I suggest a volt meter. That insures whether the power is really off, and prevents you from believing a dumbass electrician, and watching the end of your pliers disappear, when you cut through the "de-energized" wire.
It's AC; you can't reverse it, but you CAN end up with 110V on the body of the washing machine, stove, etc. Black is "hot." White is neutral. Green (or the bare wire) is ground. On your fixtures; the black goes to the brass-colored screw. The white goes to the silver one. The ground goes to the green one.
I'm with Jess; get a multimeter. They're cheap now. I'm talking less than $10.00 at Harbor Freight! The meter will tell you if the circuit is live or not. It'll also help if whoever put your wiring in got cute and used different-colored wiring, and you have to figure out what wire's what!
That last .gif is prescient. That's what will happen to NYC when all the wealthy elites decide they've had just about enough of the future as described by De Blasio and Alexandria Occasional Cortex.
It's AC. If you get the positive and negative mixed up just wait 1/60th of a second and it'll reverse and you'll be right. Be act swiftly...
ReplyDeleteYes, real swiftly :)
DeleteI suggest a volt meter. That insures whether the power is really off, and prevents you from believing a dumbass electrician, and watching the end of your pliers disappear, when you cut through the "de-energized" wire.
ReplyDeleteHi Jess, I have a volt meter, wiggy, and neutral tester. They don't guarantee you won't get "bitten"
DeletePlus, I've checked all the breakers.
John
It's AC; you can't reverse it, but you CAN end up with 110V on the body of the washing machine, stove, etc. Black is "hot." White is neutral. Green (or the bare wire) is ground. On your fixtures; the black goes to the brass-colored screw. The white goes to the silver one. The ground goes to the green one.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Jess; get a multimeter. They're cheap now. I'm talking less than $10.00 at Harbor Freight! The meter will tell you if the circuit is live or not. It'll also help if whoever put your wiring in got cute and used different-colored wiring, and you have to figure out what wire's what!
Peter, thanks! :) I should have added a disclaimer. You guys would miss the blog if I eff'd up!
DeleteJohn
It's not a party until you get bitten by three phase....
DeleteNothing feels like a zap from an electrical outlet. You don't want to feel that twice.
ReplyDeleteThat last .gif is prescient. That's what will happen to NYC when all the wealthy elites decide they've had just about enough of the future as described by De Blasio and Alexandria Occasional Cortex.
ReplyDelete