"wb" <archangele66@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:8beda$483df4f3$4b5916bd$29945@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Hi,
>
> When I was a kid in the 60's I distinctly remember measuring the
line
> voltage at the wall sockets with my Simpson 260 and it measured 117 -
120
> volts AC. I measure pretty much the same where I am now. Line voltages
> vary from place to place. the voltages have been called 120, 115, 117
and
> 110 in my lifetime. 220 has been called 220, 230 and 240.
> I always check outlets in at least a couple places when I move into a
> new house. One thing that will make me check every outlet is if they are
> in upside down (single ground hole up, two long thin holes down). Every
> now and then I run into an electrician who puts all the sockets in
upside
> down, claiming that 'if a knife or some thin object fell down the wall,
it
> would not cause a short. Uh DUUUH! like there isn't a 50 50 chance it is
> going to slide the wrong way and short ground to hot?
> Usually, these guy's work is ass backwards. It gets real hinky when they
> do 220. Your plugs are hanging upside down with the cord dropping off
the
> wall at an odd angle and out into the room or appliance's back.
> Kind of like a plumber who puts the hot water control on the right.
> It works, but it is clumsy at best to use. Anyway, the only time I have
> seen hot and neutral reversed is when I came across sockets that were
> installed upside down.
> You are correct in that they sell real cheap testers which can save
> you a lot of headaches by alerting you to improper wiring.
The UK BS1363 13-Amp socket checkers/testers I remember are plug-ins made
by
Martindale (also by others) and any faults are interpreted by observing
the wrong on/off combinations derived from 3 neons (all should be lit if
OK).
Still around...Maybe just over a tenner nowadays.
There is a buzzer-too model.
http://www.martindale-electric.co.uk/sockets.htm
Jim
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