Line or Neutral?

StevenACNJ · « **on:** 13 May 2006, 10:52 am »

I am having major brain freeze this morning

Need your help with a quick question.

While looking at the male end of a standard 3 prong power cord, the wide blade, is it the line or neutral blade?

I do remember which one is ground, so havent totally gone off the deep end.

Thanks in advance.

markC · « **Reply #1 on:** 13 May 2006, 01:08 pm »

Wide blade is neutral.

JoshK · « **Reply #2 on:** 13 May 2006, 07:31 pm »

mark is right. How I remember is that it is more important to maintain neutral contact than live contact for safety. If the you have live contact but no neutral contact, that spells danger, so the big blade is to provide a reallly good contact.

This may be oversimplified, but it works for helping remember which is which.

Dan Banquer · « **Reply #3 on:** 13 May 2006, 08:11 pm »

You guys are doing better than I am. I have to go and measure because I can never seem to remember. Is that what they call a senior moment?

d.b.

JoshK · « **Reply #4 on:** 13 May 2006, 08:16 pm »

Well it is always prudent to measure anyhow, cause there is no gaurantee that whoever hooked up the outlet, hooked it up with correct polarity. In my house, it was about 50-50 between ones that were correct and ones that were reverse polarity. I think it was because previous homeowners did the wiring and weren't careful.

Dan Banquer · « **Reply #5 on:** 13 May 2006, 08:21 pm »

I hope you or your electrician corrected all the ones that were not wired correctly.
d.b.

JoshK · « **Reply #6 on:** 13 May 2006, 08:23 pm »

I did. I am my own electrician. My inspector pointed it out to me when we had our initial inspection.

I have one of those little three prong lighted testers that tells you if it is grounded, what polarity, etc. Its pretty slick. I think it costs $5 at the orange box.

Dan Banquer · « **Reply #7 on:** 13 May 2006, 08:47 pm »

Way to go Josh!
d.b.

Gordy · « **Reply #8 on:** 13 May 2006, 09:52 pm »

I found that about 30% of my recepticles were reversed and they were installed by contractors during a remodeling 10 yrs. ago...

I also came across a so called audiophile/upgraded power cord that was wired in reverse. That one had me going for some time as I couldn't figure out why anyone would build a fused power switch with the fuse on the neutral line

mgalusha · « **Reply #9 on:** 14 May 2006, 01:12 am »

Always check as outlets aren't the only things people wire incorrectly. I found that all of the lights in our basement were wired with neutral as the switched circuit. I found this out the hard way changing a flourescent lamp. It had a leaky ballest and a poor ground and since it was still directly connected to the hot side even with the switch off I received a nasty jolt. Fortunately it was limited to part of my arm and hand.

I was greatful to be alive but mad as hell because some ass clown didn't know the electrical code. The only thing in the room wired correctly was the outlet, the light and ceiling fan (bathroom) were both wrong. Always measure or use a tester for outlets.

Dan Banquer · « **Reply #10 on:** 14 May 2006, 01:39 pm »

Quote from: Gordy

I found that about 30% of my recepticles were reversed and they were installed by contractors during a remodeling 10 yrs. ago...

I also came across a so called audiophile/upgraded power cord that was wired in reverse. That one had me going for some time as I couldn't figure out why anyone would build a fused power switch with the fuse on the neutral line

Actually Gordy, the fuse on the neutral side is not so bad as you might think. The current that flows on the hot side also flows in the neutral side. Hot side fusing is still better however, because if a short happens from Hot to Earth then the fuse on the Hot side will blow. If you really want to go whole hog here, fuse both hot and neutral.
Hope this helps;
d.b.

markC · « **Reply #11 on:** 14 May 2006, 01:45 pm »

I definately agree with the above advice. NEVER assume that someone else wired your circuits correctly. Measure and you will know. Got a nice "lifter" working on a furnace one time. I turned the switch off and stated to disconnect the wiring and WHAM! Turns out that the monkey who installed it switched neutral instead of hot. Now I check first.

andyr · « **Reply #12 on:** 15 May 2006, 12:04 pm »

Quote from: mgalusha

... Always check, as outlets aren't the only things people wire incorrectly. I was greatful to be alive but mad as hell because some ass clown didn't know the electrical code. The only thing in the room wired correctly was the outlet, the light and ceiling fan (bathroom) were both wrong. ...

Hi mgalusha,

With respect, yes, the electrican was an f'wit but in your country don't you have State electrical inspectors who are supposed to check what the "workers" have done? So if there's a problem, it's the fault of the inspectors just as much as the moron who did the wiring?

I say this bcoz, when we moved into our house 18 years ago, the so-called "State Electrical inspectors" made their inspection and left a wire loose in the switchboard which nearly electrocuted the electrician when he came to "fix the problem"!!

But, in the intervening time, I have not found one light or p/point which was wrongly wired!

Regards,

Andy

bubba966 · « **Reply #13 on:** 15 May 2006, 11:41 pm »

Yes, we have electrical inspectors in the U.S.. But they don't inspect the work after lights/switches/outlets/etc. have been installed. They inspect the work right before the installation of such things or before the drywall is put up.

But you don't have to have a licensed electrician do the electrical work in your house. Sure, it'd be hard to wire your house up to code if you weren't an electrician. You'd just have lost to fix before the inspector passed the electrical.

Not to mention there's a lot of stuff that does get done w/out being inspected. But I'd bet that doesn't help with insurance claims...

mgalusha · « **Reply #14 on:** 16 May 2006, 01:41 am »

Hi Andy,

As Brian mentioned, there are plenty of inspectors but unless they are involved they won't be of any assistance.

When our home was built the basement was unfinished and given the quality or rather the lack of quality of the work, both electrical and carpentry, I suspect the previous owner performed the work and not a licensed contractor. Legally they are supposed to obtain a building permit and have the requisite inspections but I have no idea if this was done.

Mike