On Wed, Jan 1, 2025, 6:14 PM Jerry Miel via <jmiel=[email protected]> wrote:
Here is what I do.? Use a voltmeter on the AC voltage range.?
Hold one lead in you hand and stick the other lead in the socket.?
The low side will be essentially zero.? The high side will show
some voltage, like 47 volts.? The voltmeter is a high impedance
between you and the electric line and your body is another high
impedance to ground.? I have often used this method and lived to
tell about it.? Never felt a tingle.? Caution, make sure you are
on a voltage setting, not a current setting.
Jerry, W6XL
On 1/1/2025 3:03 PM, don Root via
wrote:
Skip,
The codes said for a long time neutral is the white wire?
and hot is the black wire. You can check that by using a
meter connected to a copper water line where the hot should
be 120 and neutral = nothing [maybe needing a very long wire
to reach the water line ] ?but? if the wiring has no ground
wire? things get messy as the an ungrounded polarized
receptacle is likely hard to get.? You should most likely
?install a 3-wire cable. I am too far out of date to know
what the codes allow now when updating older houses.
My house was built in 1955 and has several
outlets that are unpolarized outlets. If I replace an outlet
with a 2-prong polarized outlet (neutral opening larger than
the hot opening) how do tell which wire is hot?
Thanks.
Skip Magnuson