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Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 2
D
dripjoy Offline OP
Junior Member
the other night we had a lightning storm here in san francisco, and since then the outlets on my office circuit don't work. the breaker wasn't thrown, and when i test it using a little plug-in circuit tester, it says hot and ground are reversed. could this have happened from the storm? what the heck?

Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 806
N
Member
I can't see any way that a lightning event could reverse the polarity. Are you sure that it was OK prior to the storm?

At any rate, you should call a licensed electrician to check this one out. The polarity error could be anywhere between the outlet and the main breaker panel.

Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 300
M
Member
I recently saw an outlet that tested as hot and neutral reversed with one of those $12 plug in testers.

I found a burned off ground wire when I opened the outlet box. I thought that was odd but didn't expect that to be the problem. I fixed the ground and the problem went away.

The only explination I can come up with is that there was some voltage feeding back through a light or some appliance that had enough current to light the wrong neon lamp.

Truth is, I still don't have a clear picture in my head why this solved the problem.

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 4,116
Likes: 4
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Is there a GFCI receptacle on this circuit? If there is I would check that out first.

Bill


Bill

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