RPBG Outlet Testing: Part 1
An outlet accidentally wired with a Reverse Polarity Bootleg Ground can cause a hot-skin voltage that can’t be found with a standard polarity tester!
Hey Mike,
Just thought I would share something that happened years ago to me. Crawling under my camper at home, I got shocked when I touched something. I got out my little polarity checker and it said every was fine
Garage wiring was a mess but finally found it. Black and white wire were reversed and the ground was touching the hot. Therefore my little outlet checker said all was fine. Ground and what should have been hot were the same voltage so checker said it was fine.
Thought you might share. - Chris
Hey Chris,
I’ve seen your exact scenario a few times, and it’s actually life threatening. In fact I did a deep study of this miswiring issue around 2010 and named it a Reverse Polarity Bootleg Ground (RPBG).
This is not only a potential problem for RV owners plugging into garage outlets, I’ve seen it occur with miswired electrical outlets in bars, churches and carnival stages. And in every case it can’t be diagnosed by using a standard outlet checker.
A 3-light tester can’t find it…
A volt meter test can’t find it…
But a Non-Contact Voltage Tester CAN find an RPBG…
Read how it works
Read Part 1 of the in-depth article I published about RPBG Testing in Electrical Construction & Maintenance Magazine HERE.
Let’s play safe out there… Mike
I understand the whole reason for incorporating a ground conductor is primarily to trip the circuit breaker. Now, the ground connection could provide an alternate path of current flow and reduce electrical shock potential, yet there is no guarantee enough current would be shunted away to prevent injury or death. As GFCI receptacles can operate and protect a circuit and person without a ground, it raises the question if in the future, elimination of the ground connection as a hazard its self would ever be in order. Circuit breakers are for protecting the wiring, not so much the person using the circuit. Some of our inverter generators operate without a ground and we can make a cheater plug to connect the ground terminal and neutral terminal together to satisfy some EMS devices. Grounds that create hot skins themselves are not protecting anything.
Will an EMS detect this if plugged in to a campground RPBG wired pedestal?