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Billy..I hope you never make a mistake in your job, no matter how small.
Like I said before, one miswired outlet is not nearly the same as a wrench in a buss bar, or wiring ALL the outlets wrong.
I can tell you that its pretty rare to find a PERFECT electrical job. I may inspect a perfect panel, all the outlets check out fine, GFCI's where they are supposed to be, yet a bunch of j-boxes are missing covers. By your logic, these guys should be turned in too.
I'm in no way saying reverse polarity is OK. I was just making a comment about wanting to throw someone under the bus. This who live in glass houses......
I was taught how to properly wire outlets...
And I was taught to test the wiring on ALL outlets I have wired with a multimeter BEFORE plugging anything into it.
Also not to assume previously done work was done correctly (white/black correct). Check and double check this stuff!
Note I have worked around some pretty expensive industrial equipment and also have worked around some highly competent electricians, and engineers.
FYI - The reason I am posting this is for YOU whoever might be reading this. Note that if you accidentally wire the hot wire to the ground connection on a kitchen range outlet and don't test before plugging in the range, grandma may get electrocuted when she goes to cook something! Just saying...
Interesting answers. The electrician who did the work definitely was contacted to repair it. There also were open grounds in some of the outlets. My house probably did not represent his work at its finest...
Billy..congratulations on being a perfect electrician! You are a rare breed if you check every single connection you make with a multimeter, AND have never made a mistake. A rare breed indeed.
In case you didn't know, reverse polarity at a 120 V outlet is not HOT to GROUND, and its a far cry from wiring a 240V outlet HOT to GROUND. You are comparing apples to oranges.
AGAIN...I'm not saying RP is OK. I just made a comment regarding the comments made by the holier than thou about throwing someone under the bus.
Your initial comment about contacting the company that did the wiring, and that it was probably done by a newbie, or helper was spot on by the way.
...In case you didn't know, reverse polarity at a 120 V outlet is not HOT to GROUND, and its a far cry from wiring a 240V outlet HOT to GROUND. You are comparing apples to oranges...
Correct. But someone wiring one type of outlet incorrectly will probably wire other types of outlets incorrectly - later on. Best to teach then how to do it right from the get-go! (Is my thinking.)
I'm into teaching people how to do it right, not into hanging them by the thumbs BTW. I'm a BIG promoter of electrical safety.
Last month, I went around to replace my ungrounded outlets with grounded ones [the boxes were already grounded, just no grounded outlets for some reason]. About half of the outlets were three prong grounded outlets.
After swapping out my outlets (and double checking them, both with one of those testers and then again with a meter), I went around and checked all the current ones.
Two of them were reverse polarity. I thought this is something the home inspector would have caught when I bought the house 6 months ago but I guess he only said he checked them all.
Regardless, my point is, it's cheap, quick, and easy to buy a tester and use it. I think it's definitely worth checking every outlet and I will be doing so during the inspection myself for the next house I buy. [Being my first home buying experience, I was naive not to do so, or not to follow the inspector around while he was supposedly doing this].
Last month, I went around to replace my ungrounded outlets with grounded ones [the boxes were already grounded, just no grounded outlets for some reason]. About half of the outlets were three prong grounded outlets.
After swapping out my outlets (and double checking them, both with one of those testers and then again with a meter), I went around and checked all the current ones.
Two of them were reverse polarity. I thought this is something the home inspector would have caught when I bought the house 6 months ago but I guess he only said he checked them all.
Regardless, my point is, it's cheap, quick, and easy to buy a tester and use it. I think it's definitely worth checking every outlet and I will be doing so during the inspection myself for the next house I buy. [Being my first home buying experience, I was naive not to do so, or not to follow the inspector around while he was supposedly doing this].
Yes do check!
Note that surge protectors for computers and electronics work much better when plugged into a properly grounded outlet. They actually "shunt" excess voltage to "ground" as one form of keeping the nasty electricity away from your electronics.
So best to have properly wired outlets! (For safety too.)
less-than-year-old first wiring job, by a professional...
And
Quote:
...Could it have to do with the existing wiring be too hard to access?
Less than a year old; with hard to access existing wiring.
If this was retrofit to existing wiring, It's possible the electrician grabbed power from an existing circuit that was incorrectly wired upstream (polarity reversed) unbeknownst to him. He continued downstream black to hot, white to neutral, copper to ground (green).
Still, he should have checked it. Nearly all people tend to get complacent doing the same menial job thousands of times. It's human nature. In a case like I described, the black IS hot 99% of the time.
Or, maybe he was just incompetent. There are good tradesman and bad, and they (nearly) all have licenses.
Nope, not overboard at all. If Joe Schmo from down the street did it, he might get a pass. A licensed electrician charges good money for a good reason - his professionalism and your safety. Would you give a pipefitter a pass if your gas line leaked "only a little?" Would you accept the work of a plumber who left a hidden leak? Would you accept the work of a carpenter who forgot to attach a floor joist or two? How about if you had kids?
Polarity is such a basic to the job that even the lowest apprentice would get a butt chewing for messing it up.
And if it was me, I would be checking all the outlets, and check that the same numbskull didn't put the light switches in such that they "break" the neutral instead of the "hot" wire.
I think the inspector is more guilty than the electrician. Again, a professional who the public counts on to check that things are done right, dropped the ball.
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