How To Replace An Old 2 Prong Outlet Using 3 Prong GFCI
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- Опубліковано 8 лип 2024
- Leviton GFCI 15 Amp: amzn.to/3kv63M1
Caution: Be safe and if you don't feel comfortable with this install please call in a licensed electrician.
This video will demonstrate how to swap out an old 2 prong receptacle with a new 3 prong GFCI receptacle. This install follows NEC 406.4(D)(2) Non-Grounding-Type Receptacles code and we will go from start to finish. If you have any questions the best way to get help is to jump down in the comments or join our Facebook group "Everyday Home Repairs Community" where you can post your question.
Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:07 Turning Off Power
1:46 Removing Old 2 Prong Receptacle
2:29 Stripping Wires for New GFCI Receptacle
3:10 Wiring New GFCI Receptacle
3:53 Wrapping Receptacle with Electrical Tape
5:03 Testing New GFCI
5:31 How To Handle Multiple Receptacles On Same Circuit
Tools Used
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DISCLAIMER: This video and description contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. - Навчання та стиль
Great video. No music, no stupid humor…just the facts and to the point.
At one time, I lived in a house (My Great Grandpa's House) that didn't even have polarized outlets. So Dad took me to the hardware store every weekend. My Dad didn't know what he was doing and just attached the wires to the screws and that was that. I used to think at my young age, 6 or 7 years old "That can't be right" but then didn't give it much more thought. When I became a teenager, I found my Grandma's Time Life Books. One of them was wiring basics. That book and riding to the library on my bike taught me so much more. I love the work but I am just not able to physically endure it anymore, so it makes me really upset that I can't do it, and I get even more upset when those that can, choose not to do it right. My Mother bought so many houses, because she LOVED different ones at different times. I always found wiring that was all wrong, like outlets ungrounded, reversed polarity open air wire splices, real fire hazards. So I would rewire them.
At one point my Mother said "I wish, just once, I could buy a house that you didn't have to rewire." I looked at her and said "Me too, Mother. Me too."
Oh man, this was really helpful. Thank you! We have an 1950s house and I've been concerned about using those adapters for a while but didn't think I could upgrade the outlets myself. Now I know I can :)
SAME! First time home owner and I have never done anything to fix...well, anything. LOL But, I think I can.
Lol im here to join the 1950s club first time home buyer too
Enjoy the clarity of the instructions, and the suggestions of new parts available to accomplish the job. Thanks man.
Thanks for making this quick and easy. Everyone else talks too much and takes way to long for a video
Did one for the first time as a teenager. When I got shocked, my dad told me I was grounded. 😉LOL
I'm here all week, folks.
I'm shocked at how terrible that was
That joke was not hot.
I see you have some continuity comments… Lol
@@user-fy7gt6ev5u He should be grounded for that comment
Idk, but I think it's an electrifying joke. 🤪
Wow, so straightforward! Thank you!! Great video, clear and to the point. Almost unheard of or unseen in these days of mindless blathering on channels to monetize everything.
My dad was an electrician and journeyman. He taught me to wrap with electrical tape like you did here and then flip the end on itself for ease of removal if needed.
I have ALWAYS done this on every receptacle I have ever worked on! Thanks for the tips, Dad!
That's correct a "courtesy tab" , my old man thought me the same....
U have 2 hook ups how do u do that with an up dated outlet
7:39
Thank you so much this was huge help. Our house was built in 1928 and my mom absolutely hates those 2 prong outlets so I replaced them all
Your videos are very helpful. One of my responsibilities is teaching safety. In a professional setting I always recommend 1) Test for power. 2) Test for power off. & 3) Make sure tester is working properly by testing a known live circuit to make sure your tester is working properly. Just want to be safe. Have seen the results of an unsafe environment and training. Hope this helps. Thanks for the videos and Happy 2022! Bill Mc
I don't know a thing but shouldn't #3 be first?
I like a tester that makes a sound, in case you are in bright sunlight.
Also lets you keep eyes on other issues, especially when working on a car.
