Hot Neutral Reverse

Today I was fixing the water valve to the washing machine, and to get access to the water line, I had to disassemble an outlet. To my shock (no pun intended), I discovered that some moron bootlegged the outlet by connecting neutral and ground together.



Now I'm concerned that I may have this elsewhere in the house. What is the best way to test for this? Obviously I will see 120 V from hot to ground in any case, so that doesn't work. Continuity between neutral and ground is normal, because they are connected at the main panel; I measured the resistance between neutral and ground at an outlet close to the main panel, and it was virtually zero. But that doesn't meat it's bootlegged.



I don't really want to take each outlet apart. And even if I do that, how would I know that the moron didn't connect ground to neutral somewhere inside a wall?



Thanks,
      

So Nap does the NEC allow any type of reduced neutral for residential or is it always a full size neutral.



That is one thing i like about this site, you get to learn how things are done south of the border, in your case north of the border.
      

this topic came up on another thread but its buried pretty deep. it is my understanding from several experienced posters that under normal circumstances all neutral current should flow back to the utility neutral, not the grounded plumbing or rods.



i am trying to figure out why. bear with this simplistic example.



100a service - 3 wires in - A (hot+), B (hot-) and N (neutral).

circuit 1 on A is using 12 amps

circuit 2 on B is using 7 amps

so a total of 5 neutral current amps have to go somewhere.



they could all flow back on N, but if bonded to N at the panel is a low resistence connection to say, copper water pipes, wouldnt some of the current flow there?



is the utility neutral supposed to be so low resistence that none of the current would flow to the grounds? if that is the case i need to call my utility ASAP because a considerable amount of current flows to my main ground.



where i am struggling is i dont see how a utility pole or transformer would be any lower resistance than miles of metal plumbing and since they are bonded together, the current can choose (i know wrong word but im not an electrican or an engineer) either path
      

wanted to get feeback on my crude wiring diagram i put together for my small bathroom remodel. does it appear to be sound or am i way off base??



details:



* 20A dedicated circuit

* 12/2 wiring

* outlet's will be GFCI

* double gang box will contain:

* timer unit for exhaust fan

* double switch for heat lamp and lights

* Ground wiring is not shown but each fixture/outlet/switch will be connected to ground wire

* by calculations, the 34cu box is fine for the number of conductors/size of wiring. per box specs could handle 15/12g wires.

* the scanner cut off the bottom part of the picture, the 2 lights on the right are fed from the same switch, neutral's connected together.



F = Exhaust Fan

L = Light

HL = Heat Lamp

T = Timer switch

S = Switch

H = Hot

N = Neutral

Wire Nuts are in the box connecting the pigtails



Thank you for your input.
      

I have 240 volts from red to black, nothing from eirther one to neutral,,what should i look for to fix?
      

I have an older QO-Square D eight circuit panel. It is being used as a subpanel and when installed was not bonded.

The neutral bar consists of a bar mounted with one screw and a second bar mounted to it by standoffs. This second bar is where the bonding screw is. I can see no way to separate these two bars for proper bonding. There is no provision for mounting this second bar.

I wish I could post a picture but I will have to work on that.

I am thinking I will have to purchase a new panel but can't understand why neutral and ground cannot be separated.
      

I have a LEM .35hp meat grinder that did not come with reverse. It is a PITA to use and not have reverse. It is a 120v 250w motor, w 2 caps. There is no schematic on the cover, so I have no idea what which wire goes to where. I plan on using a DPDT switch to reverse it. on-off-(on or mom) switch. I have attached pictures of the motor wiring.  White/black come in then go into motor. White comes out of motor then to larger cap, other wire from large cap goes to red (into motor). Red comes out of motor into smaller cap, second wire to small cab is blue going into motor.



http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/...n/IMAG0021.jpg

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/...n/IMAG0020.jpg

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/...n/IMAG0022.jpg

Any help would be appreciated.
      

I have installed several GFCI breakers and every one had the neutral wire connected to the light colored and white paint marked terminal.

However a friend gave me a Siemens QPF 120 breaker and the load Power is not marked. On the side of the breaker, the pigtail is marked Panel Neutral and the terminal above this is marked Load Neutral. The other terminal which I assume is for the Hot, has a white paint marking and the screw is only slightly darker then the other. The white paint has me confused.

How do I wire this breaker?
      

Hello,



I currently have one light switch which operates an outlet in one of my bedrooms.  I want to add a ceiling fan that has independent switches for the fan and light - but I want to make sure i'm wiring it correctly and safely.



Current (First Pic)- Live hot feeds into bottom of switch (bottom insert hole) and the all of the bedroom outlets (pig-tailed) tie into the bottom of the switch on the screw.  Coming out of the top of the switch is one hot which feeds to a single outlet.  All of the neutral and grounds are tied together.



New Plan (Second Pic)- Remove the constant outlet hot from the screw, add a new hot wire to the top of new switch and run a wire up to the attic for fan.  Add another hot wire from the bottom of that switch to the third switch and run another wire up to the attic for the lights.  Re-connect the constant outlet wire to the screw of the last switch.  Connect all the neutrals and all of the grounds together.



At the top of the ceiling, connect the neutrals and grounds together with the fans neutral and ground.  Connect the fan hot to the fan switch hot, and the fan light hot to the light switch hot.
      

Am doing a bathroom reno and installed a new fan. Original switch was a simple on off single pole. I want to install a DewPoint condensation fan switch that will turn on automatically at a certain moisture level.

The new switch as 4 wires. green ground, red fan, black power, and white neutral. I know the ground, but how do I hook up the neutral and fan to the existing fan set up?

There is a double pole light switch in the same box that has a couple wires to it, and there is a mass of whites that I am not sure where they go



Can I hook up the neutral somewhere else, or put it with the fan like a single pole? What do I do with this?



In the attached picture the switch on the right is the 2 pole light switch and on the left is the fan switch that I hope to replace.



Your Advice is appreciated