DirtyLunka
Member
My brother want's to replace some receptacles in his house with reverse polarity. Should I track down the issue or is this a minor problem.
reverse polarity?
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mivey
Senior Member
If it were mine, I would want to know how the polarity got reversed and where.
add: it could be an indicator of other things being done wrong.
Imagine the screw shell of a lamp being the hot.
As you start to screw the lamp in, the shell is hot as you can touch it.
Seems like it's a problem to me.....
DirtyLunka
Member
This just means the hot and ground are reversed, right? And the biggest issue would be for future work on the outlets, thinking the white wire is the neutral when it's really the hot correct.
mivey
Senior Member
The biggest issue for me is not just fixing what you know, but finding out what else got messed up by the person(s) who did not know how to wire things correctly to start with. So it might not be "just" the hot & ground being reversed. A jack-leg rarely makes just one mistake.
As for future work, I don't see it being a big issue for qualified personnel as they know to look out for these things. But it is an issue.
More likely live and neutral, not live and ground.
Neutral and ground are two different things.
e57
Senior Member
- Location
- San Francisco, CA
I guess if we really want to be picky about it it would be ungrounded/energized (And of a particular phase, if applicable), grounded, and grounding.... Mixing them up a major problem? Well that depends.... Which ones? How many? On what? Bottom line is that it is a problem and should be fixed. One of the main problems with electricity is that it often works just fine even if it is a hazard to life and limb. One of the good things about it - is that it doesn't leak out on the floor when it breaks. But the worst about it is that it can kill you, or cause you to die in a firery death.
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
In most case reverse polarity means that the white conductor (Neutral or grounded conductor) is install where the black wire of the device should be and the black wire( ungrounded or hot conductor) is installed where the white wire should be. This does not make the white wire the hot.
I might warn you that what I mentioned may not be the case but it is the usual scenario. It is, however, possible that the white conductor is hot etc.
brian john
Senior Member
- Location
- Leesburg, VA
Biggest reason for reversed polarity would be a short on the ungrounded conductor in lieu of repairing the problem they just swapped ungrounded and grounded/neutral.
Find it fix it, you are either an electrician., leaving the issue is IMO moving into the realm of a hack.
Find it fix it, you are either an electrician., leaving the issue is IMO moving into the realm of a hack.
The worst case that I ran across like this was at a gas station. Ungrounded conductor faulted to the underground couduit feeding lighting , direct short. The conductors were welded to the conduit and wouldn't budge. We gave a price to repair which they said was to high and they would leave it as is. We got another service call several months latter for another problem while we were there we asked about the lighting problem. They said another contractor came by worked in the panel for a short time and the problem was fixed. The station has been sold now so who knows what else has been done.
Teaspoon
Senior Member
- Location
- Camden,Tn.
I would definately want correct polarity. for many reasons.
Safety for one.
Also some electrionc devices are sensitive reversed polarity.
I did a service call a few years ago for a lady. she had replaced her dish washer with a new one. she said I know it is a problem in my house not the dish washer it is new never been used. The first thing I did was check voltage & polarity on the Receptacle,
Both were correct. Looked at the male plug it was wired in reverse. I said here is the problem. the lady thought I was stupid I guess. She said I'll be out in the yard if you need me. Rewire the male plug plugged it in the dish washer started filling. She walked back in the kitchen just as it started it's wash cycle. Oh you fixed it she said. I said yes mam, What was wrong with it My Reply it wasn't wired correctly.
In some cases Polarity Makes a differance.
Safety for one.
Also some electrionc devices are sensitive reversed polarity.
I did a service call a few years ago for a lady. she had replaced her dish washer with a new one. she said I know it is a problem in my house not the dish washer it is new never been used. The first thing I did was check voltage & polarity on the Receptacle,
Both were correct. Looked at the male plug it was wired in reverse. I said here is the problem. the lady thought I was stupid I guess. She said I'll be out in the yard if you need me. Rewire the male plug plugged it in the dish washer started filling. She walked back in the kitchen just as it started it's wash cycle. Oh you fixed it she said. I said yes mam, What was wrong with it My Reply it wasn't wired correctly.
In some cases Polarity Makes a differance.
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