@@stevejette2329 h guy
Good info. For some of those folks in their younger years wondering why many very old socket have 2 slots shaped like a T turned onto it's side, here's a little history lesson: in the first few decades of the 20th century, when homes were being electrified for the first time and the abundance of household appliances became readily available and affordable to the middle class, there were two different types of plug widely used, the parallel, which resembles the type found on your lamp or hair dryer, and the tandem, which the prongs were in a straight horizontal line, and a battle fought between what would become the standard, very similar to the videotape format war, Betamax vs VHS. The tandem plug was officially listed for 15 amps, 250 volts, and the parallel 15 amps, 125 volts, sometime around the early 1950s. Just as VHS won over betamax in the mid 1980s give or take a few, several movies were available in betamax up to the early, to possibly mid 90s, the tandem plugs mostly went out of use earlier in the 20th century, it took some years for the standards to catch up, so to allow for the two different plugs, the old outlets could easily accept both.
Thanks Kyle !! That’s cool to know. When he first showed the receptacle, I was a bit perplexed. I know tandem is 250 volts and parallel is 125 volts, so I was trying to figure out what the heck that receptacle was all about.
@@jakesully5402 speaking of never too old to learn, another thing to note on older electrical outlets and light switches, particularly the ones pre-dating the 1950s, is a marking something like: 125V/15A and 250V/10A. From the 1920s to the 1950s, lamp sockets were rated 10 amps, while general purpose home circuits were allowed 15 amps, but over 125 volts followed the 10 amp limit. Note those old t slot outlets would have no problem carrying 15 amps if not more at 240 volt, they typically overbuilt many devices back in the day. And though they wired these older outlets for 120 volts 9 times out of 10, regardless of whether they used the parallel or tandem prongs, there was the occasional exception, for example, you were inside an office or other commercial building from say the 1910s or 1920s, and operated say large fans, high powered lighting, etc so you had to be very careful to know what voltage was being supplied to the building in question before plugging stuff in ☺
What ended the electrical issue?
For Beta and VHS, it was porn. Porn movies made up most of movie sales. They decided as a collective to go to VHS. Beta was the better system overall, but the decision was based on sales.
@@charleshodgdon6168 lol i learned all i need to know about movies sales. As far as the electrical tandem vs parallel plugs, not sure because that was way before most of us were born, but based off some of the electrical code and repair book i have, it seems like because of the two different voltages in common use beginning in the first few decades of the 20th century, when the majority of homes went from lanterns or gas lighting to the new fangled electric lamp for the first time, the fact there were few if any standards for wiring, and the obvious hazards of connecting something to the wrong voltage/current rating, they needed something that would be standard across the board to prevent plugging into the wrong power source, so they finally decided to used parallel plugs for 120 volt 15 amp and tandem plugs for 240 15 amp, such as might be for a window A/C unit or large electric heater before the code began requiring grounds on all the outlets in the 1960s.
A few taps with a hammer will usually suffice..
I figured out why a "ground fault interrupter" works without the ground. If *you* are providing the ground (e.g. getting a shock) it detects that more current is flowing through the hot wire than the neutral and trips. That is, when your body is closing the circuit between the hot and some other ground (like touching a faucet), so the neutral is not carrying that current. I wish that other places explained this.
Yep you got it . Most people including many electricians do not understand how it works . The hot and neutral wire should be balanced . If they are not then the GFCI assumes some current is leaking via another path and trips .
The word "ground" confuses many. In other counties different terms are used. In Britain it is known as an RCD (Residual current device), still not very clear. In Finland it is called what translates as fault current protector. I think it would be clearer if they dropped the word "ground".
Good explanation. The ground in a GFCI functions exactly the same as in a normal receptacle (if connected properly), providing shock protection to the user of the equipment, assuming that the equipment has a plug with a ground prong.
I have one circuit in my house where lightning once hit & burnt a neutral wire out. A new neutral was run to another nearby circuit. The hot should have been terminated & extended to the box. Acts like old knob & tubing wiring creating emfs in the improperly wired circuit.
@@Thumbsdwn It will protect you even if you don't have a ground prong
Many homes with metal boxes were original wired with a bare (insulated) copper ground. It is attached to the outside of the box, you can't see it. If the box was grounded then that faceplate screw would likely be a ground .
However, over time, contractors and homeowners inadvertently cut the ground wire without knowing what is was. This is because the original contractor would run one wire, horizontally over the face of the studs, from box to box, room to room. By cutting it in the kitchen area you could disable it throughout the rest of the house.
