Red wire used for ground?
#1
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Red wire used for ground?
I have two the questions. I want to put a light switch and light in a closet by running power from an electrical outlet box in the basement. Opening the box I found what I think is a 14-3 gauge Romex wire. The red wire is attached to the green ground screw, and the ground wire is loose. The black wire is attached to one side of the outlet and the white to the other side.
1. Is the red wire being used as a ground, and should I worry about this?
2. The outlet has a pair of screws on each side. One screw has the white neutral wire attached to it, and one of the two screws screw on the other side has the black hot wire. Can I run a 12-2 gauge Romex wire from the two extra screws on each side (black to black and white to white) to the new light switch and light that I want to install?
Thanks in advance for your help
1. Is the red wire being used as a ground, and should I worry about this?
2. The outlet has a pair of screws on each side. One screw has the white neutral wire attached to it, and one of the two screws screw on the other side has the black hot wire. Can I run a 12-2 gauge Romex wire from the two extra screws on each side (black to black and white to white) to the new light switch and light that I want to install?
Thanks in advance for your help
#2
The red wire is attached to the green ground screw, and the ground wire is loose... Is the red wire being used as a ground
#3
Are you 100% sure it is not a bare copper wire going to the ground screw? Sometimes the copper can look red. It is rare for Romex to not have a ground wire, and if it doesn't, the cable is quite old.
#5
I took that to mean that the wire was not connected securely to the screw.
That would be odd. I have seen where people will color a red wire green and use that for an isolated ground, but that is pretty much pointless in a home.

#8
It is rare for Romex to not have a ground wire, and if it doesn't, the cable is quite old.

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Thank you for your responses.
The romex wire going into the outlet box has four wires. 1 black, 1 red, 1 white, and an uninsulated ground wire. This ground wire is loose. The "hot" black and the common white are screwed on to the outlet at the proper terminals. The red insulated wire is being used as a ground and is attached at the green grounding screw. Using an electric current tester I determined that the red is not hot. However, to be safe, and , as recommended by ray2047, I will follow it back.
Once I resolve the red wire question, can I use the second set of screws, mentioned in my initial post, to run a light to my closet?
Thanks again.
The romex wire going into the outlet box has four wires. 1 black, 1 red, 1 white, and an uninsulated ground wire. This ground wire is loose. The "hot" black and the common white are screwed on to the outlet at the proper terminals. The red insulated wire is being used as a ground and is attached at the green grounding screw. Using an electric current tester I determined that the red is not hot. However, to be safe, and , as recommended by ray2047, I will follow it back.
Once I resolve the red wire question, can I use the second set of screws, mentioned in my initial post, to run a light to my closet?
Thanks again.
#11
If the bare ground if good yes you can use it. See my post #2 for testing.
If you mean a non contact tester the tester is not reliable enough to be certain and should be verified with an analog multimeter.
Using an electric current tester I determined that the red is not hot.
#12
.........and an uninsulated ground wire. This ground wire is loose.
Like not attached ?
#13
PJ asked:
Yes we have asked you a couple of times. Is it just laying in the box unattached. Answer that question and test it and we can move on with helping you.
what do you mean by loose