How to manually check electrical wires

for polarity.
Multimeters can be confusing and scary for first timers. That pretty
much goes for anything you use for the first time, I suppose. But you
may get scared away by all the symbols and meanings and different
configurations that are on multimeters, if youve never used one
before.
But how did you learn to drive? You had to learn all the traffic
symbols and rules before you successfully hit the road. Same deal
here. Crack the encryption and begin to learn the language and
youll wonder how anyone could be scared of this wonderful little
tool.
So I hope to begin writing some basics of using a Digital Multimeter
blog on here as well. Probably giving it another category such as
Tutorials/Walkthroughs or something of the like.
In this blog Id like to just give one or two quick basics to handling
and reading a Digital Multimeter. Something quick and direct for
the first timers, as I myself once was.
The following will be a walkthrough on how to check the polarity of
circuits (wiring) with a Digital Multimeter. I can only walk you
through Digital Multimeters because Ive never used an Analog
Multimeter (Im so nu skool!).
Okay, so the first step to doing anything with electrical devices or
electrical circuits is to take those saftey precautions. Dont
electricute yourself or damage your home appliances because you
got bored and wanted to see the voltage of your microwave. Please
follow all saftey rules in your Digital Multimeters manual, or the
ones you found online. Im no where near responsible for anyones
mistakes, proceed with caution and at your own risk!

The first thing to know about Multimeters is that they are just as
fragile as the circuits you are testing them on. Dont test a little
cheapie multimeter on something thats drawing in 100 amps of
electricty and set it to 10 amps. It will fry your multimeter and then
break and maybe even cause damage to you. Know your
Multimeters limitations and play by them.
Okay,
Today we will be testing wiring for polarity. What does that mean?
It means that the wires were not marked or there is absolutely no
indication which wire is Positive (+) and which wire is Negative
(-). This will be essential to know the correct polarity if you are
testing circuits and devices to ensure that the device is working
correctly or not. Or if you must go in and rewire or something, you
must know the correct polarity or the device will not work when you
are finished repairing it. Todays wiring is indication somehow
someway by the negative wire having somekind of indication on it.
But as I stated before, this is just a simple test for someone to get
used to using a Multimeter.
Pretty simple.
So turn on your Digital Multimeter and connect the Negative
(-) lead to the COM port. Then connect the Positive (+) lead to the
V/mA port. Make sure to set your settings to the next highest rating
of voltage. For this example, since Im testing the wiring of a 1.5v DC
wire, set the DCV to 20V. I set it this way because its the lowest
setting of that range on my Multimeter that Im using.
Then simply touch your Positive and Negative leads to the wire. You
will get a numerical reading regardless of the polarity. But the point
of this exercise is to make sure we know the polarity of the wires. If
you see a Negative (-) sign flashing before the numerical value, you
are recieving a negative reading. This means your leads are in
the incorrect polarity positions on the circuit (wires). Switch the

leads to the opposite wires. You should get the same numerical
reading, just without the flashing negative signal before them. You
have corrected the polarity, and the multimeters leads are attatched
to the correct polarity. This means that whatever wire the Postive
(+) lead is connecting to at this point, is a Positive wire. The lead
connecting to the other wire is telling you, the wire is negative.
The simplist version of this test is for speaker wire. If the polarity is
reversed, the sound output to the speakers will be noticable. If the
polarity is correct, the sound will be normal. Once again, if you
reverse the polarity on your speakers, no harm will be done, it will
just sound bad. Simply reverse the polarity to regain proper sound.

How to test
electrical polarity
How to Test Polarity:

This simple test is just as important as all the others, and many serious injuries and
electrocutions could have been prevented if only polarity checks had been carried out. The
requirements are:

All fuses and single pole switches are in the phase conductor.

The centre contact of an Edison screw type lamp holder is connected to the phase
conductor.

All socket outlets and similar accessories are correctly wired.

Although polarity is towards the end of the recommended test sequence, it is sensible, on
lighting circuits, for example, to conduct this test at the same time as that for continuity of
CPCs. (When recording R1+R2)
Polarity on ring final circuit conductors is achieved simply by conducting the ring circuit test.
Reading across L&N should be (r1+rn)/4 +/- 0.05 Ohms and for across L&CPC (r1+r2)/4
+/- 0.05 Ohms.
For radial socket outlet circuits, however, this is a little more difficult. The continuity of the
CPC will have already been proved by linking phase and CPC and measuring between the
same terminals at each socket. Whilst a phase-CPC reversal would not have shown, a
phase-neutral reversal would, as there would have been no reading at the socket in
question. This would have been remedied, and so only phase-CPC reversals need to be

checked. This can be done by linking together phase and neutral at the origin and testing
between the same terminals at each.

A phase-CPC reversal will result in no reading at the socket in question. When the supply is
connected, it is important to check that the incoming supply is correct. This is done using an
approved voltage indicator at the intake position or close to it