Thank you for the info about the ground wires from the metal boox to the main box grounding system, my house is old, 90% of it is 2 wire receptacles, but on one of the recepticle outlet boxes i did notice a loose wire hanging from the back of the box? Sure had me worried till the grounding method was revealed, thank you all for teaching me and all the tidbits from the peoples ideas
Just wanted to add that you get the same effect by using BX cable and metal boxes, which is how I was taught many years ago.
I had an old house with two prong outlets I changed out shortly after moving in.
The cabling was a braided tar 14/2 romex, plastic insulation, and a 16 gauge ground. The ground wire was often spiral wrapped around the end of the stripped braided sheathing and clamped to the metal box, grounding the outlet through the box.
You had to be careful grounding the outlet directly as the 16 was fragile once you unwrapped it.
Where was this done and what was the box ground wire attached to? If you don't mind me asking.
@@miguelalvarado2343 I grew up in the house I now own. It was built in 1955, under 1956 NEC regulations taking effect months later. My folks bought the house in 1961 from the original owner who built the house himself. He used Square D XO circuit breakers which were the state of the art at the time. The boxes grounded in my house are the bathroom outlet box, the light switch box to the bathroom light, the central heating outlet leading to the heater's blower motor, the outlet in the old laundry room next to where the sink was (laundry got moved to the detached garage), the outlets near the kitchen sink, the outside porch light boxes & the switch boxes to the lights and all fixture boxes in the detached garage. The fixture boxes in my garage, however, originally did not have 3 prong outlets in them for many years, even though they were bonded. Since all my breakers are in 1 panel, I can run ground wires from an ungrounded box up to my attic, and run a ground wire from a grounded box up to the attic to share it with the other circuits. I currently need to replace a rusted box in my kitchen and put in a GFCI in place of the old 3 prong outlet in the box. When I chip away at the plaster to access the old box and the stud that the bracket is mounted to, I will run a separate ground wire to ground ungrounded circuits with.
I done reno in the very old house, a spiders web, where receptacles and switches are mounted without boxes into walls and thick baseboards. Absolutely crazy. No marrettes, no 'clamps' at holes in boxes - twisted wire and hockey tape in some of them, bent nails hold wires in place. The worst of it is that BX they use barely passes through the holes they made and replacing the 'plugs' is almost impossible in some locations. At this point I basically rewired from scratch most of the ground floor with new BX. The locations where with old BX that couldn't be replaced have separate breakers.
Thank you very much. My daughter and her man just bought a 67 year old house. I agreed to replace the most I can before I have to f,y home. Foolishly I did not pick up a voltage sensor, so I don’t know if the first one I tried was even live before I began, but I had thrown the breaker. So I went to another one, got it all wired up tight and then could not get it into the tiny box! Tomorrow I will grab a voltage thing, and try this tape wrap to see if I can get it in there. Between your video and one other I finally got it set in my mind exactly what the GFCI is doing in this situation. This was exactly what I needed.
You are my new best friend! Love your direct, straightforward approach to teaching. I’ll be back to watch more videos!
When putting the wire in the screw, make sure it is on the left side of the screw, not the right. On the left allows the screw to keep the wire tighter. Also, many of the old boxes were actually grounded. That should be checked out. If that is the case, then to complete the process, attach a ground wire to the box and then to the ground connection on the new outlet.
If the box is grounded, a regular receptacle should be grounded by the ears attached to the metal box. On a GFCI you would want to install a jumper wire as noted.
are you referring to when using J hooks? because if so he used the rear entry that locks it down behind the plate, no J hooks necessary.
@@dan9809 your bathroom outlet box is using a shortcut to grounding by being grounded to the cold water pipe below it. As long as a plumber or handyman doesn't repair the plumbing in the future with PEX or CPVC plastic pipe, your grounding in the bathroom will be fine. My house's electrical ground is attached to galvanized steel cold water pipes. When I eventually have it repiped to copper type L pipes, the plumber will need to make sure the ground wires on my galvanized pipes get clamped onto the new copper lines to maintain proper bonding. Those copper wires you see in your basement are also likely grounding wires for outlet boxes to ground them from behind to the cold water pipes. Your panel box should have a ground wire coming to your copper cold water pipe to ground it as well. As for the metal waste water pipe, cast iron was commonly used for decades. As it leads out to the back yard, it gets attached to clay 4 inch pipes. If that cast iron pipe is a 4 inch diameter pipe, it's a toilet line leading to the main sewer line running through your back yard.
