Wall Outlet Hot Neutral Ground
The problem seems to be a light switch and dimmer switch and several wall outlets.
Wall outlet hot neutral ground. With both light switch and dimmer switch on the wall outlet reads 120v 6 amps between neutral and ground and 230v 12a hot neutral. The hot wire carries the power from your home s service panel to all of your light fixtures switches and outlets. If your receptacle has only two prongs use a multimeter by placing one lead in the hot port on the receptacle and the other on the the metal outlet box or the metal of the plate screw. In contrast the ground wire is connected to any metal parts in an appliance such as a microwave oven or coffee pot.
Note that the wiring in your case is run not using sheathed cables but as individual wires inside a metallic conduit aka the pipe like stuff you see heading off to the left in your picture. For ls on ds off i read 120v neutral ground and 230v hot neutral. As a result the conduit is a serviceable grounding path in its own right connecting the receptacle grounds and boxes to the grounded panel enclosure without any need. Hot neutral and ground.
However the neutral and ground wires serve two distinct purposes. A gfci outlet installation does not protect equipment from power surges. This doesn t turn an ungrounded outlet into a grounded outlet but it does provide protection against shock. All nema 6 devices are three wire grounding devices hot hot ground used for 208 and 240 v circuits and rated for 250 v maximum with the 6 15 6 20 and 6 30 being grounding versions of the 2 15 2 20 and 2 30 respectively.
The hot neutral and ground wires. The conduit is the grounding path. If the neutral to ground is 120v and the hot to ground is a few volts or less then the hot and neutral wires are reversed fig. Like the neutral wire the ground wire is also connected to an earth ground.
The 6 15 resembles the 5 15 but with collinear horizontal pins spaced 23 32 in 18 3 mm center to center. You must measure neutral to ground or hot to ground voltage. Measuring hot to neutral voltage by itself doesn t tell you if those wires are reversed. Electricity may still be inside a plugged in device causing a greater chance of electrical shock upon handling the item.
The neutral wire forms a part of the live circuit along with the hot wire. If the neutral is disconnected anywhere between the light bulb and the panel then the neutral from the light to the point of the break in the neutral will become hot and the device will be unpowered because no. If the meter reads around 120 v then the box is grounded. This enables current to flow through the light bulb and power it.
The standard wiring configuration uses three cables or wires. Most such testers are designed with three prongs. Hot and ground wires that are reversed can be dangerous because the switch that is meant to break the hot wire s connection does not break the ground wire when it is hot. Each plays an important role in getting electricity where it needs to go safely.