Reverse Polarity Bootleg Ground Testing
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- Опубліковано 7 сер 2013
- This is a demonstration of how an RPBG (Reverse Polarity Bootleg Ground) outlet can fool standard electrical inspection methods such a 3-light outlet testers and Ground Impedance Testers.
FINALLY
a good old fashion 80's explanation video that gets right to the point explaining what i came here for
THANK YOU
I live in a 50s house and had a few of this bootlegged receptacles. Video helped me find other RPBG receptacles w/o opening them all!
Excellent video, everything is to the point, easy and quick to understand. I never knew that bootlegged ground passes 3-light outlet tester that I use frequently. I learns something new thanks to this video.
Thanks for the video. I just discovered that an electrician apparently wired my 50 amp box on my house wrong. My Son got a tingle when he touched the door lock with bare feet on wet ground. I chased it all day trying to figure out was was bad in the coach. Your video got me right to the problem. Off to Alaska Sunday. Thanks again.
This explains what has been a real mystery to me in my RV repair business. I've seen AC junction boxes with meltdown conditions and neutral/ground fused together, but a normal indication on 3 light tester. Now I understand why this is so. Thanks.
Thanks. I've been using the 5 dollar tester for 20 years and never knew that it would not detect those faults. I was amazed to see the two amber lights indicate that the receptacle was wired correctly!
Mike, Great explanation!
I recently purchased an older coach (1986 Winnie) that is generally quite sound, but requires normal upgrade and renovation in the coach. After connecting to an available circuit at my house, the AC seemed to function normally. However, I went to replace our step last night and caught the "bite" of 60 cycle current when my tape measure touched the frame.
The older plug and adapter showed signs of heat, so I first replaced the plug and added a new 30A receptacle. Then, I went through my own wiring and receptacle from the house and all seemed normal. The next "link" in the system was the coach where I knew there were multiple possibilities for the "short" So, I searched UA-cam and subsequently found your video. So, I picked up the proximity voltage detector and circuit tester with GFI test right away.
The exterior of the coach literally glowed current even though I couldn't feel it by simply touching metal. Then, the most obvious suspicious item was a white GFCI breaker in the bath area. Original sockets were dark brown. Therefore, the newer receptacle and cover were a natural place to begin. Voila, the pole ground and safety ground were reversed and GFI test failed.
I will follow up with a comment after making the required correction. However, your advice was a timely reminder to check and double check wherever I go. I connected to a yacht club dock in San Francisco a couple years ago where electrical wiring had just been completed. The 30A receptacle had reverse polarity, but my boat panel has a built in sensor that both identified and blocked the danger. The incompetent repair could have been someones' worst nightmare. After following behind two incompetent electrical repairmen, I will check each time I dock either boat or RV at any new location.
Like many others who have commented, I have a significant level of "experience" and overlooked the obvious. Your advice is a life saver... literally.
Best regards, and please keep up the good work!
Rich
Nice work. I am very well versed in electronics and other engineering disciplines but not that knowledgeable about electricity and wiring. This was very helpful, thanks.
That was very good you should make more videos can't wait to see your next one thanks..👍👍
Thanks so much for posting this!
That was a very good demonstration a lifesaver just wanted to say thanks keep the videos comic thank you..👍
Excellent! I never knew about this...
Mike you need to make more videos what you talk about is very interesting keep the videos coming out thanks👍
Incredibly fascinating. I'm no electrician, but I'm gonna save this for later, sub too!
I've also use a cheap tester made of a neon bulb in series with a drop resistor only placing my finger on one lead and touching the hot wire with the other lead while the room is mostly dark. The neon bulb slightly lights up. This depends on no load being turned on anywhere on the circuit feeding the receptacle in question.
Very good video with excellent information.
Nice job and video
Most home inspectors are "appliance operators" not certified on what they are doing or using.
Great video.
Good to know! Every homeowner should own those 2 inexpensive testers and use them any time you go near any wiring. And keep one hand in your pocket!
Super helpful!
Great info, diagrams. I’d be surprised if any authority allows bootleg grounds. Such a config will send half the circuit current through the ground wires, energizing the ground yoke of the device, and any metal that circuit’s ground wire has been bonded to. Both a fire and a shock hazard.
You should do that before you use any strange outlet. In 2015 in Finland a plumber died because of that. The resident had only used his double insulated toothbrush on the socket. It had been wrongly done before he moved in. Since the ground connectors here are visible the resident was near death every time he hooked his toothbrush. The connection in itself would have been legal if properly made.
A GFCI o the equipment does not protect from that.
very good video thanks
Excellent!! I learned!!!
well done, you know what you are talking about.
I liked your video. Very instructive
Thank you so much
Thank You! You just helped me fix what I would have otherwise thought was a good plug, but indeed, I accidentally crossed a hot and neutral, and now I also know how to check my outlets, 🙂
Wonderful chart at the beginning of the video. The third duplex receptacle,
how could the tester not know the reverse polarity?
Ted, it’s quite simple actually. Reverse polarity means there is voltage between neutral and ground. Since they are tied together there is no voltage difference. There are outlet testers which combine both devices together. But using the two as shown here is just as easy.
