Black is neutral, Plz-KThnkz!

IWETHEY v. 0.3.0 | TODO

1,095 registered users | 0 active users | 0 LpH | Statistics
Login | Create New User

Welcome to IWETHEY!

Post #214,196

by folkert

7/11/05 11:48:48 AM

Black is neutral, Plz-KThnkz!

--
[link|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net|greg],
[link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ i_wethey
[image|http://www.danasoft.com/vipersig.jpg||||]

Post #214,225

by tuberculosis

7/11/05 1:54:41 PM

No - black is *supposed* to be neutral

If you have a new house and you are the sole owner, black is probably reliably neutral everywhere. If you have an older house, and just one previous owner was a careless do it yourselfer, then any color wire can carry any kind of charge.

You need a meter and a good dollop of paranoia tempered with (un)common sense to work on such a house.

Serously, get a polarity tester (little pluggy thing with a couple lights on it) and walk around your house with it. If you are not the first owner, I will give you ten to one that at least one outlet shows up flipped.

"Whenever you find you are on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect"   --Mark Twain

"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."   --Albert Einstein

"This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mental losses."   --George W. Bush

Post #214,264

by admin

7/11/05 3:41:05 PM

Yep.

And I've got at least one outlet in the house (38 yo house) that has flipped colors AND it stays slightly hot even after the circuit breaker is flipped. I haven't figured where it comes from yet, either.

Regards,

-scott anderson

"Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."

Post #214,312

by static

7/11/05 7:57:48 PM

This is true.

My father (an electrician) was working on a friend's small factory, putting in ELCBs. He discovered some very peculiar cross-circuit wiring - like a set of lights on one circuit breaker using the neutral for another circuit. Took him a little while to sort that out.

Wade.

Save Fintlewoodlewix

Post #214,233

by imric

7/11/05 2:21:19 PM

Back when I passed the NEC test

in '78, my teacher always referred to it as the 'return'. It's a habit borne of age...

[link|http://www.runningworks.com|

]

Imric's Tips for Living

Paranoia Is a Survival Trait
Pessimists are never disappointed - but sometimes, if they are very lucky, they can be pleasantly surprised...
Even though everyone is out to get you, it doesn't matter unless you let them win.

Nothing is as simple as it seems in the beginning,
As hopeless as it seems in the middle,
Or as finished as it seems in the end.

Blown electrical outlets - (bionerd) - (49) - July 8, 2005, 01:00:16 PM EDT

R! GOWYSC! -NT - (drewk) - July 8, 2005, 01:30:42 PM EDT

Some things to check. - (Another Scott) - July 8, 2005, 02:01:34 PM EDT

Might be the startup surge of the dehumidifier when treadmil - (boxley) - July 8, 2005, 02:22:30 PM EDT

Re: Blown electrical outlets - (Ashton) - July 8, 2005, 07:49:35 PM EDT

Electric outlets are simple. And deadly. - (Silverlock) - (1) - July 8, 2005, 10:41:16 PM EDT

Nothing a screwdriver and hammer can't fix! -NT - (ChrisR) - July 8, 2005, 11:31:46 PM EDT

how old is the house? - (cforde) - (42) - July 9, 2005, 04:07:15 AM EDT

Was hoping I could fix it with duct tape....... - (bionerd) - (41) - July 9, 2005, 11:49:40 AM EDT

Wisdom -NT - (Steve Lowe) - (28) - July 9, 2005, 01:24:40 PM EDT

Yeah, but what fun is that? -NT - (Andrew Grygus) - (27) - July 9, 2005, 08:23:14 PM EDT

:-) -NT - (Another Scott) - (26) - July 9, 2005, 08:26:05 PM EDT

re: what fun is that? - (imqwerky) - (25) - July 9, 2005, 10:30:45 PM EDT

Now yer cookin! -NT - (Ashton) - July 10, 2005, 02:29:48 AM EDT

Yup. - (Andrew Grygus) - (23) - July 10, 2005, 04:32:10 AM EDT

Why you little.....(a la Three Stooges) - (imqwerky) - (22) - July 11, 2005, 10:47:42 AM EDT

