Reversed neutral question?

saus · 03-14-2020, 07:40 AM

We arrived at our site for an overnight stay. When I plugged in my surge protector into the 50 amp outlet, I noticed that it showed a reversed neutral. When I turned off the breaker, the top left light on the surge protector stayed lighted red. I asked my neighbor, who was plugged into 30 amp, if I could check my surge protector on his pedestal. So I plugged into his 50 amp and it did the same thing. I used my dog bone and plugged into the 30 amp and it still did the same thing. My neighbor said that he hasn’t had any problems so I went ahead and hooked up. Why would a light still come on if the breaker is off? Just curious to learn in case I come across this again. Thanks for your help.

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**KyDan** · 03-14-2020, 07:51 AM

Oh boy are you gonna get a lot of feed back on this one!

IF your surge protector is correct and you actually do have a reversed L1 or L2 and neutral it is a dangerous shock situation.
I would NOT use that pedestal until it was fixed.

**wmtire** · 03-14-2020, 08:13 AM

Do you possibly have a multimeter and can confirm what your are seeing on the surge guard. The guard could be faulty.

Looking at the two lights at the very bottom of the surge guard, it's says no surge protection if either light is off. It appears in your pic, one is not lit

saus · 03-14-2020, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wmtire

Do you possibly have a multimeter and can confirm what your are seeing on the surge guard. The guard could be faulty.

Looking at the two lights at the very bottom of the surge guard, it's says no surge protection if either light is off. It appears in your pic, one is not lit

Sorry, it must be the picture. I just went out and checked and both lights are on. Why would the top left light stay red with the breaker off?

saus · 03-14-2020, 08:34 AM

I asked the Front desk if we could move it to another site. She said that they were totally full for the night. She stated that nothing has been done to the pedestals and people have been staying here for years with no problems. We are about to head out to finish our trip to Unicoi State Park in Helen GA. Thanks for any information.

**Flybob** · 03-14-2020, 08:40 AM

In a properly functioning pedestal, the breaker disconnects the L1 ( L1 and L2 if 50A) side. If pedestal is wired incorrectly, the breaker may not disconnect the hot side. Just to be sure it is not your power cable. Try it with nothing connected to the output side of the surge protector.

Chuck_S · 03-14-2020, 08:41 AM

I'd get a second opinion to ensure it's not your surge protector (as doubtful as that is). Home Depot or Lowes probably has these for ten bucks.

-- Chuck

**KyDan** · 03-14-2020, 08:45 AM

If they have a site that's open even for a few minutes between campers you could plug in there and see what it shows...

dbledan · 03-14-2020, 09:00 AM

Depending on how they miswired it the breaker could just be turning off the ground? Not exactly sure why until we know root cause.

Regardless without a non contact meter to check for hot skin or a regular meter to test the outlet I would not plug in. Not worth your life. You bought the surge guard for a reason, trust it until you check it. If it's wrong you spent $15 and some time. If its right someone can get killed.

I am sure someone there has a meter and knows how to use it. Worst case find someone with an ems or surge guard and check it on their pedestal to know if your guard is bad.

CedarCreekWoody · 03-14-2020, 09:11 AM

On 120 volt circuits a reversed neutral and hot is quite common (but not safe.) Most appliances will still work just fine. But on a 240 system (a 50 amp rv system) a reversal could cause a lot of issues I would think. I'm a bit baffled and can't offer much help there. But until you confirm what you have you might want to consider connecting to 30 amps via an adapter. Better yet get a multimeter and confirm what you have.

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