What Monkey Wired this outlet??

[DanM]

I opened up an outlet in the attic to tap into it for a new hallway closet light and found this beauty. Has anyone seen anything like it? No neutral wire. Just a wire from the neutral terminal to the mounting screw. WTF? I'm not an electrician, but this does not look kosher.

I fixed the problem and now it is throwing a ground hot reverse. Oy. A little lunch, let my tools charge, and then back to work.d

 

[AlGreen]

I believe that's called a bootleg ground.

What was your "fix," so we can figure out why you're getting ground hot reverse?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[DanM]

I believe that's called a bootleg ground.

What was your "fix," so we can figure out why you're getting ground hot reverse?

I replaced the outlet and attached the neutral wires in the box to the neutral terminal on the outlet. I opened up the outlet and verified that all of the terminals are tight and that the bx has a solid connection.

I checked the bedroom that shares the circuit and found two outlets that are now showing a hot/neutral reverse. :S

ETA: A bootleg ground is adding a wire between the neutral terminal and the grounding terminal. This setup still needs a neutral wire attached to the outlet, which I did not have.

I am wondering if one of the two wires attached to the hot terminals is not a hot but a neutral. These old cloth/rubber wrapped 1950's wires tend to lose their color coding after a while. I must investigate further.

 

[AlGreen]

Sounds like a reverse polarity bootleg ground. Here's one explanation:

http://forums.mikeholt.com/showthread.php?t=146019

 

[DanM]

I might wire it back how it was before and call a professional. This is just crazy.

 

[AlGreen]

I might wire it back how it was before and call a professional. This is just crazy.

Can't go wrong calling in a pro.

 

[DanM]

I sent the picture and details to my electrician. He had the same reaction I did.

 

[WorthFlorida]

It one of many reasons why in the older cities with older homes, homes catch on fire in the middle of the night. Usually during a cold snap as people plug in electric heaters for some supplement heat. You're lucky that you found this.

This post is only a week or two old that had a similar problem and he almost had a fire.
https://terrylove.com/forums/index....causes-buzzing-noise-and-burning-smell.68359/

 

[AlGreen]

It one of many reasons why in the older cities with older homes, homes catch on fire in the middle of the night. Usually during a cold snap as people plug in electric heaters for some supplement heat. You're lucky that you found this.

This post is only a week or two old that had a similar problem and he almost had a fire.
https://terrylove.com/forums/index....causes-buzzing-noise-and-burning-smell.68359/

Yep, that was me.