I need to replace some worn 2-wire electrical outlets in my parents’ house which was built in Southern California in the early 1960s. The house was built using 2-wire Romex (no ground) and plastic boxes. It seems everything these days requires grounded receptacles, and while the adapters that attach to the coverplate screw allow one to plug a grounded plug into a two-wire receptacle, the ground lug ends up floating. Worse yet, such an installation gives one a false sense of security.
In this sort of situation, what’s the best way to proceed? Since the neutral is grounded at the box, I’m tempted to simply connect the ground lug on the new plugs to the neutral and call it good, but I know that’s not Kosher. Short of rewiring, what’s the right way to do this?
Replies
Nothing...short of rewiring...anything less than that is a waste of time, money, and perhaps a big risk.
Actually, the wise and condescending NEC allows one to gently replace the old two hole receptacles with new two holers. Or you can replace the first one with a GFCI and feed the rest downstream from that [from the load terminals]. And, if you do, you have to stick labels "NO EQUIPMENT GROUND" and "GFCI PROTECTED" om them.
If these outlets are for computers and other electronic stuff, 'twould be better to run new 12-2/ground.
~Peter
It seems everything these days requires grounded receptacles,
Most the stuff I have is 2 prong, so replace the outlets with 2 prong. If you need a grounded outlet, rewire.
A bootleg ground is dangerous. Just because the ground and neutral are joined in the main panel doesn't make it ok to join them at a receptacle.
_______________________
"I may have said the same thing before... But my explanation, I am sure, will always be different." Oscar Wilde
Bob
"A bootleg ground is dangerous. Just because the ground and neutral are joined in the main panel doesn't make it ok to join them at a receptacle."
Do you test for bootleg grounds. I know that the $3.95 testers won't show them, but there are $300 or $400 testers that do show them.
Bill
Ok. The consensus is that you can't get there from here. I sort of expected that, but wanted to poll those in the know to be sure. I think I'll replace the 2-holers with new ones and just live with it. The receptacles in the bat-rooms, kitchen and groj are all grounded. All the rest are 2-holers, which are OK for lighting. Problem comes in when you start having to plug in DVD players, computers, telephone answering machines, etc. The original 100 Amp service is woefully inadequate by today's standards.
Thanks, all!
Quinn
First thing I would do is find out how easy a re-wire would be. Is there an attic or a basement, and in either of these can you see the two wire romex disappearing into holes? If the wires are strung through holes from box to box, is there another avenue of attack where new wires can be easily dropped that don't necessarily follow the paths of the old wire. You would definitely want someone with experience in rewiring houses to do the work, as it is a completely different ballgame than new construction.
As for the 100A not being an adequate service, is this a large house with electric heat, AC, hot water, and range? If not, then what is perceived as inadequate service is actually just wiring where loads are poorly divided on branches. We specifically put in dedicated 15A receptacles near the windows in each BR for an AC unit so it could run w/o causing brownouts in the overhead or desk/nighttable lamps as we experienced in the previous house.
You might also consider replacing some of the breakers with arc-fault breakers. Some of the insulation in that 1960's wiring is probably getting pretty brittle by now if up in an attic, or in overhead light fixtures.
Bill,
I don't use the Suretest testers to check for them because they are prone to false positives for bootleg grounds, especially if the receptacle is close to the panel.
I do pull some covers to check for bootleg grounds if I suspect that they are. By the time I get to the receptacles, I've already looked at the panel and have a pretty good idea of what kind of outlets I should be seeing and where.
If most of the circuits are old ungrounded rag wire, with maybe a couple of 12-2 NM's going towards the kitchen area, and I start finding "grounded" outlets in a completely different part of the house, I'll pull a cover to check._______________________
"I may have said the same thing before... But my explanation, I am sure, will always be different." Oscar Wilde
You have two legal options other than whole rewiring.A bootleg round, connecting ground terminal to the neutral, is more dangerous than just letting the ground float.
You can use a GFCI breaker or GFCI outlet. This gives you the same safety protection that a grounded outlet does. The outlets need to be labeled to indicate that they don't have a ground. The GFCI recptacles come with the labels.
The other option is to run a separate ground wire back to the ground at the pannel or to ground in another box that does go back to the pannel. Connecting it to a water pipe is not legal and not safe.
Note- do not connect a refigerator, freezer, or sump pump to a GFCI protected outlet. They have too many false trips.
The GFCI protected outlet does not offer the grounded needed for surge protectors that are used with computers.
"You can use a GFCI breaker or GFCI outlet. This gives you the same safety protection that a grounded outlet does. The outlets need to be labeled to indicate that they don't have a ground. The GFCI recptacles come with the labels."
Not the same protection. A different protection. A superior one for human safety. For instance, jumping into the bathtub with a 120-volt radio is much safer with a 2-wire GFCI outlet than with a grounded, 3-prong non-GFCI outlet. Better yet, don't take any line-voltage appliances bathing with you. Good Vibration's catalog has a lot of battery-powered options instead.
Quire right that refrigerators, freezers, and pumps shouldn't go on a GFCI circuit because of the risk of property damage should the GFCI trip. I would also argue that safety items shouldn't be GFCI. Home oxygen generators would be an extreme example, but stairway lighting would be a more common issue - a safety item you wanted powered as often as possible. However, the kitchen receptacles (that might most benefit from a GFCI breaker or upstream GFCI receptacle) are probably on the same circuit as the fridge. So we get back to running new 12-2 w/ground romex. Alas.
But, rather than retrofit everything, you could snake new romex to only those places that need it most (computer outlet, bath, kitchen). And I'd rather see you put a 6-outlet adaptor over a new, solid 3-wire installation than monkey about with a 2-wire solution. i.e. I'm suggesting that you don't have to aim for 3-wire receptacles every 12 feet on every wall. Does that make it seem more doable?
David Thomas Overlooking Cook Inlet in Kenai, Alaska