Fender convenience outlets

[Axtman]

It seems like every time I work on a Fender amp with a 3-prong convenience outlet it is wired wrong. Black (hot) should go to the gold terminal and white (neutral) should go to the silver terminal.

[Jon Snell]

What has the gold and silver got to do with the "polarity"?
Surely it is the way it is wired, not the colour of the terminals.

In the UK, looking from the rear of the chassis socket, the connector on the left is live.

[g1]

I have found the same, they often have the hot and neutral reversed.
In North America, hot terminal has gold screw, neutral has silver. The neutral terminal accepts the the wider blade. Often in the early 3 prong Fender stuff, the convenience outlet has the hot going to the terminal that accepts the wider blade (wrong).

[DrGonz78]

I think it’s people looking at the front of a receptacle and thinking okay it’s the one on the right. They flip it around and remember it’s the one on the right, which the orientation has now flipped. They didn’t win any Gold but they did get a Silver medal dunce award.

[Tom Phillips]

It seems like every time I work on a Fender amp with a 3-prong convenience outlet it is wired wrong...

I don't see that "every time" but I notice it far more than I would expect. The thing I notice almost every time is incorrect 3 wire power cord conversions. Some installations have multiple mistakes / code violations. I have also instituted the habit of buzzing out a replacement power cord from the plug blades to the end wires. It's no fun discovering a power cord with the green wire connected to the hot plug terminal after one has finished installing it on the amp.

[Axtman]

Here is a visual of how it should be wired using USA wire colors. This is the same wiring scheme with electrical wall outlets. Just think "Black Gold".

[Jazz P Bass]

I worked at a place years ago that got in 1000 110V cables.
They were wired incorrect at the molded end.

[Axtman]

Jazz P Bass,

You are scaring me. I cut the ends off an IEC cord to replace damaged power cords in my amp repairs. I guess I should start testing them to see if the cords are wired correctly.

[Tom Phillips]

I worked at a place years ago that got in 1000 110V cables.
They were wired incorrect at the molded end.

I think I may have received a batch made by the same manufacturer. As I mentioned, the bad one's I received had the green wire connected to the hot blade of the molded plug.

Jazz P Bass,You are scaring me. I cut the ends off an IEC cord to replace damaged power cords in my amp repairs. I guess I should start testing them to see if the cords are wired correctly.

Yes. That would be an appropriate practice. With so many companies supplying parts today, there are many instances of crappy, bad and counterfeit parts in the supply chain.

[The Dude]

Agree with Tom. It's a good idea to check that wires go to the proper blades before wiring. That said, I need to learn to follow my own advice. Just last week, I converted a BF Princeton with a grounded AC cord. Grabbed one out of the warehouse. Went through all the trouble to rewire the amp primary side as one does. Went to plug in the amp and test it and realized someone had yanked the ground pin out of the plug end. If I'd looked first, I might have avoided having to do it twice.

[Chuck H]

Agree with Tom. It's a good idea to check that wires go to the proper blades before wiring. That said, I need to learn to follow my own advice. Just last week, I converted a BF Princeton with a grounded AC cord. Grabbed one out of the warehouse. Went through all the trouble to rewire the amp primary side as one does. Went to plug in the amp and test it and realized someone had yanked the ground pin out of the plug end. If I'd looked first, I might have avoided having to do it twice.

Well that wasn't the end you were looking at Funny actually. And it demonstrates you focusing on the job at hand. Then... "WTF?" Sort of like soldering a cable and then realizing you didn't slide the threaded housing on before soldering the jack. It happens.

[The Dude]

It was definitely a WTF moment (and possibly a few other expletives). And, as warehouse staff does, nobody will ever admit to yanking that ground pin out....... Lesson learned!

[The Dude]

The better part of the story is the '66 BF Princeton. The owner took it to a store (won't mention the store name to protect the guilty) to sell. It had some very slight issues and the guy at the store told her it was too old and they weren't interested in buying it. I think she would have taken less than a couple hundred bucks. I went through the thing, cleaned pots, checked tubes, clipped death cap, grounded cord, etc., etc.. and it's now in great playable condition. According to eBay, it's worth somewhere in the neighborhood of 2K. I don't think she has any idea what she has. I'm still waiting for her to pick it up to have that conversation.

[Chuck H]

Sweet! I don't have a similar amp story to share, but I have a similar story...

In about 1998 I painted a house in Palo Alto, Ca. that was built by the (very elderly) old lady's husband. The siding was peeling badly but in great shape otherwise. I wasn't the only bid on the job but I was the one she accepted. Good thing too because as it happens her husband (demised) had sided the entire house with 2"x12"x16' boards of old growth clear heart redwood. This is literally unobtanium now. One company gave her a bid to replace all the "failing siding" and haul off the "refuse". As I mentioned, all the wood was in good shape. The PA property at that time would have been worth about 500k (closer to 2mil now). But the wood alone by my estimate would have be worth about 180k. No surprise someone was trying to talk her into "replacing" it with just the paint failing. Thieves!!! Really glad I was there to help her. Construction salvage is big money. I had never seen a house sided with this material before and never since. It would have been built about ninety years ago and I swear my description of the wood is true. I sure hope my input didn't die with my elderly client and the wood value wasn't lost by the family after but who knows. I can't imagine what it would be worth today. Even a 1" thick board that would do a shelf of clear heart redwood will cost you two hundred bucks at the lumber yard now. Possibly 500k worth of furniture grade wood was on that house in todays dollars.

[The Dude]

Apologies to the OP for turning this into story time, but I have another that Chuck's reminded me of. This is second hand, but came to me from a good friend and he wouldn't make it up.
So, this buddy of mine was painting houses part time while going to college in the Chicago area. Paint supplies were kept in the customer's garage. He had noticed early on that there were boxes floor to ceiling covering most of an entire wall. Finally, one day, the homeowner came out and they had a little conversation during which my buddy asked him what was in all of the boxes. The guy told him that his son was in the army and originally stationed in the UK. He would save his money up and when he got enough, he would send home another box. The son never made it home and so all of the boxes were still there. The entire wall was boxes of brand new, never opened, now vintage, Vox AC30's. My friend asked if he'd be interested in selling any of them and he said no. Because of sentimental value, he couldn't part with them, so they might still be in storage somewhere.