Ground/Hot Reversed

[Jerry]

My tester indicates Ground/Hot Reversed in a wall outlet. Wiggling something in that outlet like a plug turns off power in that room at times. How is this reversal corrected?

[DerbyDad03]

With a screw driver.

However, the first correction that should be made is at the breaker box. Find the breaker that powers this circuit and turn it from off. You probably have a loose wire in that outlet and it could be a fire hazard. Even if you do not want to fix this yourself, turn off the breaker until the outlet is fixed.

The Fix - Done with the breaker off!

First: Remove the outlet cover and receptacle - it will be visually self-explanatory.

Next: The white (neutral) wire(s) go on the silver screw(s), the black (hot) wire(s) go on the gold screw(s) and the bare (ground) wire(s) goes on the green screw. Note: If all the wires were tight when you pulled the outlet out, then the outlet itself may be damaged internally. Head to the store and buy a new one.

Next: Put it all back together, neatly and carefully pushing the wires back into the box.

Finally: Turn the breaker on and retest.

[Tom Horne]

Plug in testers will give erroneous readings under several different sets of faults. In fact the only time they are likely to be correct is when the fault is limited to a single failure such as only the neutral being open.

The receptacle in question needs to be rewired. I would bet some serious money that the receptacle was wired using push in spring pressure terminals were the wire is stripped and pushed into a hole in the back of the body of the receptacle to be held in place only by a small spring strip. These push in terminals are a constant cause of trouble calls.

Now the other news. The tone of your question suggest that you have no experience dealing with electrical issues. If that is true then you should not tackle the job by yourself. There are too many things that can go dangerously wrong to be dabbling with electrical construction or repair.

-- Tom Horne

[Jerry]

Thanks; replaced receptacle and problem solved.

[Mark Lloyd]

And test any receptacles wired upstream or downstream from the one you fixed.

[alvinamorey]

Good grief. If you have a reversed Ground Hog in your wall outlet you really have a serious problem. The poor thing is getting electrocuted. No wonder he's reversed. He needs you to help.