Within NYC limits in the past, BX & metal boxes were used. An aluminum wire was used to ensure of a ground connection along with the armor sheath of the BX. The screw tab on the adapter plug was to provide a mechanical connection to ground & the plug not to be removed. Power tools & most kitchen appliances were made with a metal housing. 3 prong plugs was to prevent electric shock. This failed though since in the infinite wisdom of some older folk was to either cut off the adapter tab or cut off the 3rd prong on a grounded plug. My father went nuts because I replugged his metal cased power tools! But I also replugged the whole house with 3 prong outlets & ensured there was a ground circuit for all the outlets. That's what my mother got for sending me to Thomas Edison Vocational HS. I was also an electrician in the US Navy & the NYC Transit system. I repaired electric trains 1:1 scale & wired my train club's layout room & layout.
Was going to say why didn't he check the box to see if it was grounded ??? Not sure if code allows him to make a grounding connection from a box to outlet as acceptable ?????
In the middle of doing this in my parents nyc home, crazy how many lights/outlets were not not grounded. Thankfully the bx cable/boxes were for the most part grounded back to that... Tis true the elders of ze past didnt care about grounding in the past
@@randyhaxor now, you need to be careful about where you use NM cable. Mice and rats have gotten a taste for the plastic, and have chewed through PVC conduit and NM jackets when they've gotten into attics through vents and breaks in a wall. And for the old cotton cloth wrapped NM cables, termites have gotten into some of them as they eat away at wood studs in a house. Some building codes now forbid NM wire except in use inside plastered walls in new construction, due to rat and mice chewing up the wiring. The alternative now used is flexible conduit with 14 or 12 gauge wiring being fed through it to the boxes. If the new construction uses metal boxes, metal flex is used.
I installed a GFCI ( GROUND FAULT CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER ) in place of a regular three prong outlet that was mounted
in the kitchen , which was too close to a water source . The installation procedure was direct and easy to follow in the
directions provided .
Dude thank you. Electrical work has always intimidated the hell out of me and my entire house is old 2 prongs. You’ve made it much easier and less scary.
Many homes with 2 prong outlets have an equipment ground that is just not connected to the device (outlet). If there is a ground there is no need to this kind of outlet and they are $100+ each btw. If there is no ground at all your wiring needs to be replaced. Most older homes these AFCI GFCI outlets will not even physically fit in an old electrical outlet box.
@@StanSwan"an equipment ground that is just not connected to the device"
Do you mean that inside the box there is an unconnected wire with no insulation?
@@sparkyheberling6115 No. I mean a metallic raceway or cable that acts as the grounding path. Like electrical metallic tubing or BX cable for example. There is no ground wire required except from the box to the outlet.
@@StanSwan Thanks. I will give that a try.
@@StanSwan I had hopes, but unfortunately there was nothing behind the metal box except the two cloth-covered wires (the house is over a hundred years old). Guess I'll use GFCI receptacles.
Love your explanation, very clear to follow. I watch these videos just in case I might need something in the future.
Thanks for the support 👍
this guy knows his stuff and straight to the point, thanks.
I love this. Thank you! We bought a house built in 1963 and the entire upstairs needs to be switched out. Time to buy the materials and go to town. Power off first, of course 🙂
Perfect presentation! Short and to the point yet covered all the bases, in fact taught me some things I didn't think to ask :) Wish I'd known this 10 yrs ago when I bought my 1920's house but now I'm renovating and this will be quite handy so I can do prep work before electrician does the panel work - thank you!
No. If you are hiring a properly licensed and bonded electrical contractor, they will tell you very plainly that your entire wiring system will need to be upgraded. There really is no way around it.
@@k9builder In the video he says: If there’s any fault in the wiring the GFCI will trip off (paraphrasing) ... Wouldn’t that make it safe?
Thank you again my friend!!!
Thank you for such a clear, easy to understand, well lit video! This was exactly what I needed.
I’m so glad you explained no need to make a J hook. Now I can sleep better as I installed all new outlets in my house and did the connections just like you demonstrated.
