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No Equipment Ground Sticker Usage for Replacing Existing Receptacles

No Equipment Ground Sticker Usage for Replacing Existing Receptacles


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Old 12-13-16, 11:20 PM
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No Equipment Ground Sticker Usage for Replacing Existing Receptacles

Hey, all. Just joined the forum. Thank you for having me. I live in Kankakee County (IL) and we follow 2005 NEC. Wife and I have a 1940 brick home where the majority of the wiring is BX cable (2 conductors with the bonding strip), and some of it is the cloth covered 2 conductor cable. No ground wire for any of these. Previous homeowner installed all 3 prong outlets throughout the house (bathrooms and kitchen had all GFCI receptacles, mind you). Here is my question: If I am replacing a receptacle that has no ground wire in the electrical box, I still have to use the "No Equipment Ground" sticker, even if my 3 prong tester trips the GFCI receptacle when I press the black "Test" button? The receptacle trips when I press the "Test" button on the receptacle itself, so there are no worries about that. Guessing that the metal jacket is tricking the tester into thinking there is a ground wire (an electrician replaced a GFCI receptacle 4 years ago, and did not put a "No Equipment Ground" sticker on that. Also, what about a unfinished basement GFCI receptacles in 1/2 EMT that is using THHN wire with no ground wire? Do those need the "No Equipment Ground" sticker? Thank you for your help!! B
 
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Old 12-14-16, 03:45 AM
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Welcome to the forums! Technically you do have a grounding system with the BX cable or conduit. The metal is bonded all the way back to the panel. GFCI's do not need a ground to trip. They trip on fault, meaning when there is a 5 mA difference between the hot and neutral it will trip.
 
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Old 12-14-16, 06:00 AM
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Interesting. Most 1940's houses around here with BX (AC cable) do not have the bonding strip. I thought that it didn't come out until the 1950s.
 
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Old 12-14-16, 12:11 PM
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Thank you for the reply!!! So, if the GFCI is supplied by BX or is in metal conduit without a ground wire, I do not need the "No Equipment Ground" sticker put on the faceplate? Also, If I want to EXTEND a GFCI circuit in my unfinished basement, I would need to run a ground back to the panel for the extended circuit, correct? I think that falls under NEC250.130C.
 
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Old 12-14-16, 12:18 PM
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Thank you for the reply!! There is a bunch of "rag wire" (not sure what the cloth covered conductor wire is called), BUT the previous homeowners had the bonding strip for my BX cable wrapped around the ground screw of the receptacle. YIKES!!!! I took it and wrapped about 2 inches around the cable before the cable entered the electrical box. I also found some K&T wiring in my attic, but it was not live. Had never seen K&T wiring in person.
 
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Old 12-14-16, 12:57 PM
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There are a couple conditions. BX with the bonding strip is considered a legal ground if and only if the BX is terminated with proper fittings to metal boxes and the grounded section of the circuit extends all the way back to the panel. In this case, the junction boxes are grounded. In order for the devices to also be grounded you need to either run a pigtail from a ground screw on the box to the ground screw on the device or use devices that have a "self-grounding" designation. BX without a bonding strip is not a legal ground due to corrosion of the steel jacket, but it will fool a tester into saying you have a ground.

Circuits installed in metal conduit are considered grounded if the metal conduit path is continuous back to the panel or to a metal junction box with another acceptable grounding method. The conduit must use proper fitting, metal junction boxes, and the fittings must be tight. The same requirement applies to use grounding pigtails or self-grounding devices.
 
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Old 12-15-16, 10:40 PM
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Thank you for the reply. I appreciate all of your help on this. I will definitely post some more electrical queries for all of you in the future!! B
 
 

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