RE: Newbie charger wiring question.

[Lawrence Harris <lharris@ascenttechnologies.com>]

On a practical note, if you have a multimeter you can put it on AC 120V or
more and then put one lead in the ground hole (the round one at the bottom)
and the other lead in each of the two flat slotted holes.  One will show
120V (more or less) and the other will read nothing.  If the voltage does
not appear as Jim described below get the plug  checked, I had one wired
backwards and it gave my brother quite a start when he shorted a wire inside
my computer while working on the fan after thinking he had turned it off (I
know he should have unplugged it first but .... :-0 )  On of those little
three colour plug testers is also nice, tells you if it is wired correctly
and if the neutral and ground are both working.


Lawrence Harris
Sr. Systems Analyst

Ascent Technologies Inc.
Mail:	100 13511 Commerce Parkway, Richmond BC, V6V 2J8
Phone:	(604) 244-3256
Fax:	(604) 273-2764
Email:	mailto:lharris@AscentTechnologies.com

> ----------
> From: 	Walls, Jim R[SMTP:WALLSJR@sce.com]
> Reply To: 	ev@listproc.sjsu.edu
> Sent: 	Monday, August 31, 1998 9:53 AM
> To: 	ev@sjsu.edu
> Subject: 	FW: Newbie charger wiring question.
> 
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> ----------
> Peter Howell Jr wrote:
> 
> >    In wiring up my zivan k2, I've run head on into my utter lack of
> > real world electrical know-how.  Gary Flo's directions are quite
> > clear.  They tell me that the green/yellow wire is ground.  The
> > blue is neutral and the brown is hot.  Only one problem.  What's
> > the convention for electral outlets?  Which spade is neutral and
> > which one is hot?  And what's likely to happen to you charger if
> > you reverse them?
> 
> Since you are asking about hot vs neutral, I assume you are talking
> about a 120 volt outlet.  I will forgo with the attempt at ASCII art
> and go just with a verbal description.  This description will be from
> the prospective of looking at the wall outlet (not the plug on the
> end of a cable).  If the outlet you are looking at has the ground at
> the bottom, then the neutral is the connector on the upper left.  It is
> also a wider (vertically in this case) slot than the hot is.  On the
> plug, the wider blade is the neutral.  If what you are trying to do is
> wire a plug on the end of the cable, in MOST (but not all) plugs, the
> screw terminal of the plug for the neutral is a silver color whereas
> the hot is brass, and the ground is green.  WARNING - NOT ALL PLUGS
> are colored that way, but if the three screw terminals are the above
> colors, then they are likely wired that way - If they are not in the
> three colors stated above, the are likely all the same, in which case you
> need to use the positions to determine which is which.
> As to reversing hot and neutral, I don't know about the zivan, but
> in most cases, no damage will result from reversing them.  The power
> switch will switch the neutral so there is a safety issue, but you
> should not damage anything.
> ----------------------------------
> Jim Walls - K6CCC
> wallsjr@sce.com
> Mobile Radio Operations
> Southern California Edison
> (626) 308-6515    FAX (626) 308-6516
> 
>