The outlet had a clamp under the screw, so no need for a J hook. Had it been a screw by itself you would need a J hook.
Nice video. I did speak with my city electrical inspector and he advised the same fix got older 2 wire systems.
It's better to preserve the length of the copper leads as much as possible. If the wires are chopped shorter every time the junction box is worked on, the entire run of cable might have to be replaced.
Why is that? I'm genuinely curious being that I am not a professional in ac voltage.
@@dennisreelie1720 to preserve the length.
@@RangerCaptain11A but it looks like he's got tones of room to spare. Is it just a cardinal rule, cause if you end up cutting it too short you're up shit Creek without a paddle. Again I'm not being a smart ass, I am genuinely curious, cause I've got next to no ac experience
@@RangerCaptain11A That is true, the only problem here is that the old exposed copper was likely tarnished. Although we won't know because it was never shown, but I bet it wasn't shiny anymore. And while not ideal, in this situation with only two wires in this box, I'd probably just make nice extensions using good quality wire nuts or Wago lever nuts to lengthen the wire given how short it looked already.
@@dennisreelie1720 if you are changing an outlet, check the condition of the wire and preserve length if possible. there's almost no such thing as too much wire, and when the wires are eventually too short, you have to extend the wires. every joint in a circuit increases resistance/heat, and is a weak point that causes flickering lights.
Great information! Thank you for explaining this so clearly.
Excellent video! I like your simple explanation! 👍
Tighten G---W-----B in that order to protect yourself and the down stream components---Jim
Hey Jim, thanks for that tip. Appreciate the help!
Very good advice!
Thats the dumbest advice ever...if its live and you ground it first then one slip of your hand and your getting hit...its neutral hot ground to install and ground hot neutral to remove...you NEVER want to touch a hot wire while a ground is still attached and close enough to hit you
I thought we were dealing with no ground here??? And on older two wire, the wires look the same.
@@illwil2158 That's incorrect... It is Ground Neutral Hot. The ground is there for you. To save your life. Yes you can slip with the hot wire and hit the device and cause a short. Doesn't matter, the ground is there to save your life not the devices.
Excellent video, simple note for the next guy, when you wrap your electrical tape always leave a small flag so that the next guy can easily remove the tape; sign of good workmanship. Thank you for the video
Good tip, but, honestly, if I'm pulling that tape, I'm probably cutting it.
Very good good video, easy to follow and understand, thanks for posting.
All very good advice, I have a very old house where I do this on non-critical circuits. Just note without the ground typical surge protectors will not actually protect against a high surge since there is no path to dump it to ground.
Surge protectors have varistors between all the three connectors so they do dump the over-voltage to the neutral.
BOB A, you are correct, varistors in a surge protector require a ground wire to function properly.
@@surferdude642 }> your correct ,
The metal box he mentioned was nailed to a stud in the wall .. It not connected earth ground .. After reading some of these comments
I now know why they have so many warning sticker on equipment .... Just saying 😏
Great video, I got my license in 1996 and I never knew this. This is very helpful. I just replaced all the outlets in an old house my grandson just bought down in Georgia. I had to go find two prong receptacles which wasn't easy in Millen Georgia. Well, I guess I'll head back down and do it again. I wish I had seen this video a couple weeks ago. Thanks again
Amazing explanation! Thank you so much!
Good video I like the way that you cut the tape at the end instead of stretching it when I was starting out an old-timer showed me that trick so the tape will stick.
This was a very helpful video I just bought a house built in 1932 and had many 2 prong outlets that I replaced with the knowledge from this video
Sometimes you can't rely on the colors of the wires. You have to check which one is the hot one.
Neither mom or dad was a handyman, so I really appreciate your helpful videos.
Wow, I havent seen plugs like that in a long time :) This is an awesome video!
Thank you!!! That was really helpful. Also, I appreciate for having the camera on a very still position for us to have a better view.
Whoa, I has those double-Ts outlets in my current 1950s-era house.
Good thing you had the detector and didn't get zapped like I did when replacing them. Turned off the breaker, the lights on the traditional LED receptacle/GFCI tester went off ... and yet ... there was still power.
