MOTM

I am hooking up a Power One supply and I plugged a three prong AC cable into 
the wall to measure what connector was hot and what was neutral. Just to double 
check, a short while later I plugged in another three prong AC cable to refresh 
my memory only to find hot and neutral swapped. I tried about 10 other three 
prong cables and it looks like I have just one where hot and neutral are 
swapped. I realize that perhaps this might not be overly important, but I've 
been assuming that the hot single would be fused. Are there no standards here 
at all?

-Elhardt

There certainly are!!!

The correct way to wire a 120VAC receptacle is as follows:

Looking at the receptacle face on, the ground pins should be aligned 
downwards. This will result in the larger of the two prongs aligned 
to the left. This larger prong is the Neutral. The smaller prong is 
the Live. Also the live is usually indicated by a brass-type metal 
screw, while the neutral is usually silverish in appearance.

Also, avoid plugging interconnected gear into receptacles on opposite 
walls of a house- agreat way to destroy gear and life.

Be careful.

R.\

 --- In motm@yahoogroups.com, elhardt@a... wrote:
> I am hooking up a Power One supply and I plugged a three prong AC 
cable into 
> the wall to measure what connector was hot and what was neutral. 
Just to double 
> check, a short while later I plugged in another three prong AC 
cable to refresh 
> my memory only to find hot and neutral swapped. I tried about 10 
other three 
> prong cables and it looks like I have just one where hot and 
neutral are 
> swapped. I realize that perhaps this might not be overly important, 
but I've 
> been assuming that the hot single would be fused. Are there no 
standards here 

> at all?
> 
> -Elhardt

Phaeton777 writes:
>>Looking at the receptacle face on, the ground pins should be aligned 
downwards. This will result in the larger of the two prongs aligned 
to the left. This larger prong is the Neutral. The smaller prong is 
the Live. Also the live is usually indicated by a brass-type metal 
screw, while the neutral is usually silverish in appearance.<<

It sounds like you're talking about house wiring. I'm talking about the AC 
portion of a power supply. I know that the smaller slot in the wall outlet is 
hot and the larger neutral, but when I plug a three prong AC power between the 
wall and the power supply, I have at least one cord that flips the hot and 
neutral opposite of the other cords I've tested. That means there really isn't 
anyway for me to guarantee what is coming into my power supply. It seems to me 
there might be applications where one might want to know that. Maybe the only 
way to know is to use a two prong AC cord with the two different size connector 
tabs.

-Elhardt

There certainly are standards. :)  However, there are also those who believe
that hooking up an outlet is "cake" that have no idea what standards are.
So, unless you wired the outlet yourself, it could be wrong.  I cannot speak
to overseas standards, so all you  guys outside of the US please " pay no
attention to the man behind the curtain."

Over many years of gigging I found one of the most common wiring errors is
the reversed neutral and hot connection on 120 Volt AC outlets.  While you
will find debate over ground up or ground down (let's not start a new one),
the shorter "slot" of the two current carrying connections is always
supposed to be hot. I always traveled with one of those $ 4 LED outlet
checkers, just because it was quick and safe for anyone to use.

When you get to the colors (in the US again) black is hot, white neutral,
and green ground.  Although I see a lot of AC cables out there with brown,
blue and something else. I used to know what that was too.

Be careful and never assume the outlet is right until you prove it.
Larry

----- Original Message -----
From: <elhardt@...>
To: <motm@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, January 11, 2003 9:57 PM
Subject: [motm] AC Power, are there no standards?


I am hooking up a Power One supply and I plugged a three prong AC cable into
the wall to measure what connector was hot and what was neutral. Just to
double
check, a short while later I plugged in another three prong AC cable to
refresh
my memory only to find hot and neutral swapped. I tried about 10 other three
prong cables and it looks like I have just one where hot and neutral are
swapped. I realize that perhaps this might not be overly important, but I've
been assuming that the hot single would be fused. Are there no standards
here
at all?

-Elhardt



Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

Actually, it doesn't matter (with one exception) whether hot and 
neutral are reversed between the wall and your ps. The hot and 
neutral just go to either end of the transformer primary - there are 
no polarity issues. What's important is that the ground wire goes to 
the chassis of your power supply.

There is an issue if you have your AC line fused. You want the fuse 
on the hot side if possible.

Moe

>>>>
It sounds like you're talking about house wiring. I'm talking about 
the AC portion of a power supply. 
<<<<

> When you get to the colors (in the US again) black is hot, white neutral,
> and green ground.  Although I see a lot of AC cables out there with brown,
> blue and something else. I used to know what that was too.

european standard:
brown - live
blue - neutral
green/yellow striped - earth

replaces the old uk standard of:
red - live
black - neutral
green - earth

cheers
paul b
sheffield / uk

That's it.  Thanks Paul  Odd enough, we still see AC cables here in the US
with those (first) standard colors even though the cord clearly has a US
style plug. :)

LH

----- Original Message -----
From: Sikorsky <vulture.squadron@...>
To: MOTM List <motm@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 12, 2003 10:38 AM
Subject: Re: [motm] AC Power, are there no standards?


> When you get to the colors (in the US again) black is hot, white neutral,
> and green ground.  Although I see a lot of AC cables out there with brown,
> blue and something else. I used to know what that was too.

european standard:
brown - live
blue - neutral
green/yellow striped - earth

replaces the old uk standard of:
red - live
black - neutral
green - earth

cheers
paul b
sheffield / uk




Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

Larry Hendry writes:
>>When you get to the colors (in the US again) black is hot, white neutral,
and green ground.<<

OK, now that we are finally away from the wall socket talk of which I know 
there are standards, it's interesting that you mentioned the above colors. 
Because on the motm power supply, it appears that white is hot and black 
neutral. But even if wall sockets and power supplies are wired up to some 
standard, that gets shot to hell if the makers of removable power cord don't 
follow a standard as I have come across.

-Elhardt