take no responsibility
for your stupidity or your death.
-Steve
--
-Steve Walz
ftp://ftp.armory.com/pub/user/rstevew
Electronics Site!! 1000's of Files and Dirs!! With Schematics Galore!!
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http://www.armory.com/~rstevew/Public