New 500 Watt Variable Transformer Made in China

[jdragoset]

Got the following: (500W AC Voltage Regulator Variac Variable Auto Transformer 110V Metered 130V) from Ebay and found the following errors:
Neutral (brown wire) incoming wired through on/off switch and fuse, connected to 120 volt transformer input but wired to neutral outlet terminal.
Hot (blue wire) incoming wire directly to transformer common input.
Transformer variable output wired to hot outlet terminal.
Besides the obvious hazard of all output terminals becoming hot when switched off or fuse blown, voltage between ground and neutral outlet terminals will vary depending on transformer setting and load.
Be aware of and correct these problems if using this transformer to power your instrument for testing purposes.
 

[TheMG]

By EU standards brown is hot, blue is neutral. So I guess they just got the neutral and hot mixed up on the north-american  plug and receptacle?

[CaptDon]

Brown is the hot wire here in the states also with blue being neutral!!!

[jdragoset]

Checking cords we import from the UK, brown is hot.
This cord, when plugged into a standard outlet, the blue wire is hot with a Klein NCVT-1 (non-contact tester).
Does make one wonder about the number of appliance/replacement cords that are wired incorrectly.

[james_s]

Brown is hot and blue is neutral in every UK/Euro coded power cord I've seen. Sounds like they just got the plug on wrong on that one, assuming the receptacle you have it plugged into is wired correctly. Other than that this sounds correct. Do check the receptacle, I have found them wired backwards in a number of instances.

[jdragoset]

Receptacle is correct, brass screw/black wire/narrow slot hot, nickel screw/white wire/wide slot neutral