Turns out those double-Ts were a NEMA 1-15P / 2-15P combo unit that went away in the 60s. They are ungrounded 15 amps, but have both 110V & 220V. And despite turning off the breaker, the other hot phase of the outlet was still on.
Needless to say, I quickly bought a Square-D handle-tie and corrected the panel breaker.
Wow, that's pretty scary, never know what dangers lurking around in an old house.
History lesson at least for those in their younger years. The original reason for the double t slot, and the reason they were banned in the early 1960s, had nothing to do with 110 or 220 volts. In the early part of the 20th century, just as many homes were wired up for the first time, there was two different plug types in use, the parallel prongs, what we today call nema 1-15, as well as the tandem prongs, what we today know as nema 2-15. So most older receptacles like the t slot could accept either configuration. The parallel prongs were officially rated for 110 volt in the 1930s, but the tandem prongs were UNOFFICIALLY for 220 volts until the 1950s, and though most all of the older outlets were indeed wired for 110 volt, not all were, especially in some older commercial buildings such as office buildings, so you had to be certain which was supplied before plugging stuff in. Hence many old outlets , were marked 125V 15A/250V 10A, accordingly
Very timely for this to pop up in my feed. My daughter just bought a cape built in the 1860s. Full of knob and tube wiring, even one room wired with 12ga speaker wire.
We are gutting and rewiring the first floor. The second floor was gutted and rewired about ten years ago. Everything checked out except two outlets on the new circuits that were in interior walls that were NOT gutted. These two outlets were the last on their circuits and had the old two wires in place. I thought I was going to have to cut holes in the new walls and re-feed the outlets with Romex.
Now I know I can fix the issue with a couple of GFCI receptacles and save all the drywall/plaster work.
Thanks!!
Appreciate your videos, clear & concise, well delivered.
Thank you for your instructional videos. I would like to watch a video installing plastic conduits and wiring of a tool shed in a proper way.
Thanks again.
I would avoid cutting wire with old work. I had a problem in my house in which a lot of the wires in the boxes were cut too short because they were done by weekend handymen, so you wanna save as much as possible
I had no idea I could do this! So awesome!
Good Evening Scott I know this work takes a lot of your time, may God Bless you for all your hard work. Thank you for showing me house I can upgrade my outlets. Thank you James
Thanks so much James, I appreciate you and all your support. Take care.
The GFCI receptacle wired without a ground works because the fundamental operation of the GFCI receptacle is to trip if there is an imbalance of current between the hot and the neutral. If the GFCI receptacle senses an imbalance (e.g., more current being supplied by the hot lead than is being returned to the neutral lead), the GFCI receptacle trips. Typically, the tripping point occurs when the imbalance is greater than 5 mA.
Typically, circuit current imbalance occurs because of some defect or misuse of an electrical appliance and current flowing through an individual who is standing on some grounded surface such as the floor and/or touching a grounded device (e.g., water faucet) while using the appliance.
The GFCI receptacle does not protect against overloads or shorts. That is the responsibility of the breaker/fuse at the load center panel.
It should be noted that a GFCI receptacle without a wired ground will not detect a ground fault in some attached appliance until a ground fault occurs through some other ground path such as a human.
Wonderful explanation. Exactly right. Was the recommended solution in my mom's old house and passed by the ELECTRICAL SAFETY AUTHORITY.
I think Scott does a really good job, but I love reading comments like yours, because it adds so much value. Thank you
You have no business instructing people on electrical work. If someone gets injured or worse you will be liable. Find another diy topic to make videos on before you get some electrocuted. ( FYI to all..... NEVER RELY ON A PROXIMITY TESTER TO PROVE ZERO VOLTAGE !!!! This novice actually touched the terminals after a simple proximity test. NEVER DO THIS.)
@@fritzmiller9792 I agree with you about non-contact testers, but in this case it was an omission on his part rather than ignorance. He's done several videos on switch and outlet replacements where he discusses the different ways to check that a circuit is properly de-energized. Still it would be good if he added a note to the video pointing this out and linking to how to do a more thorough check.
