Did anyone consider that sometimes electrical outlets are wired improperly. Yes
it happens!

Yes wiring defects and how to identify those defects were
one of the first posts in this thread. That post on 20 Dec
2004 started:
A few technically more informed posters have provided the
responsible posts. For example, a defective neutral wire
could cause excessive voltages on

PawlRevere2 wrote:
Did anyone consider that sometimes electrical outlets are wired
improperly. Yes it happens!

On Sat, 25 Dec 2004 21:17:12 -0600, Jim Adney
wrote:

On Sat, 25 Dec 2004 20:43:43 GMT Tom MacIntyre
wrote:

Sorry, Sam, you should've really paid attention to the "been there"
part...I have had a situation like this arise, and within the past 25
years, with fairly new (at the time) equipment. While attaching a
video cable between 2 pieces of Telidon equipment in 1983, the lights
dimmed, a growling noise occured, and smoke emanated from one of the
units. A meter check revealed that one plug was wired in reverse.

I'm not familiar with that brand. Where was it made? Was this consumer
type equipment or specialized video test equipment?

Telidon was a Canadian government-sponsored computer video project,
using NAPLPS/videotex. One piece of equipment was a DEC PDP-1103
computer, and the other was a special electronic slide projector made
by (I think) Norpak. I think it was a parallel cable, but it was over
20 years ago that it happened.

Tom