These conductors are designated as follows. Hot when a white wire is augmented with a red or black color marking this often indicates that it is being used as a hot wire rather than a neutral wire.
Household Electric Circuits
Why is white wire hot. It provides a 120 vac current source. The copper wire is called the ground wire because it is connected to the earth either directly or through another grounded conductor. The white wire is called the neutral wire. The black wire is the hot wire. The additional wire is hot but switched off at the switch. This video is part of the heating and cooling series of training videos made to accompany my.
In a 110 volt setup an additional wire usually red or blue normally indicates a hot wire controlled by a light switch. When you connect the blacks a magnetic field is produced and the white may show hot from the induction voltage to the white wire using a non contact tester. Under those conditions a black wire should be always hot and always on. It provides the return path for the current provided by the hot wire. The white wire goes to the white metal screws on an electrical outlet. Two of the conductors in nmb cable are covered with plastic insulation one white the other black.
This made me nervous and i wanted to double check which wire was hot. This one just demonstrates where the power is in a circuit and where you can have a hot neutral. So i tested the wires hot to neutral 125v hot to ground 35v neutral to ground 30v. It provides the return path for the current provided by the hot wire. When i pulled the existing switch the white wires i assume they were neutral wires were connected to switch. Typically this is indicated with a band of black or red electrical tape but other colors may be used wrapped around the wires insulation.
This voltage will be false. The third conductor is bare copper. The black wire is the hot wire which provides a 120 vac current source. White wires with black or red tape. The white wire is the neutral wire. If not then use a different tester that is a contact tester with a light that shows that the voltage is not inductive false to the white wire.