[sdiy] Home Wiring question?

[Dave Magnuson]

> Try testing both outlets with one of those little plug-in testers ($10 at 
> Home Depot). That'll tell you if there's anything really wrong.


WARNING!!!!!  I own one of these  outlet testers, and they CAN BE WRONG!!!!

My former landlord had an electrician update my old apartment from a fuse 
panel to circuit breakers.  When connecting 2 pieces of equipment I got a 
big fat blue spark (which killed my receiver).

So I got my Hubble brand outlet tester... the outlet tested fine. ... but if 
I touched the cable-TV coax and the case of the equipment I could feel 
voltage.

So I got out the voltmeter...

- Outlet neutral to outlet ground: 0V
- Outlet neutral to outlet hot: 120V

Everything seemed ok so far

- Coax shield to water pipe: 0 volts
- Coax shield to outlet ground/neutral: 120V
- Coax shield to outlet hot: 0V
- Outlet ground or Neutral to water pipe: 120V

So.. my outlet was wired with hot at 0V, neutral and ground at 120V... and 
the Hubbel outlet tester read "Outlet OK"

Upon further investigation, my house was 2 wire AC (no ground) but someone 
installed 3 prong outlets.   They decided to jumper neutral and ground at 
the outlet rather than leave the third terminal disconnected.   Everything 
was great until the new electric servic was installed and the electrician 
hooked up the two wires backwards.... instant hot chassis on all my studio 
gear.  Admittedly my house was wired in "knob and tube" wiring, so all 
conductors are sheathed in black insulation... but he should have checked 
his work when he was done....

Anyways, the moral of the story is... just use your volt meter and find a 
reliable ground source as a reference :)

Dave Magnuson