Well my surge protector saved me one more time.

Rbertalotto wrote:
What do folks recommend for Surge Guard protection......or are you simply reading the socket with a tester before you plug in?

Testing at the outlet just tells you what it is now it won't protect you if conditions change. I use a Surge Guard. You can look hear.
http://trci.net/products/surge-guard-rv
Bill

I wish the voltage detector sensed earth. I had the wire up a 3/2 receptacle adapter with a five foot wire soldered onto the metal tab that the attachment screw goes through



See the metal tab on the bottom. The one with the hole?
It's connected to the ground terminal of the adapter.

If a long wire is attached that can reach a cement floor or tile over cement floor...



An aggressive alligator clip can be soldered onto the floor end of this wire.

The alligator clip clutches a coin, placed on the floor.

A thick wad of sopping wet toilet paper (from the sink, dummy) is slopped atop the coin and dampened every several hours.

I shorted 15-amps through this circuit and it worked fine.

The building or structure must be concrete and/or have a concrete slab floor for this to work.

But it provides an earth ground for sensitive electronics. Bare feet and two prong receptacles do not like each other. Staying in a hotel down here, it's either this, or nothing.

Ozlander wrote:

camperkilgore wrote:
Most of the time reverse polarity plugs present no problem.

Scenario #2: We're using an old trouble light, and the finger accidentally comes in contact with the outside of the metal socket that holds the light bulb in place. The socket is always connected to the neutral wire, so no big deal... unless the trouble light is plugged in to an outlet with reversed polarity. In this case, we'll get a shock. If this happens while we're laying on the garage floor working on a car, there's a good chance that this could be the last shock we ever get. This can also happen with old table lamps that have exposed metal sockets.

Old trouble lights and table lamps can be plugged in either way, so the polarity of the receptacle makes no difference.

Splitting hairs.......

The example suggested above is not the best, but it only demonstrates what might happen when an outlet is reversed. Old trouble lights are not something that wise people use, but there are an awful lot of unwise people out there.

In the old days there were only two pronged outlets, which proved to be unsafe. The National Electrical Code dictated 3 prong outlets in new construction and so lowered the hazard.
If an appliance only has two prongs(and is not an old appliance) the neutral blade of the plug is larger so that it can only be plugged in one way.

This is electrical 101 to many, but some might appreciate this knowledge, and will not nitpick.

I have a no-touch voltage detector... no ground or other connection needed.

Ductape wrote:
OK, I will bite.

IF the ground was open, as reported- then how was the allegedly reversed "polarity" determined?

Think about it.

Ground is "open" in that it's not bonded to supposed neutral; that is, 120V is not detected between the supposed hot and the ground line.

Reverse polarity would imply that ground is bonded to the supposed hot terminal. Most likely it's merely a reversed hot and neutral at the socket, with ground bonded to the (actual) neutral line that is connected to the (putative) hot terminal.

Ductape wrote:
OK, I will bite.

IF the ground was open, as reported- then how was the allegedly reversed "polarity" determined?

Think about it.

Good catch! If this was about a 3-light tester, the answer would be an easy it's impossible for the tester to determine both conditions. Since 2 of the 3 lights are wired to the ground terminal, only 1 light could possibly light with both conditions present, and it takes 2 to indicate reverse polarity. Note however that the original post said "bad ground", which a 3-light tester could possibly show if there was some voltage on the ground wire. Similarly, I'd think the EMS could possibly detect a "poor" ground with reversed polarity but the algorithm would not be 100% accurate. No matter anyway, the PI EMS book I looked at says the only ground fault it detects is "open ground", which of course can't be detected simultaneously with polarity detection, since ground is the reference for the polarity detection. If I were placing odds what's behind this, they'd be on a software bug in the EMS.

Ductape check any plug-in receptacle tester and you will see fault indicators that will show polarity reversal AND lack of earth simultaneously.

When electricians start treating trees then I will accept Park Rangers knowing **** from Shinola about electrical work.

OK, I will bite.

IF the ground was open, as reported- then how was the allegedly reversed "polarity" determined?

Think about it.

WyoTraveler wrote:
Wrong polarity?:h

Standing barefoot in some water and the power is on.... would you prefer to grab the neutral or the hot?

Now what if it was unknowingly reversed?


OK somehow you survive that and you need to replace something in the RV. You turn off power at the breaker and you are safe good-to-go right? Except the park has the power reversed so power is feeding in on the neutral....