Reversing hot and neutral

1

1pet2_9

Active member
I'm putting together a renard for the first time. What are the consequences if I reverse hot and neutral? Do I need to be paranoid about this? My biggest potential for error seems to be when I assemble the vampire plugs. Since they're female, it's easy to put hot on the wrong side.
 
The controller will normally work either way -- it doesn't matter because the lights that will be plugged in have only 2-prong connectors. HOWEVER, the whole thing about the HOT and NEUTRAL sides of the connection are all about SAFETY. Consequently, do everything you can to do it correctly so that you keep the polarization correct.
 
As Dirk said.

It's easy to get the polarity right. The wider contact opening in the vampire receptacle is the neutral connection, and the insulation of the SPT1 cable is ribbed on one side to indicate the neutral conductor.
 
So if the long prong is facing toward you, it's ribbed side down. Or if it's the long prong facing on the bottom, it's ribbed side facing away from you. And the male plug powering the Renard board needs to be the kind with a long prong. This is doable.
 
Last edited:
1pet2_9 said:
So if the long prong is facing toward you, it's ribbed side down. Or if it's the long prong facing on the bottom, it's ribbed side facing away from you. And the male plug powering the Renard board needs to be the kind with a long prong. This is doable.
Click to expand...

I can't say yay or nay, please post pictures.
 
My ohmmeter answered the question. They're all assembled and enclosed already. I'm loving my new Renards. :)
 
P. Short said:
As Dirk said.

It's easy to get the polarity right. The wider contact opening in the vampire receptacle is the neutral connection, and the insulation of the SPT1 cable is ribbed on one side to indicate the neutral conductor.
Click to expand...

Note that sometimes, some of the cheaper products don't follow the rules with this. I've seen it reversed on some cables from places like the Dollar Tree and eBay. The danger lies in someone getting an accidental shock. (BTW, I don't buy electrical stuff from Dollar Tree anymore...) I also test EVERY cable I purchase before using it to make sure that the wide blade end of the plug is connected to the wide slot on the female end of the cable.
 
Males are simpler to test. But at least all the female vampires come from the same place. My new Renards are online and cool, and they have Short's name on it!
 
My favorite is when the male end is NOT keyed (one larger than the other). When connecting a female (either at the end, or as in a multi-drop) then it is a guessing game.
 
I think the issue is that hot on the board needs to be what's switched. Otherwise props that are off look deceptively safe to touch. Or worse, they short to earth and blow out the channel. If you reverse the leads downstream from the switch, it's not as bad, because that only means hot is carrying neutral and neutral is open circuit when it's off.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top