Power cord hot/neutral/ground question.

[vibrovox7reverb]

Ok this might sound quite noobish, but I have a question about the power cable in an amp.

I am building an for girlfriend, but the power cord I got from Weber doesn't have the standard colored wires for me to be able to tell which wire represents ground, neutral or hot. Instead of getting a cord with white, black, and green for the (neutral, hot, and ground) the colors are blue, brown, and green with a white stripe (which I would assume is the ground).

I understand how to check which one is ground (plug it in and check the different wires until I get 120vac which would mean that whichever one my black is connected to should be ground...?) However, I don't know how to figure out which wire is the hot wire...I think both sides would give approximately the same reading, so how would I be able to tell which one is the hot and which is the neutral? I want the amp to be safe for my girlfriend so the fuse needs to be on the hot side.

[big_teee]

Ok this might sound quite noobish, but I have a question about the power cable in an amp.

I am building an for girlfriend, but the power cord I got from Weber doesn't have the standard colored wires for me to be able to tell which wire represents ground, neutral or hot. Instead of getting a cord with white, black, and green for the (neutral, hot, and ground) the colors are blue, brown, and green with a white stripe (which I would assume is the ground).

I understand how to check which one is ground (plug it in and check the different wires until I get 120vac which would mean that whichever one my black is connected to should be ground...?) However, I don't know how to figure out which wire is the hot wire...I think both sides would give approximately the same reading, so how would I be able to tell which one is the hot and which is the neutral? I want the amp to be safe for my girlfriend so the fuse needs to be on the hot side.

If you look at a wall receptacle.
The Round hole is the Ground.
The Large Slot or blade is the Neutral.
The Small slot or blade is the Hot Lead.
If the receptacle has the round ground pointing down the Neutral would be on the left.
the Hot 120 Volt AC Lead woud be on the right.
Match the plug to the receptacle respectively.
If you have a Multi metet you can check continuity through the cord unplugged.
Be careful AC Can Kill.
B_T

[Wittgenstein]

From an earlier post of mine:

When looking at the 3 prong cable with the plugs facing you, the bottom is ground, top left is neutral, and top right is hot.

For old polarized 2 prong cables, the small terminal is hot, the bigger terminal is neutral.

[vibrovox7reverb]

Ok, I get it now. I wasn't actually aware that you could tell just by looking at the round cord because I thought that the cord could be twisted which would keep you from visually being able to tell where the actual "bottom" of the cord was. After reading this I realized that I could use the label that was on the cord to keep track of how it twisted because the wires inside aren't twisted, and I found out that the blue is ground, the green w/white is hot, and the brown is neutral. Thank you guys for the help.

[Enzo]

You don't have to keep track of twisted wires, use an ohm meter. Each of the three blades on the plug connect to only one of the wires. FInd out which in each case with the meter.

[Steve Conner]

Those sound like the "Everywhere except North America" standard wiring colours.

In this case, brown is hot, blue is neutral, green/yellow is ground.

[Jazz P Bass]

[QUOTE=vibrovox7reverb;241036], and I found out that the blue is ground, the green w/white is hot, and the brown is neutral. QUOTE]
This not correct!
Brown is "Hot"
Blue is "Return" (neutral)
Green/White is "Safety Ground"
IEC (most of Europe) AC power circuit wiring color codes.

Function label Color, IEC Color, old IEC
Protective earth PE green-yellow green-yellow
Neutral N blue blue
Line, single phase L brown brown or black

[Mark Black]

Not to muddy things - but I have seen the occasional brand new but miswired molded plug pigtail.

If that turns out to be the case please not only don't use it but cut the plug off the end to make sure someone else doesn't get hurt someday.

[Tom Phillips]

... I have seen the occasional brand new but miswired molded plug pigtail...

I have found mis-wired replacement cords too. I once received a whole batch with the green wire connected to the hot blade in the molded plug. Now I always Ohm out power cords before I install them.

[Jag]

I always check with an ohm meter.

[vibrovox7reverb]

Thanks Enzo, that is actually probably the best way to check the wires, and I don't know why I didn't think of it. Thanks again on yet another problem

And thanks to you too Steve. I likely would have hooked it up wrong and worked forever trying to figure out what was wrong. I thought that it was weird for the one with the white stripe to be the hot. Merry Christmas

[loudthud]

Weber had some cords at one time from a Chinese supplier that had the colored wires connected wrong. ALWAYS ohm the wires to the plug!

[Chuck H]

I haven't had cord with incorrect colors yet. But I ALWAYS ohm them out to be sure anyway. I guess I've had too many experiences where part claims were either exaggerated or just plain wrong as I always say... It's better to understand than to simply know. I think that workers simply knowing things rote and computers lacking intuition is the promary cause for such problems. Trust no one. Either they're trying to put one over on you or, at best, they may not understand what they did or didn't do.

[vibrovox7reverb]

Yes, I've ohmed the wires and found out it was the standard colors. Blue neutral, Green/white ground, and Brown hot. Thanks again everyone who helped to make sure I didn't kill myself. Merry Christmas to all of you guys