should I be worried


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Old 03-11-08, 04:58 PM
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should I be worried

I just bought a house which is a split level with a sub-basement. I found out that there is no ground on two receptacles in the sub-basement. Should I be worried or is it just me? Any info. would be appreciated.
 
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Old 03-11-08, 05:05 PM
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explain no ground.....

No bare wire in the boxes, 3 prong receptacles that test as "Ungrounded" , 2 prong receptacles that were never grounded to begin with?

Being a "Sub Basement" gfci protection is recommended, unfinished space would be REQUIRED under current electrical code.....Take a look at this.

http://forum.doityourself.com/showthread.php?t=337325
 
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Old 03-11-08, 05:33 PM
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Thank you for replying back. This is a 3 prong receptacle that tests no ground in a finished sub-basement. Any suggestions would be great and very helpful.
 
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Old 03-11-08, 05:43 PM
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Turn the power off to the affected circuits, Remove the receptacles and see if there is a bare or green wire in the box....

Since the GFCI at minimum is a good Idea,if not required, I would suggest it is an amicable solution to 3 prong receptacles, where no ground has been provided.
 
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Old 03-11-08, 05:46 PM
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If only 2 plugs are open ground in the whole house...

#1 There is a bad connection upstream.

#2 There is Knob and Tube or 2 wire romex feeding those outlets.

Can you figure out if you have K&T or two wire romex?

No matter what it is it is a code voilation to have 3 prongs on ungrounded circuit unless fed by GFI upstream.
 
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Old 03-11-08, 07:05 PM
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This installation was already there when I moved in. If I replaced both receptacles with gfci receptacles, would this be safe and legal?
 
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Old 03-11-08, 07:16 PM
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Safer=yes
Legal=yes

If you can troubleshoot it fix it that would be ideal. Otherwise I wouldnt loose any sleep over it with GFIs in place.
 
 

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