Neutral lines reversed
I was camping last weekend and I noticed that my powerline protector indicated that the neutral lines for the 50 amp service were reversed to the power line coming in to my fifth wheel. Is this a big issue?
Forum Discussion
- There is only one neutral
Check the labeling of the lines once again. - reversed polarity on AC Power means Hot & Neutral are swapped.
Open the 50A Breaker and the Neutral remains HOT (energized)
Folks can be electricuted should that make contact with 'live' neutral and ground source
Appliances/electonic equipment can be damaged due to live voltage being present causing overheating of circuits
Notify CG Staff and have them correct/check wiring at power pedestal - If one of the hots and neutral were reversed, half of a 50 amp rig would have a 240 volt supply. That would certainly be detected by the first user as equipment in the RV went up in smoke.
- I'm with MEX on this one but I'm going to subscribe anyway just to see where it goes.
- I wonder if the equipment is reading that neutral and ground are reversed?
- Were you on 50 or 30 amps?
On 50 amps Reversing the two hot leads. makes no difference and in fact can not be detected
Reversing one hot and the neutral You'd know about it fast and the surge protector faster so it would protect you.
reversing neutral and ground is possible but again should NOT be detectable - I would like to know what you mean by the neutral lines reversed.
Bill.Satellite wrote:
I wonder if the equipment is reading that neutral and ground are reversed?
There's no electrical way to detect such a fault, since the only difference between neutral and ground lies in what purpose they serve and whether the physical wire has a jacket around it. Both are connected together (bonded) at the main service entrance, so both are at the same or very nearly the same potential.
(Just for clarity, note that the RV's electric panel is not the "main service entrance" referred to above; ground and neutral should be kept strictly separated in the RV electric panel.)grizz272 wrote:
OK... exactly what protector do you have and what indicators were illuminated?
I was camping last weekend and I noticed that my powerline protector indicated that the neutral lines for the 50 amp service were reversed to the power line coming in to my fifth wheel. Is this a big issue?