So beyond opening the box and checking the wiring even an intermediate level of inspection probably won't caught a boot leg if its not reversed. Hopefully not to many unethical "house flippers" saw this video. Also although you mentioned it wasn't code, you didn't explain why its dangerous; is it beyond just a false sense that the outlet is grounded or is there more to it?
The ground is no longer at ground (0 volts) potential. It is at 120 volts. Touching the metal part of any appliance would be exactly like putting your finger into an AC outlet. The current will flow from the outlet through you to the floor - the ground. I don't think you will like what happens.
So if uou reverse polarity from your main box does that mean if you change the wires round in uour plug uou get free electri
We need a device that can tell us if the hot, ground and neutral are all wired correctly.
John Simms
It's called your brain...aided by the metering and techniques shown here. I never trust a single device.
Multi meter will show if it’s wired correctly.
@@eloquent-nuance ok but wouldn’t a regular multimeter show that? Not a fancy tester like you have?
I have a question in the case that you do in fact have an outlet that is wired with reverse polarity and bootleg ground: how does this effect any other outlets on the same circuit that are wired correctly?
The hot and ground are bonded (connected together) in the defective box so all grounds in all boxes will be hot, not ground.
If there is no ground connection between the boxes the other sockets are unaffected. If there is, then it is a short circuit and it would trip the breaker.
However, this can be especially dangerous if you touch both properly and improperly grounded equipment at the same time. This would likely be fatal.
So what about a light switch that has neutral, hot, load, and ground? Fine to do neutral to ground with ground to ground still?
You do not connect neutral and ground after they have been separated at the main panel.
I connected power in my mini portable office
Its working ok but when I turn the lights off the wire makes smoke because it star to get hot .
Any idea what's wrong??
Don't wait for a fire. If it's smoking its because there is a short circuit or damaged circuit board. Either fix it or junk it but don't use it.
How did you fix this problem?
It has been a year. Send us a link to your obituary.
Your outlets are upside down !
Scary....
what does in mean when the neutral light is dim?
It could be due to bad ground connection. Meaning a high resistance on the ground wire.
This is what I found in the house I just bought. I got it mostly fixed. I have a few outlets not grounded now. Why would anyone do a rev bootleg ground in the first place?
Kissmahtotem Cheap,fast, and easy
"Why would anyone do a rev bootleg ground?" Blindness, color blindness, ignorance, arrogance, stupidity, idiocy, sabotage.
OMG thank you sir. I
That ancient crusty, old, cloth insulated wire zapped me so many times growing up because it always turned into rats nests in so many old ass homes.
Just use a multimeter...
Nope. A multimeter will only tell you nothing is wrong, same as the plug in tester. A multimeter will only show you something is wrong IF you test to a ground wire in an extension-cord coming from a different outlet than the one you're testing and known to be correct
Ran across Bootleg hot was pissed I use a three prong adapter with $5 tester after 1st chk
How could it not know a reverse polarity?
If the hot and neutral are reversed upstream the person making the bootleg ground who uses colors will connect it to the hot wire and it will not show reversed.
Well that was horrifying. Plug my fridge into that plug and just light up the next person to open the door.
Put your hand on the third box test it out
He briefly touched outlet covers #2 and #3 at the same time, but sadly no shock. (The covers are plastic. Cheapskate.) Show the danger by plugging metal appliances into #2 and #3 and then touching them together for a big spark (5,000A fault current).
Excuse me Mike, your outlets are installed upside down.
Actually that's becoming the standard these days. As goofy as it sounds there have been cases where a plug is slightly hanging from the outlet, exposing the prongs, and some object falls across them. When you install the outlet ground side up, an object usually can't balance and stay there, and will fall out. Even if it can stay, it's on the ground only.
That's the new way. Hospitals all use the prong hole up. As stated, the reason is that a metal object will not touch an electrical cord that is not fully plugged in. If the two slots are exposed, the object will either short the circuit or will become electrified. There is obviously no danger from the ground plug.
When I first saw this about 10 years ago, I had the same reaction... that the receptacle was upside down.
No they are not upside down. Look at the writing on the side of the outlet. You can especially see it when you install a GFCI outlet. The test and reset buttons are labeled so you don't have to stand on your head to read them. Most DIY individuals install receptacles upside down.
@@alanpfahler1707 I didn't notice that but that pretty much settles the debate as far as I'm concerned. "This Side Up" is pretty persuasive lol.
Interesting you have plugs upsidedown not a biggy but a misrepresentation.
Astonishing. How could it not know that the polarity is reversed?
Shouldn’t the reverse bootleg show polarity wrong? Test the wires for hot and neutral before wiring and tape them accordingly.
No, as the reversing is in the upstream. Nobody would connect the ground to the black wire.
*It amazes and disgusts me that anyone who was wiring a home would deliberately wire a bootleg ground!*
*They are either too goddamn f*cking stupid to know that what they are doing could kill someone!*
*Or they just don't give a f*ck that what they are doing could kill someone!*
*Regardless, they have no business wiring things up like this! Anyone deliberately doing this should spend a lot of time in prison!*