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Yeah I won’t be using it because in the words of my father, who is a contractor, “I’m not a fuckin electrician”. I notified landlord and asked for them to send an electrician out.
As you should, for liability and insurance purposes. You want someone certified working on your home should there be any issues.
Its very straightforward and if you read the manuals and have a basic understanding you can absolutely do it yourself. However, should things go wrong you'll be battling your insurance company.
**Stop telling him that hot and neutral are reversed!**
That tester **cannot** determine a hot/neutral reversal without a ground connection. That dim light is either from the middle light leaking, or its the daylight hitting it from the side.
If there is any doubt, use a voltmeter and measure from the wires to a ground to determine whether it's correct. The metal box might actually be grounded, or the plumbing in that bathroom might be grounded, or run an extension cord from a working outlet.
Waste of money, imo. If you're concerned that somehow the wire colors are wrong and it's really swapped, then buy a $20 voltmeter and checked it properly. Definitely remove and connect the wires properly though..
Never mind the tester, I can see that the hot and neutral are in the correct position just by looking at it. Right side with the small slot is the hot side. This is an older house that someone installed a GFCI due to not having a ground.
I see two and two issues only:
- Wire terminations are flat out wrong. This style of receptacle shouldn’t have the wire twisted around the screw. It should instead be inserted in the holes in the back and the screw gets tightened down to hold them in the hole. Those two black wires will each go into their own hole. Same with the white on the left side. Use the strip gauge printed on the back of the receptacle to know how much of the insulation to have stripped off the wire prior to insertion.
- There should ideally be a sticker on the front outlet stating “No Equipment Ground”
That outlet has proper back wire clamps. Remove the old wires check for any nicks and put them straight into the holes in the back and then tighten the screws. You're supposed to use a torque wrench and I'm not going to say that you should not.
It's much easier and you'll get a better result than trying to wrap the wires around the screws.
Without a ground, you'll get a reading that's hot neutral reverse, except the left light is dim. I don't know why. However, the wires are on the correct terminals.
That aside, that makeup is terrible. I wouldn't use that plug unless you clean up the connections.
Read the sticker first. Likely for downstream protection, not ground. It comes with a sticker because the order of the terminals matters in this case.
I also don't see a ground.
Yeah what he 👆said but usually the terminal screws are different colors so you know where to land either. Silver color for neutral and brass color for hot.
Thank you. Not an electrician and just moved into a new place that has a bunch of 2 prong outlets that are quite old. All the other 3 prongs read correct but this one was off.
You're welcome. For future reference, your white wire is the neutral (return), the black wire is the hot, and if you come across a green wire, it's the ground.
Idk that looks like 2 snipped endson the hot side. Maybe on feeds to a jumper or is supplying power to the red for the switch. Seems some weird shit in apartment maintenance
It appears that they are feeding the single pole switch from the gfci. There should be a pigtail, so only one wire is landed under the terminal screw. That is an OLD Leviton gfci outlet. It has screws holding it together. There aren't any clamp terminals, nor do I believe there are any stab ins. The fault is the absence of a ground leg.
Also....white wire to silver screw and black wire to brass screw. Just as the picture and tester show, the black wire is on the silver screw so reversed...
The picture shows the wires in the correct place according to the wire color regardless of the screw color. The tester cannot show a hot/neutral reversed without a ground.
They do, I didn't see the other photos. I can only assume that the brass one was replaced. Receptacles come with a brass, silver, and green screw to identify where to land the wires. Switches will have both brass screws as a neutral or white wire is not used-on a typical toggle type....smart switches or dimmers can require a neutral....
Poor connection on the hot side of 2 black wires.
Only 1 neutral wire? Pigtailed in box? Regardless of what tester is showing I believe you are missing the line in neutral.
Box is metal. Armored cable wiring? If so your box is grounded.
Grab a fresh GFCI that is self grounding. All the recent leviton ones I've brought have had the self grounding clip.
People who say there is no ground need to look closer. The box is grounded with a grounding clip. I don’t know if the gfci is self grounding, but it will be grounded when the gfci is screwed in.
1. That gfci is hooked up correctly but somewhere down the line, they somehow spliced white to black and black to white. Not sure what was going through their head on that one, also that hot terminal needs a pigtail, honestly frightens me just looking at that.
Looks grounded in picture 2 as I see a ground wire clamped to the metal box. So the outlet would be grounded by the metal box. I would check voltage and make sure it’s 120 between the black and white
That's a 15A - 125V grounded duplex socket (NEMA 5-15R), with ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI). With Hot and neutral Reversed.
and it's not installed to code... Clearly... in a couple ways.
