Receptacle Tester

[cabinetman]

As a precaution, a plug in device for under $10.00 will tell the condition of the circuit to a receptacle. It will reveal whether the hot and neutral are reversed, and whether the receptacle is grounded. This can be invaluable to see if the outlet is grounded and wired correctly.

It's very simple to use, and has explanatory lighted indicators that diagnose any problems.

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[docrowan]

I own a very similar device and I use it on every receptacle in each of the three houses I've lived in in the past two years ( ).

I've found a problem with at least one receptacle in each house. I also used it on each receptacle I wired in my shop recently. I'm proud to say none of those showed a problem.

Very cheap and easy insurance against a sneak attack from Mr. Danger.

[Tequila]

I'd recommend getting one that that includes GFCI testing as well. I bought one after seeing a home inspector use it, and have used it every time I work on an outlet to make sure it's wired right at the end.

http://www.amazon.com/GB-GFI-501A-Re...9416091&sr=8-2

[os1kne]

I own a similar device. I did not test the outlets in my home when I moved in - assuming that the home inspector (that I paid for) would have let me know if there were any problems. Trust me, get one of those devices and use it on every outlet in every home that you ever own. DAMHIKT but a person feels pretty stupid when they fry a $1,000+ refrigerator due to plugging in to an improperly wired outlet - especially when they own a $5 tool that would have prevented the problem.

In my case, the previous home owner thought that wiring a standard 120v 15a outlet for 240v was a good, inexpensive way to power his air compressor (I learned this from my neighbor after the fact.) That outlet also happened to be at a convenient location in the garage to put the extra refrigerator.

Also, none of the 3 prong outlets in the house were grounded, about 1/2 were wired backwards. I personally saw the home inspector testing outlets, but there was no mention of any issues in their report - they stood behind their "inspection may not discover all problems" disclosure in the contract.

[paulstenlund]

Our home inspector (10 yrs ago) found one outlet backwards, didn't think much about it at the time filed it away to fix later. The previous owner did extensive remodeling, bathrooms kitchen etc. I was replacing a range burner and the socket the go into (breaker out still grounded) I leaned forward and discovered two things,

1. The range hood (different breaker) was wired backwards

2. Hair will conduct electricity

I now pay attention to AC polarity

Paul

[RodKirby]

I use one ALL the time - on my Shed "enhancements". Also no problems so far

[LCHIEN]

I use one ALL the time - on my Shed "enhancements". Also no problems so far

In the US 110V scheme, one leg is labelled Hot and the other neutral.
The hot leg should have 110V to the neutral.
The neutral should be at or very close to ground potential so
you should have this scenario the testers check for:
H-G - 110V (indicator on)
H-N - 110V (indicator on)
N-G - 0V (indicator off)

In the same scheme we have 220V where both legs are hot (110V with respect to ground) but opposite polarity so its 220V between the hot legs.

in the Aussie 220V, is the ground at the same potential (voltage) as one of the legs or do you have 220V between the legs and 110 between legs to ground?

[RodKirby]

Sorry Loring - I don't have the slightest idea

Red and green lights on, tells me I got it right!

BTW - It's all (labelled) 240V

[jhart]

Have used one of these for a few years now (in fact have 3 of them), but didn't know about the GFIC version. May have to pick up one of those. Thanks for the heads up on that version.

Afew years ago, ran across a place selling them for $3.95 and picked up a bunch and gave one to each of my grown kids.

Great little device.

[scorrpio]

Extech ET10 (as opposed to the ET15 shown) has the GFCI test button. There are a number of such devices available.

There is a problem however - does anyone such device where ground pin is removable/retractable? So it can be used to test older 2-prong outlets?

[TheRic]

...Afew years ago, ran across a place selling them for $3.95 and picked up a bunch and gave one to each of my grown kids. ....

I like that idea!! I'll have to do that!! Thanks for the tip!!

[sd]

does anyone such device where ground pin is removable/retractable? So it can be used to test older 2-prong outlets?

You could use a 3-prong to 2-prong "cheater" adapter. Be sure to attach the adapter's ground to an actual ground.

Fluke has an Application Note (click on "Diagnosing Power Problems at the Receptacle") that explains how to check a receptacle with a multimeter.

[cabinetman]

There is a problem however - does anyone such device where ground pin is removable/retractable? So it can be used to test older 2-prong outlets?

We bought this house eight years ago, and changing over the 2 prong to 3 prong receptacles was one of the first things I did. BORG has the "contractor" packs of 10 for a pretty good price. It was a very inexpensive upgrade, that made its way into our homeowners insurance better rates as an "electrical upgrade".

[scorrpio]

I relplace 2-prongs with 3-prongs as I renovate the house bit by bit, but there are still a number of the 2-prong types left.

I got a fairly nice multimeter - measures about anything, including temperature. I use it to check everything electrical, but a GFCI receptacle tester is a lot faster at its task.

[LCHIEN]

Extech ET10 (as opposed to the ET15 shown) has the GFCI test button. There are a number of such devices available.

There is a problem however - does anyone such device where ground pin is removable/retractable? So it can be used to test older 2-prong outlets?

There's not much point to checking two-prong outlets, it either has power or not, you can't reverse wire the hot and neutral or have a live ground, for example.

If you have a two-prong outlet, just use a night light, or a regular lamp, to see if it lights or not.

I suppose if you have one of those in-between 2-prong outlets with a wide blade and narrow blade, and the tester had a ground lead that you took to a ground point, you could verify that the hot and neutral were wired correctly. But in a two-prong outlet with equal blades, there is no right or wrong.