A Simple Question

[Viann]

Alright, I have a plug (http://www.reuk.co.uk/OtherImages/13-amp-plug.jpg) where I wired L, N and E accordingly.

Then I have a wall socket (**broken link removed**) where I wired L, N and E accordingly as well.

What I did was I pluged in my plug into the wall socket to test for connectivity.
The E wire of my plug is successfully connected to the E wire of the wall socket.
The N wire of my plug is successfully connected to the N wire of the wall socket.

When I tested the L wire of the plug with the L wire of the socket, there does not seem to be any connectivity.

Is my socket faulty, or am I missing out on some information on sockets?

 

[Triode]

How did you test it?

 

[RODALCO]

Check the internal fuse in the plug (UK plug)

Test power socket by plugging in an appliance which works.

 

[Viann]

How did you test it?

I used a multimeter to check for connectivity.

Check the internal fuse in the plug (UK plug)

Test power socket by plugging in an appliance which works.

Internal fuse of plug works fine.

Tested with an appliance.. it actually is working.

With that cleared, can anyone explain the connectivity of a wall socket?

 

[mneary]

Can you show a photo of your connections?

 

[Mr RB]

Check if you got L and N reversed, it's easy to do depending if you are looking at the back or front of the plug.

 

[RODALCO]

Plug

There should be markings in the plug.

A for Active or Phase
N for Neutral
E for Earth

The phase should be on the fuse terminals of the plug and connected to the red or brown wire of the flexible cord.

 

[Viann]

It works, I guess my multi meter is faulty.
Thanks for your time guys.

 

[marcbarker]

Faulty multimeter.... reminds me 30 years ago when I was up a ladder, to rewire a 3 phase junction box. I tested each of the phases to see if they were dead, and all I'd saw on the test meter was a very slight movement on the meter needle, not even a volt. OK I thought.

So I went down the ladder and placed the meter on the bench and then returned back to the top of the ladder, carried out the wiring, which was replacing a fuse holder, and completed the job.

Then when I got down the ladder back on the ground and looked at the meter on the bench I was so 'shocked' that I nearly fell over. It was set to DC VOLTS, not AC. So I went up to the top of the ladder again, with the meter set to AC this time, and read 240 volts on each phase. I had done the rewiring with the box live and didn't know it because I thought the meter was saying the circuit is dead. I learned something that day I would never forget!

Moral: I'm personally responsible for making sure the meter works properly!

 

[RODALCO]

Basic electrical safety is

Test
Prove
Test

your meter before and after on a known live source.

 

[Mr RB]

Be careful Viann. You say the L is not connected to the other L when you test, BUT the appliance works.

That is the exact symptom you get when you have reversed the L and N wires in the lead.

Which I also said 5 posts ago.