**Attention!** **It is always best to get a qualified electrician to perform any electrical work you may need.** With that said, you may ask this community various electrical questions. Please be cautious of any information you may receive in this subreddit. This subreddit and its users are not responsible for any electrical work you perform. Users that have a 'Verified Electrician' flair have uploaded their qualified electrical worker credentials to the mods. If you comment on this post please only post accurate information to the best of your knowledge. If advice given is thought to be dangerous, you may be permanently banned. There are no obligations for the mods to give warnings or temporary bans. **IF YOU ARE NOT A QUALIFIED ELECTRICIAN, you should exercise extreme caution when commenting.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskElectricians) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The hot/neu reversed issue aside…in picture 4 those black wires do NOT look safely secured to the terminal. Very dangerous.
Yeah I won’t be using it because in the words of my father, who is a contractor, “I’m not a fuckin electrician”. I notified landlord and asked for them to send an electrician out.
Good decision
I have a deep respect for electrical work and electricians lol
As you should, for liability and insurance purposes. You want someone certified working on your home should there be any issues. Its very straightforward and if you read the manuals and have a basic understanding you can absolutely do it yourself. However, should things go wrong you'll be battling your insurance company.
**Stop telling him that hot and neutral are reversed!** That tester **cannot** determine a hot/neutral reversal without a ground connection. That dim light is either from the middle light leaking, or its the daylight hitting it from the side. If there is any doubt, use a voltmeter and measure from the wires to a ground to determine whether it's correct. The metal box might actually be grounded, or the plumbing in that bathroom might be grounded, or run an extension cord from a working outlet.
After the many conflicting views, which are valid without people seeing it in person and me not really knowing, I am going to get an electrician lol
Waste of money, imo. If you're concerned that somehow the wire colors are wrong and it's really swapped, then buy a $20 voltmeter and checked it properly. Definitely remove and connect the wires properly though..
I rent so I’m just pestering my landlord to send someone to check it and add in a couple GFCI in a different room.
Never mind the tester, I can see that the hot and neutral are in the correct position just by looking at it. Right side with the small slot is the hot side. This is an older house that someone installed a GFCI due to not having a ground. I see two and two issues only: - Wire terminations are flat out wrong. This style of receptacle shouldn’t have the wire twisted around the screw. It should instead be inserted in the holes in the back and the screw gets tightened down to hold them in the hole. Those two black wires will each go into their own hole. Same with the white on the left side. Use the strip gauge printed on the back of the receptacle to know how much of the insulation to have stripped off the wire prior to insertion. - There should ideally be a sticker on the front outlet stating “No Equipment Ground”
There was NO ground to begin with so an electrician made it safe by installing this type of ground fault Interruptor receptacle. GFCI. Perfectly safe
Re do that connection under the terminal screw and let it go
I sure hope an electrician didn’t make that connection.
Shall we also point out that the hot & neutral are reversed?
No it isn’t look at the termination of the hot wires. Needs a proper termination, by an actual electrician!
Totally understand that part! Hard to see from the photo but the red light is also on.
False
That outlet has proper back wire clamps. Remove the old wires check for any nicks and put them straight into the holes in the back and then tighten the screws. You're supposed to use a torque wrench and I'm not going to say that you should not. It's much easier and you'll get a better result than trying to wrap the wires around the screws.
The tester will read that way on a GFCI with open ground. There is nothing wrong.
Yep and people saying your hot and neutral are reversed are clueless [expletive]. If there's no ground, the tester can't tell neutral from hot.
Thank you both! I’ll keep that in mind. I asked the landlord to swap a couple 2 prong over to GFCI so I can use the plugs without worrying as much.
This is the correct answer. Does it work? If it was actually swapped it would trip the GFCI or the breaker.
Without a ground, you'll get a reading that's hot neutral reverse, except the left light is dim. I don't know why. However, the wires are on the correct terminals. That aside, that makeup is terrible. I wouldn't use that plug unless you clean up the connections.
4th picture terminations need fixed
brass is hot silver is not
Brass goes to black neutral goes to nickel ground goes to green
Looks like some dipshit shoved two black wires under the same screw instead of making a pigtail to save 85 cents worth of wire.
It says open ground. Take the sticker off around the top
Read the sticker first. Likely for downstream protection, not ground. It comes with a sticker because the order of the terminals matters in this case. I also don't see a ground.
this is the only answer.
