You can test a grounded, three-slot receptacle for grounding (remember, the power is on) by placing one probe of your tester in the short slot and one in the hole for a plug’s grounding pin. The short slot is for the hot wire. The bulb should glow to indicate that the receptacle is grounded. If it doesn’t, keep one probe in the grounding hole and place the other one in the longer, neutral slot. In this position, if the bulb glows, it shows that the receptacle is grounded, but the black and white wires have been reversed (they’re attached to the wrong terminal screws) and should be corrected. If the bulb doesn’t glow in either case, the receptacle isn’t grounded. A three-slot receptacle that isn’t grounded is misleading and dangerous to a user. It might indicate that only the individual receptacle is incorrectly wired or that it was inadvertently used to replace an ungrounded receptacle. Either way, you want to know so you can correct the problem.
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