The harms of switching hot and neutral wires?

6 years ago

I have several LED flood lamps. So far they've all listed Brown as the hot wire and Blue as the neutral wire. I got a new brand in today and they list the opposite. I contacted th eseller who says the instructions are correct but he was clueless about a lot of the other things I asked and he just sells the stuff.

So what will happen if I follow the instructions and they're wrong? Thanks.

Featured Answer

Ron Natalie

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

Eh? I can't believe that these LED luminaires have either a hot or neutral. They should be symmetrical. At least it should be safe (the worst that will happen is it won't work). Any exposed metal parts should be grounded (this is different from an old style screw in lamp where you'd want to make sure the exposed threads on the socket were on the neutral side).

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Comments (9)

rjcantor
Original Author
6 years ago
(all have green/yellow as ground)
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rjcantor
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks. I measured the ohms between both wires and a screw going into the casing. It seems neither wire is connected to the casing. Yet all the different brands specify which wire is hot, neutral or ground. Odd. :)
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weedmeister
6 years ago
The LED probably doesn't care.
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rjcantor
Original Author
6 years ago
Given your user name I consider you the expert. :)
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DavidR
6 years ago
Brown for hot and blue for grounded (neutral) is the European standard.

I'd agree that it probably doesn't matter which way the LED is connected,so why don't they just make both power-carrying wires, say, white? It may have something to do with EU and/or Asian electrical code. Or it may be that they don't want inquiries from boatloads of people asking "which wire goes to hot?" Could be both.
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rjcantor
Original Author
6 years ago
It doesn't matter seems to be the consensus since neither wire is connected to the case. Thanks.
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Vith
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I thought LED and the integrated driver preferred hot and neutral to be correct with AC current, or it simply wont work. I am not thinking there is a safety issue with reversal, just that it wont work. I believe that is the case with most LEDs because most LEDs are DC current and require a transformer. There are some AC LEDs but not common in my experience. Usually they have the little adapter that transforms the current, or if it is a light bulb then that part is in the base of the bulb.

More LED literature.

Now if you had an AC current LED it would probably not care.
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DavidR
6 years ago
Any LED connected to the mains has a built in power supply that converts the AC to DC.

AC has no polarity, so the light will work either way you connect it. The power supply takes care of feeding the LED DC in the polarity it needs.

Typically the concern with connecting hot and neutral as instructed is keeping the switch in the hot side.

In the case of a screw-in light bulb, you're also concerned with making sure the shell isn't hot, to prevent shock. (The Edison base isn't a very safe design, and I can't imagine any electrical company coming up with something like that today. In fact they didn't, the GU24 base is much safer, though I guess safety wasn't its main purpose.)
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