EEs don't *work* with electricity - (drewk) - (2) - July 11, 2005, 10:57:15 AM EDT

You keep forgetting... - (folkert) - (1) - July 11, 2005, 11:45:40 AM EDT

Okay, I can't help this one, but ROFLMAO!!!!! - (imqwerky) - July 11, 2005, 01:49:31 PM EDT

Still gotta be careful - (imric) - (5) - July 11, 2005, 11:15:07 AM EDT

Black is neutral, Plz-KThnkz! -NT - (folkert) - (4) - July 11, 2005, 11:48:48 AM EDT

No - black is *supposed* to be neutral - (tuberculosis) - (2) - July 11, 2005, 01:54:41 PM EDT

Yep. - (admin) - July 11, 2005, 03:41:05 PM EDT

This is true. - (static) - July 11, 2005, 07:57:48 PM EDT

Back when I passed the NEC test - (imric) - July 11, 2005, 02:21:19 PM EDT

I know - (imqwerky) - (1) - July 11, 2005, 11:43:52 AM EDT

I'm convinced - (imric) - July 11, 2005, 12:33:15 PM EDT

8 months pregnant? - (Andrew Grygus) - (10) - July 11, 2005, 12:04:10 PM EDT

Or maybe... - (folkert) - (9) - July 11, 2005, 12:20:14 PM EDT

Amy makes it hard to resist - (ben_tilly) - (8) - July 11, 2005, 12:43:14 PM EDT

So True. - (folkert) - July 11, 2005, 12:50:15 PM EDT

Groan - (imqwerky) - (6) - July 11, 2005, 01:57:41 PM EDT

Save that groan... - (ben_tilly) - July 11, 2005, 02:37:39 PM EDT

Is admin king of the bad pun? - (imqwerky) - (4) - July 11, 2005, 02:54:10 PM EDT

Better behave or I'll have to lock you back in the closet! - (ChrisR) - (2) - July 11, 2005, 03:18:43 PM EDT

Wrong sponge... - (admin) - July 11, 2005, 03:34:17 PM EDT

Oops! - (imqwerky) - July 11, 2005, 05:59:00 PM EDT

ICLRPD - (ben_tilly) - July 11, 2005, 04:26:10 PM EDT

"Friend" huh? - (drewk) - (1) - July 11, 2005, 09:19:45 AM EDT

"Good" Friend - (bionerd) - July 11, 2005, 02:33:21 PM EDT

You can - (tuberculosis) - (9) - July 11, 2005, 01:55:27 PM EDT

Already did that - (bionerd) - (8) - July 11, 2005, 02:39:24 PM EDT

If nothing else, the climbing is a good warm-up exercise :) -NT - (Meerkat) - (7) - July 12, 2005, 08:16:04 AM EDT

Yeah, until I fall off the dryer and break something else - (bionerd) - (6) - July 12, 2005, 09:39:51 AM EDT

"Haven't you heard? Bumbles bounce!" -NT - (n3jja) - (5) - July 12, 2005, 06:49:26 PM EDT

My stars. - (static) - (4) - July 13, 2005, 12:10:20 AM EDT

That's too easy. - (Another Scott) - (3) - July 13, 2005, 12:15:15 AM EDT

Just put one foot ... in front of ... the oth-er -NT - (drewk) - (2) - July 13, 2005, 09:09:44 AM EDT

and soon you'll be walking out the door-or-or! - (bionerd) - (1) - July 13, 2005, 09:45:29 AM EDT

ICLRPD (new thread) - (drewk) - July 13, 2005, 09:57:39 AM EDT

iwethey.org

Seriously, for someone who shows some signs of intelligence, the consistency with which you misunderstand anything inconvenient to you is quite amazing.
82 ms