reverse polarity??

[Scott Schultz]

Did an inspection last month in which i said several outlets had reverse polarity (as indicated by my trusty three light detector) When I go back for reinspection, the same outlets still show reverse polarity. The agent says the electrician said they tested fine for him. I unscrewed one outlet that was affected and unscrewed another outlet in the same room that tested normally. They were both wired correctly yet my tester showed it was reversed on one and normal on the other? Anyone know why this would happen?? Thanks.

[mnahrgang]

Were the hot/neutral wires swapped in the panel? In other words, was the black conductor actually hot, and the white actually neutral?

[Scott Schultz]

the panel looked fine. I was getting different readings on individual outlets in the same room that were on the same circuit.

[Marc D. Shunk]

Were these taps from K&T, by chance?

[Richard L. Bennett]

Real simple

A wire is a wire and a meter to test same is like under $20.00 -- The neutral wire is common with the ground - the hot is on the right if the ground in on the bottom

If one takes an outlet out an looks at it and the colors are correct then somewhere some one has missed wired something

It is real simple you are looking for three wires wired correctly

Yes a cheap three lite tester can be faked out if the hot and the ground are common and the neutral is wired to the hot side

This would be a very unsafe condition that the three lite test would miss

Meters are the best

If you have some time I would meet with the sparkie and as him to educate you -- even offer to pay the service all if you are wrong

If you understand the three wires and have a little $$ to put on the table it should be worth the trouble

The Hot wire will test hot if one puts one hi "z" meter lead on the hot and holds the other lead in ones hand. Same with a hot stick.

One can also test same by putting one meter lead on a true ground and the other lead on the hot.

Remember that the outlet that test good might be the bad one

rlb

[Richard L. Bennett]

Marc

Me thinks that if they were tapped from K&T there would be no ground

If some one has added a ground or done some bootleg ground work then you have a real mess

A good sparkie should welcome the problem and make some money

rlb

[Richard L. Bennett]

Scott

Some where ("J" box etc.) something is miss wired


rlb

[Richard L. Bennett]

Please can we all stop using the term "reverse polarity" AC has no polarity

Where did this term ever come from?


rlb

[Brian E. Kelly]

When I encounter this situation I stick my tic tracer into the hot side of the outlet.

[gbeaumont]

Originally Posted by rbennett

Please can we all stop using the term "reverse polarity" AC has no polarity

Where did this term ever come from?


rlb

Hi Richard, I believe that this came from the ice makers of fridges producing steam rather than ice cubes, this can be a major issue if your were producing Martinis' at the time

It gets worse with wrongly wired dryers whereby the clothes come out colder and wetter than when then went in.

Lets not even talk about toasters, all the yeast and flour mix pouring out of the bottom is a swine to get off the counter tops

The worst of it is, is that light bulbs NEVER burn out, they just become reverse polarised and suck all the light out of a room...... kinda like a little black hole!!

BTW, did you need to shout??

I hope this helps

Gerry

[Greg Fretwell]

I wired all my circuits backward and now I get a check from the power company every month. It is what allowed me to retire early.
The trick is you run the A/C in the winter and the heat all summer.

[gbeaumont]

Originally Posted by Greg Fretwell

I wired all my circuits backward and now I get a check from the power company every month. It is what allowed me to retire early.
The trick is you run the A/C in the winbter and the heat all summer.

Thanks for getting into the spirit of the issue Greg

BTW, do you think that if we all wired our homes with the grounded conductor connected to the ungrouded conductor terminal of the receptacles ( and visa versa), that we could very quickly reverse the production of green house gasses and wind back global warming?

Enquiring minds want to know?

Regards

Gerry

[brian winkle]

Gerry I wish you lived on the West coast. I was thinking of opening a comedy club and I could really use you!

Can you sing too?

[gbeaumont]

Originally Posted by brian winkle

Can you sing too?

Yes Brian but nobody wants to pay to here me, I can't carry a tune in a bucket

Gerry

[Bruce A. King]

AC power does not have polarity but the outlets and cords that have one slot or blade larger than the other do have physical polarity.

Polarity does not always mean the same thing as it does with DC power.


http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/polarity

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bi...C-144/905/6%22