Changing plugs in my house ground problem


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Old 12-07-11, 09:48 AM
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Changing plugs in my house ground problem

my house was built in 1960. so a lot of the plugs are only two pron plugs. So Im changing them with brand new cooper tr. Most of the plugs are fine. but I have a couple I have a problem with. I have the black wires hot and white is neg. and I added a tail to ground the plug to the box. Well two had a copper wire just hanging in the box so I connected to the box and ran the tail to the plug. I tested it and it works fine but the tester says open ground. meaning that I grounded the plug to the box but the box is not grounded to anything or the other end of the copper wire. How can I make it right? How can I fix this? The main panel is grounded. If I get a gfi Will that work or no?
 
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Old 12-07-11, 11:54 AM
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You need to run the copper ground wire from the receptacle back to the panel.
 
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Old 12-07-11, 12:15 PM
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You can install three prong receptacles on ungrounded circuits as long as GFI protection is installed. You need to label the receptacles "No equipment Ground".

A GFI will work without a ground.
 
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Old 12-08-11, 12:11 PM
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Thats not happening all the walls are drywalls and I just finished painting the whole house.

Ok so take out the new three prong receptacles and replace each one thats not grounded with a GFI? Ok so the GFI will still work and trip. I did not think so with out a ground. So with the GFI anything I would plug it will not blow or somebody will not get electrocuted?

These are the once I got for the kitchen and the once I would use.
Shop Cooper Wiring Devices 3-Pack 15-Amp White Decorator GFCI Electrical Outlet at Lowes.com

Will it work?
 

Last edited by mikecsti; 12-08-11 at 12:28 PM.
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Old 12-08-11, 12:28 PM
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You can use the three prong receptacles as long as you have a GFCI receptacle or breaker protecting the circuit. As pcboss mentioned, you will need to label the receptacles so others do not mistakenly assume they are grounded.
 
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Old 12-08-11, 12:35 PM
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The GFI protection must be upstream of the 3 prong receptacles. You do not need a GFI device at each location.

Note: while this is code compliant a GFI will not provide a ground for ungrounded circuits. Some devices are required to be used on grounded circuits. Also surge protection does not work on ungrounded circuits.
 
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Old 12-12-11, 04:40 AM
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So enven though I grounded the plug to the box its not grounded right? Dose this make sence. The one in the dinning room is the first plug in the line. it says opened ground but ever one after tests fine? The other one is the last one in the line all others tested fine but the last one? Both have grounds that where on the wall and I connected to the boxes.
 
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Old 12-12-11, 07:10 AM
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So enven though I grounded the plug to the box its not grounded right?
That depends on if the box is grounded. If it is non-metallic cable with one exception* it is unlikely the box is grounded. If you have metallic conduit of some kind it may be grounded.


* In the early days of non metallic cable with ground the ground wire was often terminated outside the box. If you have a large number of ground wires (often #16) in your breaker box but no ground wires in the junction boxes that is probably how your system is wired.
 
 

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