Electrical conundrum quiz
I have solved this problem, but thought the electrical experts might try their hand at diagnosing this problem. My father in law made a homemade extension cord. He took a 12/2 wG cable and put a pl...
Forum Discussion
wnjj wrote:Hiking Hunter wrote:OP, are you 100% sure of the switch ON/OFF state for the light cases? Did you re-check things after "fixing" it? Did you take apart and check all of his connections?
I'm having a hard time buying that...
I understand how a couple of loose whiskers can give a false indication for a hot-neutral reverse when the switch is open, but when you close the switch the whiskers would immediately be burned or the breaker would blow, UNLESS the whiskers provided just a high resistance connection and not a dead short. BUT, If that were the case and the breaker didn't blow, then why wasn't the load powered?
But, I don't have any better explanation.
Yes, I am 100% sure of the switch ON/OFF state. I rechecked with the tester immediately after re-wiring the plug and everything was right. I did check his other connections, later, but they were acceptable.
wnjj wrote:Bobbo wrote:
That let enough current go up the neutral wire to give a hot/neutral reversed test when the switch was off.
With the switch off (and truly switching the hot wire), where is there any current in the system at all?
The neutral wire was energized at the plug, before the switch, so it was hot all the time. That is why the tester showed a HOT/NEUTRAL reversal even with the switch off.
wnjj wrote:
Did you by chance take more than one wire apart in the plug and put them back correctly in the process?
No. I took each wire off, one at a time, twisted the wires and put them back in place. At no time was more than one wire loose.
Think of it this way:
1: Run ground wire to ground pin.
2: Run hot wire to neutral pin.
3. run hot wire to switch then to hot pin.
Now, with the switch off, you have hot/neutral reversal. With the switch on, you still have hot/neutral reversal, but you also have power on the third light, which is the light showing a hot/ground connection. That is the best I can describe it.
What I don't understand is why it didn't blow a fuse or burn up the strands that were crossed, since the neutral wire was also hooked to the neutral pin.
I agree that the symptoms are not explained. That is why I have posted this here, hoping someone with more knowledge can enlighten me.