@@docferringer Respectfully Doc, I don't think the words 'ommission or ignorance' have anything to do with the fact that THIS video shows , that is, INSTRUCTS someone to physically handle electrical terminals after a ' non contact tester' (to use your term). Someone watching this and only this would not be aware of previous videos. The bad move stands alone and can't be defended....The disregard for the danger is reckless, the existing conditions and voltage potentials of any given outlet across the nation ( or the world for that matter) is absolutely unpredictable. As a tradesman, I am disappointed in any experienced electrician that would egg this guy on...
House I grew up in had all 2 prong outlets. Didn’t realize until we did an extensive remodel that they did in fact have a ground, it was just tied to the *outside* of the box, not the inside. After the remodel I confidently replaced out the remaining outlets with 3 pronged.
Same with my house. It was built in 1961, and I believe 1962 was the year the NEC required three prong outlets on all branch circuits
...there was a time long ago now I did the same thing ... just installed 3 prong plugs and everything still works ...
@@willgaukler8979 just because “it works” doesn’t mean it’s grounded.
Maybe you should learn the difference.
Id get my old 1954 house rewired tomorrow if contractors didn't have to tear open my walls, Astronauts on the Launchpad going to the Moon in 1968 and in 2021 we got no way to rewire a house without destroying it.
@@allisonharbor4011 it also doesn’t mean it isn’t grounded (which was the point of my initial post). Boxes were in fact all grounded, but the ground was on the outside, not the inside of the box.
excellent, feel more confident than before thanks !
You are a Good communicator . I appreciate the good instruction.
Wow that looks so easy even I could do it.
The big big problem is my landlord won't let me.
I was curious about this and thank you for the video.
Actually your landlord may very well be required to upgrade this as in MANY places it's considered "not up to code" and thus "not safe for living" and thus "Un rentable." 🤷♂️ might be worth looking into for where you live. Either way it's better to install newer GFCI sockets and not risk electric fire for everyone's sake. Best of luck!
@@sydisticsandman
Hey thank you and I'll definitely look into it and ask the landlord.
Virginia here.
I had an old house with two prong outlets I changed out shortly after moving in.
The cabling was a braided tar romex with 14/2 and a 16 gauge ground. The ground wire was often spiral wrapped around the end of the stripped braided sheathing and clamped to the metal box, grounding the outlet through the box.
You had to be careful grounding the outlet directly as the 16 was fragile once you unwrapped it.
Thank you. One down, nine to go! Although not all of ones I'm replacing will be with GFCI.
Thanks for your information and video 📹 👍 🙂 I appreciate you 🙏
Thanks for putting out this video. While painting the interior, I'm replacing all receptacles and face plates. I'm trying to make the house look a little more like it was built in 1929, going for polished brass plates and brown switches. I have run grounding wires on a few, but this has really made it nice in the areas where there is no access to run a ground wire to the panel or clamp to a grounded steam pipe or a water pipe.
dont ever run a outlet ground wire to a water pipe or steam pipe, you could electrocute someone. Thats an entirely different grounding system, that has nothing to do with the bonding system. Its too hard to explain in a short comment why. But you could end up electrofying the freaking water. Im a journyman electrician
@@portaadonai It's strange. In Quebec, the building code specifies four ways to make an ungrounded electrical outlet compliant, and connection to a cold water pipe is one of the accepted solutions.
@@sg39g noooooo... thats bad. It works with all conditions are correct, but if one condition fails, then you electrify the water.
The cold water pipe is a earthing system. The ground wire for your outlet goes to the bonding system. Which is designed to trip the breaker is something is wrong. The cold water has nothing to do with tripping breakers.
If there is a plastic pipe in the cold water system, or perhaps the cold water isn't bonded to the neutral at the panel, or perhaps there is a valve of sorts between the outlet bond and panel bond to the cold water, you don't complete a smooth path for the breaker to trip, and instead you just electrified the cold water in the house
@@portaadonai I agree with you on the potential problems with this kind of installation. But it is nevertheless well written in the Canadian code.
And strangely, we don't have the option of installing a brand new electrical outlet that doesn't have a ground pin. It is not available in stores.
I will copy the article for you (translated from French by google translate).
You who seem to know the subject well, you could perhaps answer a question that I have had for a long time. I wonder why the code (at least the Canadian code), does not allow installing a dedicated ground to an electrical outlet to make that outlet compliant. Seems to me that would be as good or better a solution than connecting the ground to a cold water pipe.
----
Article 26-700 General
[...]