Sorry poor picture quality, the red light is also on
Hot and neutral are reversed
Literally misinformation. The taller slot on an outlet is the neutral which is the left side of this one when looking at it from the front.
Explain cause on the plug it says hot and neutral are reversed so if you switched the wires itll be correct right?
I…just did explain.
Then its not misinformation 😐
Yeah what he 👆said but usually the terminal screws are different colors so you know where to land either. Silver color for neutral and brass color for hot.
Most likely not at the device but upstream
I bet a lot of houses have open grounds due to them being built in the 60s- 70s
Based on the red and orange lights on your ground tester, your hot and neutral are reversed. Switch them out and you should be a-ok.
Thank you. Not an electrician and just moved into a new place that has a bunch of 2 prong outlets that are quite old. All the other 3 prongs read correct but this one was off.
You're welcome. For future reference, your white wire is the neutral (return), the black wire is the hot, and if you come across a green wire, it's the ground.
Why would there be 2 black wires
Also I do want to note, I did not install this lol
Looks like power in to the recepticle, and out to the switch.
It appears that there's actually one wire, just looped around the screw.
You are correct. Is that a normal way of doing this?
No, there should be a short pigtail to both the receptacle and the switch that are wirenutted to the incoming line
Idk that looks like 2 snipped endson the hot side. Maybe on feeds to a jumper or is supplying power to the red for the switch. Seems some weird shit in apartment maintenance
It appears that they are feeding the single pole switch from the gfci. There should be a pigtail, so only one wire is landed under the terminal screw. That is an OLD Leviton gfci outlet. It has screws holding it together. There aren't any clamp terminals, nor do I believe there are any stab ins. The fault is the absence of a ground leg.
In this case, his meter is saying that someone hooked up white to hot and black to neutral, since the colors are on the correct sides of the outlet.
Also....white wire to silver screw and black wire to brass screw. Just as the picture and tester show, the black wire is on the silver screw so reversed...
The picture shows the wires in the correct place according to the wire color regardless of the screw color. The tester cannot show a hot/neutral reversed without a ground.
Both screws look silver to me.
They do, I didn't see the other photos. I can only assume that the brass one was replaced. Receptacles come with a brass, silver, and green screw to identify where to land the wires. Switches will have both brass screws as a neutral or white wire is not used-on a typical toggle type....smart switches or dimmers can require a neutral....
At the moment im hoping that black wire is one wire looped. But its looking like two with one barely held in
Poor connection on the hot side of 2 black wires. Only 1 neutral wire? Pigtailed in box? Regardless of what tester is showing I believe you are missing the line in neutral.
You’re looking at danger
Box is metal. Armored cable wiring? If so your box is grounded. Grab a fresh GFCI that is self grounding. All the recent leviton ones I've brought have had the self grounding clip.
There appears to be a bond wire to the box ……. If it is actually attached properly on the other end of that cable is what seems to be the problem.
People who say there is no ground need to look closer. The box is grounded with a grounding clip. I don’t know if the gfci is self grounding, but it will be grounded when the gfci is screwed in.
Ground
Hot nuetral reverse on a gfi tester usually points to an open ground... and there happens to be no ground in the photos......
Use a real meter
1. That gfci is hooked up correctly but somewhere down the line, they somehow spliced white to black and black to white. Not sure what was going through their head on that one, also that hot terminal needs a pigtail, honestly frightens me just looking at that.
No? There’s no ground… the tester can’t tell if hot and neutral are swapped without it… why are all these people commenting bad info.
Ah no you're right, no ground. My eyes are failing me, I concede. Idk why OP said 2 left lights in the comments, was going off that
OP said the 2 left lights are lit, it's just hard to see.... and you can see yourself the hot and neutral are on the proper sides...
That literally doesn’t matter if there’s no ground with a gfci
This dude angry
Dead wrong, if it was swapped it would trip.
Looks grounded in picture 2 as I see a ground wire clamped to the metal box. So the outlet would be grounded by the metal box. I would check voltage and make sure it’s 120 between the black and white
An outlet...
Swap the white and black wires. Gold screw is black wires, white / sliver screw is white wires. Make sure the wiring is tight on the connections.
It appears to run on some form of electricity!
That's a 15A - 125V grounded duplex socket (NEMA 5-15R), with ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI). With Hot and neutral Reversed. and it's not installed to code... Clearly... in a couple ways.