Wall outlet problems: circuit tester shows all three lights, possibly hot neutral reverse. HELP!!?
Question:Here's what happened: i was replacing an outlet and crossed the wires to the outlet-- it looked like this
W B w being white or neutral, b being black/hot
B W
when it should have been
W B
W B
the circuit breaker tripped, i reset it and it tripped again.
i put the wires to the right places then i turned on the power and it did not trip. Now here's my problem. two other outlets including the one being replaced are not working and show three lights when tested, which doesn't have a definition for the device. Please help and thank you in advance
James
Answers:
Remember, white goes to silver black goes to gold (brass) make sure your ground is in place, I use copper bushings to ensure a nice tight fit. I wired our house so that supply coming into the box is on top, power out on the bottom, that is to say to the next outlet. Make sure that your loops for around the screws are going in the same direction as the screw so that when you tighten it, the connection is becoming more secure. As warned, make sure that your breaker is off. Test again. If it is still reading wrong, check with an electrician. It may be expensive, but so is losing your house to an electrical fire. Good luck.
were there only two pairs of wires or were there more than two pairs
if more than two pairs, you may have lost contact in a made up connection (wires tied and taped and pushed back in box)
if this is case you might check the tied wires to see if any are loose
DO ALL THIS WITH BREAKER OFF AND STILL CHECK FIRST WITH A SCREWDRIVER------I HAVE SEEN BREAKERS IN OFF POSITION THAT STILL HAVE POWER
WHEN WORKING WITH ELECTRICITY AND RATTLESNAKES --TAKE NOTHING FOR GRANTED
YOUR LIFE IS HANGING IN THE BALANCE
call an electrician it will work out better in the long run
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