Plug Wiring Reversed?

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?

Reply to
Niel
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Swap black and white at both ends. This involves working on your breaker panel, which is dangerous. I recommend hiring an electrician.

He'll only be wrong if he mixed up his results after making measurements.

That's what I'd do. And don't let the erroneous situation persist.

Reply to
Michael A. Covington

It sounds like you need to buy the gizmo. If the wiring was crossed anywhere you have the potential for a "back fed" neutral. If the color code was followed meticulously through the entire circuit you will not have a problem. Sounds like some home wiring went on at some time.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Keep the whole world singing . . . . DanG (remove the sevens) snipped-for-privacy@7cox.net

Reply to
DanG

my dad can wire recpts backwards seems addicted to it. his simple method works

1- gotta use a plastic box 2- and if something trips the breaker cut off its ground prong
Reply to
bumtracks

Spend a couple bucks and get an outlet tester.

Then, when you confirm that they are still bad. It's possible that the outlet you fixed was upstream of one or both of the other miswired ones and all is not well.

If not, it's possible that the outlets that test reversed are fed from upstream outlets whic are miswired for the wiring feeding those outlets.

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Reply to
Sam Goldwasser

Just buy one of those cheap things you plug into an outlet. It has 3 neons in it that can quickly find common wiring errors. Some versions also have a button to create a leakage that should trigger a GFI outlet or circuit breaker to trip. They are only a few bucks and well worth it. I've found reverse wired outlets in apartments I've lived in.

Reverse wiring will not affect many basic items with non-polarized plugs, but could create a hazard for items with polarized plugs or grounded plugs that assume hot is on the narrow blade. Lamps are now wired with polarized plugs so that the neutral is wired to the shell of the bulb socket, and the hot to the center.

Reply to
Andrew Rossmann

I had an inspector report that all of the outlets in my house were reverse wired. It turned out that in fact they were three-wire outlets with no ground wire. The house was built back before ground outlets were standard, so they are all wired with two wires. Someone later replaced all the original two-wire outlets with three-wire ones. Although this creates a false sense of safety in that there is no protective ground, it is apparently legal because you can't get two-wire outlets anymore. An electrician I consulted said it would be too costly to put in modern 3-wire wiring because of all the demolition - the old wiring is stapled inside the walls and can't just be pulled out as the new wire is pulled in. So I had him put in GFCI outlets and breakers where needed for safety (bathrooms and kitchen) and let the rest go.

Reply to
Jim Haynes

Yes, get the tester or a simple meter, if you know how ot use it.

Switching one set of wires, may have corrected all the rest down stream, or may not, so you really need to check them all again.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

This is Turtle.

Yes, Home Cheap-0 or Low's , Receptical checker , at $9.95 + tax. A little yellow plug in device to tell you what is wrong with it with lites on it.

TURTLE

Reply to
TURTLE

Yes you can buy 2 wire outlets and no it's *NOT* legal to install 3 wire outlets on a non-grounded circuit.

Reply to
James Sweet

And if you don't know how to use it please don't be messing with this stuff, call an electrician and let them take care of it for you.

Reply to
James Sweet

Yes; it is legal to have a 3-wire outlet with 2-wire input *if* it's a GFCI.

Reply to
Michael A. Covington

--------------- 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

Reply to
R. Steve Walz

Yah I think you need to get a tester. Just a neon bulb and two test leads. Did the inspector determine this problem with a tester? You need to verify that the hot lead (black) is the small slot. Determine this by testing from small slot to ground (metal box, conduit or earth ground) If it reads hot from large slot to ground then the hot /neutral is reversed and should be switched. If you were doing this right I would trace the wires back and find where the switch occured.

??? Do you mean the same wires black/white/green feed both outlets?? This could be normal is shared on the same breaker.

The head end would be in the breaker panel. If this is true the electrician should be immediately terminated with extreme prejudice!

Use your tester or meter to test empirically from the small slot (brass) to ground metal box, BX or conduit (water pipe verify the ground first) Make the brass hot and correct the color code all the way back to the breaker panel. If you're not comfortable with wiring, being in the breaker panel or don't understand how you can get shocked taking apart a neutral nexus then hire an electrician. On second thought you might want to hire a competent electrician anyway to review all your wiring. As a professional I've seen some weird things and your wiring sounds like it needs a good going over. While reversed wires are usually not a problem it can be dangerous as above and is an indication of someone not knowing what they were doing doing the wiring.

I did have a toilet that buzzed and had about 40 VAC on it but that's another story.

Richard

Reply to
Richard

It is not legal to retrofit 3-prong outlets without a proper ground, unless the circuit is GFCI protected and labelled as such. Hell, I GFCI protect most of my outlets anyway because they provide good shock protection

I had one save my arse once, standing bare foot on damp concrete and grabbed a fray cord. Everything went dark for a few seconds and I heard the gfci snap off about 20-miles away. Only damage was an achy arm for several hours afterward.

-Chris

Reply to
chris

As someone else said, it is legal if they are GFCI outlets.

Dimitri

Reply to
D. Gerasimatos

But how many of those installed in the real world are on GFCI? I've lost count the number of times I've seen someone install 3 wire receptacles in non grounded houses, a lot of times the houses don't even have a GFCI at all. Certainly adviseable to add, though not everything will work right on them. I've seen a lot of computers and a few microwave ovens that would trip them regularly.

Reply to
James Sweet

I'm speaking strictly based on Australian wiring regulations. I don't know how they apply your way. Here, you should get a licenced electrician to check out all your wiring. It is possible that it was originally wired up by someone unlicenced. If your house catches fire as a result of faulty wiring and there is a possibility that it was wired up illegally, you may have problems claiming insurance.

Henry Australia

Reply to
hemyd

My father used coathanger wire for fuses. I think that's rated at about 500 amps....

Henry Australia

Reply to
hemyd

On Tuesday 07 September 2004 10:05, the primordial soup was bombarded with cosmic radiation and a new life form of genus hemyd emerged to test its air breathing capabilities by gasping:

The one thing you don't want is a father like that wiring up your electric overblanket with earth to live in an old 15A plug with no fuse and an old Bakelite distribution board when you're eight years old. Trust me - I know ;o)

Disclaimer: My dad was a great old chap, very intelligent and had a good grasp of physics. He was just colour blind to mains wiring!

Reply to
MattD..

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