One of the first things you'll want to do when you get your new place is check the electrical outlets. In your old house, maybe hubby did it...maybe nobody did.
If you know an electrician (on a first name basis...a friend), call him and ask him if he'd like to have a free lunch. See if he'll come over and check your outlets for polarity and proper grounding.
Never PAY an electrician to do this. I'm going to show you how to save yourself a lot of money here.
All of these guys have a device called a plug tester. Electrical inspectors have them. Apprentice electricians all have one.
The plug tester lets you know whether your outlet is grounded and if the polarity is correct.
Grounding and polarity are very important.
Polarity has to do with which side of the plug is hot and which side is neutral. If you look at a receptacle, you'll find that it might look a little like a face with two eyes and a nose. Some electricians refer to this as 'nose up' or 'nose down' -- depending on the installation application.
In a household setting, most receptacles are wired 'nose down.'
If you look at the 'face' on your receptacle, you'll also notice that one of the slots is longer than the other. That's the neutral. The wire that carries the current back to the panel is the neutral. The short slot goes to the side of the receptacle with the incoming power.
And the round one (the nose) is the ground.
OKAY.....
There's one way to check for proper polarity. I call it the Mister Bill
tester, because if there's a problem ----
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Mister Bill tester consists of one piece of insulated wire, about
a foot long...stripped about three quarters of an inch on each end. Plug
one end into the round (ground) slot. The other end goes into the long
slot (neutral). If it doesn't explode, the neutral is correct.
Unless you live in a mobile home, the neutral and the ground should have
the same electrical reference point back in your panel.
B U T . . . . .
If the Mister Bill Tester explodes in your hand, the receptacle is miswired (backwards) and yo'll probably need prompt medical attention for a nasty burn.
I've seen "old timer" electricians use a Mister Bill Tester to find and/or trip a circuit breaker. This is NOT a recomended proceedre for finding circuits. Now and then one of these "old timers" gets a surprise trip to the Emergency Room.
Don't try this at home!!!!!
So, unless you're a maid of absolte faith, go to the home center store nearest you and ask someone in the electrical department for a receptacle tester. This tester is about half the size of a pack of cigarettes (more or less) ... and it has at least three lights on it. The lights indicate that the receptacle is either good, reversed polarity, or bad ground ( or bad ground AND reversed polarity).
The Strange Looking Plug Explained.......
Have you ever wondered why some things come with strange plugs? One blade is bigger than the other...Ah Ha!!! THAT's the neutral!! This prevents a reversal of polarity in the appliance.
Unfortunately, some electricians ( or wanna be electricians) don't understand that this polarity thing is extremely important...to motors, compressors, and computers.
This little tester might be a little pricey (between $20 and $40)...but the price of getting one of those white van driving, tool belt wearing, Mister Buttcrack the electrician, is going to be at least $75 - - unless you have a friend who's an electrician. If checking your receptacles saves one appliance, it'll be worth the money you put into a simple tester. You can use it later, too. It'll make an impressive addition to your tool box.
Your receptacles in the bathroom and/or near the kitchen sink -- anywhere there's water-- might look different. They're probably ground fault receptacles. These use a chip to detect a fluctuation of amperes on the neutral. Unless there's very steady ampere flow, the chip will fault the receptacle and cause it to turn itself off.
That's the easy way to explain it. I could use graphs and math facts, but suffice to say, you can't plug your hair dryer into this thing and throw it into the bathtub and expect to electrocute yorself. It should trip.
Don't try testing it with your toe and hair dryer, though. You'll notice two little buttons. One is "test" and the other is "reset." I think you know what's going on here. Just push the little button that says "test"..and then push the reset. So, where did all of this get you? Moneywise, right now, nowhere. As far as your sense of worth, plenty. You know how to use the tester (because you asked the guy you bought it from how to do it--and normal guys are notoriously nice to a damsel in distress).
You don't have to freak out when the lights go out. You can calmly take a flashlight and go downstairs and look at the circuit breakers.
You'll see in the next offering just how to keep Buford Buttcrack the electrician away from your house.
Copyright 1999 by L.D. Chapman. All Rights Reserved.
Limited rights to Geocities.
