Why reverse Polarity can kill you?
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- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2021
- What is reverse polarity and is it dangerous? Reversed polarity occurs when the hot and neutral electrical connections are wired incorrectly (they are switched).
If you were to look at an electrical outlet that is in reverse polarity you would see the black and white wires switched. When this happens the safety measures built into electrical devices are often bypassed, however in most cases the device will still work further complicating the issue as there is no apparent danger or issue with the device.
It is important to avoid reversing the polarity because a shock hazard can be present. In this video we outline the potential hazards and dangers that can occur by reversing the polarity using a travel adapter. 
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Excellent explanation. Plug adaptors should never be found in medical facilities for this very reason.
oh nice i watch your vids sometimes
You explain things very well. However, "Why Two-pin Travel Adapters Can Kill You" would be more a appropriate title imho. I have a similar travel adapter but it has 3 pins; so no problem there. My only gripe is that the socket holes are loose... which will be another source of hazard
Good point
If you are afraid of reverse polarity so not travel to Europe.
Yes sir! Learned this lesson the hard way.
Definitely something to be careful of!
I almost got shocked from a reversed polarity outlet. I suspect the ground plug of the outlet was not wired correctly and was likely connected to “neutral” somewhere but since polarity was reversed, ground was now hot. I plugged in a metal cased device where the case was properly connected to ground inside the device. However, due to the combination of improper grounding at the outlet and reversed polarity, the metal case of the device was now fully energized. This is the exact scenario the ground plug is designed to prevent, but now it was present 100% of the time. I am so glad my hands and feet were dry. I was not shocked at all but could feel the buzz and slight tingle. As I slid my finger across the metal surface it felt like it was bouncing rapidly kind of like the vibration you can sometimes produce by rubbing your fingers together. I now know this strange vibration sensation is something to watch out for because you will not always be shocked when touching hot if you are dry and insulated. At first I thought the surface was just super clean to create that squeaky bounce sensation. It wasn’t immediately obvious that this was an electrical phenomenon. Now I know. Water and strong earth connections become extremely dangerous in this scenario. Doing the same thing with wet hands and feet could have been deadly.
Yeah having the ground wired to hot would have to be the worst case scenario - crazy that someone did that
@@HTMWorkshop I think it’s one of the reasons you should only tie neutral to ground at the breaker and never at the outlet.
@@RedShiftedDollar Absolutely!
America is the only country that uses grounding. And everyone else is fine.
@@Flat_Earth_Addy The ground wire wasn’t the problem. Incorrect wiring was the problem. The situation I described is exactly what happens in an ungrounded country when the hot touches the metal frame of a power tool. So those countries do not prevent this type of issue.
Learn the difference between voltage and current. If the circuit is broken there is no current nor is there power. All modern devices are double insulated so there is no risk. In Europe all plugs are non-polarized and there is 50% chance that switches break the neutral.
That adapter you shows is a death trap though as you can plug the ground pin to the live and energize the whole case or plug it so that the neutral is outside the adapter and energized through the device.
Is it harmful to computers?
it depends.. in some cases the power supply of the computer can still work fine even if the outlet is in reverse polarity but I can't say for sure unless I knew what the power supply is. The power supplies usually don't care if the hot and neutral are reversed, since it gets converted into DC using some circuitry that doesn't really care about the polarity
Of course not.
@@HTMWorkshop I have a two prong outlet on a very old installation, I noticed that the computer shocked me a little bit even with the switch on the power supply turned off, could be that the switch on the power supply only cuts off the live wire? and leaving the neutral that theoretically should have no current?
I live in Europe. We always reverse polarity in our homes. It's safer.
Reverse polarity makes no sense in European sockets as the plug fits either way. Still in one orientation a switch in, say, a lamp switches the phase and in the other the neutral. That is why people are told to unplug before switching a bulb.
europe have better sockets