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mulligan123 · Sep 16, 2013, 11:22 AM

Hello all. In my two upstairs bedrooms all of the outlets are showing hot/neutral reverse except one. The correct outlet is the first break in the line that is coming from the panel box. From the outlet, power goes to a pull chain light and all white wires are attached to each other as are all the blacks. Following the remaining chains all outlets, lights and switches seem to be wired correctly with blacks on the gold and whites on the silver. I still can't find the source of the reverse. The house was built in the 50's. There was a time when an electrician updated some of the breakers including this one. At that time he put some new wire into the box and connected to the old in a box near the box. Just white to white and black to black. Any idea of where I could be missing the reversed wires?

Dave

jerro · Sep 18, 2013, 08:27 PM

Did you check how each recept in wired? If you look at the front of your recept you will notice that one slot is longer then the other. When you look at the wires on your recept the white wire should be on the same side as the long slot and the black wire should be on the same side as the short slot. This would give you the right polarity when you use your tester.

Stratmando · Sep 19, 2013, 07:33 AM

I'm thinking maybe a neutral problem, if they used to be correct.
Plug an Extension Cord into a Known good outlet. And use the cords ground as a reference, the other probe of your meter or tester should show plug into the small slot on the outlet(hot), You may have to keep working torward panel to locate.
If the circuits are on arc fault, it will trip when a hot draws more power than the neutral, since the return is through ground.

hfcarson · Sep 19, 2013, 09:37 AM

Troubleshooting this kind of wiring problem can be difficult. The problem may be anywhere from the circuit breaker panel to an intermediate outlet... knowing how to identify hot and neutral conductors and how to correctly wire receptacles, switches, etc. is another problem to the answer.
If our explanations aren't helpful, please consider hiring a professional.

donf · Sep 19, 2013, 11:31 AM

Just a suggestion, check the receptacles to verify that are all installed the same way. For example, all of the ground openings are facing down.

I have had this on several occaisions where owners have replaced a receptacle but inverted ir (so that the ground opening was now on top) If they then connected the receptacle in reverse (White to gold and black to silver0 all of your following circuit is incorrect.