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Re: Variac Safety

The easier rule to remember is that the wide slot is neutral, and electricians always use white for neutral. But don't depend on it. When I bought my house an apprentice electrician had wired a grounded socket with the following problem. The ground was not connected. One of the screws on the hot side of the plug was left unscrewed, so it touched the metal on the surrounding box. This automatically connected the ground part of the socket to the hot line. When I plugged in my stereo amp with a grounded plug all component chassis were live!!!! In addition all of the grounded sockets in one room had been randomly wired with respect to the neutral line. Checking and vigilance are certainly in order, but a good GFCI is cheap insurance. Some hair dryers now have them built into the cord.

A 115V wall socket should be wired with live on the left, neutral on
the right if ground is on top.