7) If, on an existing electrical installation, sockets without earthing are replaced by sockets with earthing, the earthing terminal must be effectively earthed by continuity of the masses. and it is permitted to use any of the following ways:
a) by connecting it to a pipe or metallic sheath connected to earth by continuity of masses;
b) by connecting the earthing of the network by means of a continuity conductor of the separate masses; we
c) by connecting it to a metal cold water supply pipe located nearby and grounded.
8) Notwithstanding paragraph 7), at outlets that already exist where there is no grounding device in the receptacle housing, it is permitted to install receptacles with grounding. earth without earth continuity conductor, provided that each power outlet is:
(a) protected by a Class A differential differential forming an integral part of this socket;
(b) powered from a receptacle containing a Class A differential; we
c) powered by a circuit protected by a class A differential circuit breaker.
9) There must be no bonding conductor between an outlet protected by a differential differential, in accordance with paragraph 8), and another outlet. [...]
@@sg39g It comes from a misunderstanding of the grounding systems, there are two separate systems that do two separate things. The ground on your outlet should go to the neutral in the service panel, if not, its useless
For the ones that don't understand the reason for a GFCI with no ground is because in the event you have an appliance that has a hot wire that gets damaged and starts touching the metal shell that outlet is still going to detect a ground fault and trip. If that was a regular outlet as soon as you touched that metal shell you're getting a nice shock. It also prevents possible damage of whatever you have plugged in, in the event there is a problem. Of course it doesn't completely solve the ground problem but it's the next best thing.
I actually plan to do this in my finished attic that still has some Knob & Tube wiring that is tied into 1940's/50's Asbestos wrapped wiring, which goes to the outlets & lights. It would be nice to have a ground but it's not possible without a complete rewire.
Ben, bring in a licensed electrician in your case. Let them cut holes to replace those K&T wires. I was in a scenario like that one time to “go in and get rid of the KT up in the attic”. Another electrician had SUPPOSEDLY rewired the house, and had actually ran new grounded lines up to the attic. Well, I quickly discovered why he didn’t bother to eliminate the last remaining runs of KT. There were hidden junction boxes, or free air splices that I never did find. The more I dug, the more problems I was finding. Switched neutrals, plugs screwed to wooden baseboard trim with no boxes. I had to call the boss to tell him we are either “all in” to fix these problems, or we have to suggest the electrical inspector come in and do a safety inspection. Unfortunately, we did not get the opportunity to make everything safe in that house.
I will add that because most people don't know how a GFCI works, it works by comparing current at both the hot and the neutral to make sure they are equal. After all, what flows from the hot has to flow back through the neutral. If the electricity goes anywhere else, such as through a human body, it is not returning on the neutral, thus the current flows between the two will be different and the GFCI opens the circuit and kills power to the outlet.... supposedly before it will zap you.
@@paulstandaert5709 Yes, A lot of people think a GFCI is more like a circuit breaker in how it functions. Another myth is they will last as long as a regular outlet. I replace my GFCIs every 3 years. Most GFCIs will trip when the current difference between the hot phase and natural is .6 milliamps or more. Generally, it takes 200 milliamps to cause cardiac arrest and kill a human.
@@THE-michaelmyers - Weird. I put a GFCI with new wiring in to separate my washing machine from the kitchen some 15 years ago and it still works fine.
@@chrisrogers1833 I know, one of my neighbors has one in the guest bathroom that was installed in the 90s and according to them still works great. I don't trust GFCIs after the 4th year. I buy high-quality devices and replace them every 3 years. Also, I should have done a better job with that comment. ALL of my GFCIs are breakers in my panel. I also have a tester I use on the same day I replace my Smoke and Carbon Monoxide alarms battery. One of my employees lost a child because of a bad GFCI back in the 90s. I HIGHLY recommend getting and using a GFCI tester NOT the one on the device at least once a year.
This is a great video. No filler, just the good stuff. Thk you! New subscriber
I included some under my breath cussin' - not shown in video... :-) BUT, this video is PERFECT - easy to follow, easy to see what to do, and the links to what's needed helped me to avoid a trip to our local Lowe's where they have NEVER understood the concept of customer service. Thanks EHR!!
Yes these sockets were designed to accept both the parallel blade and the "Hubbell" horizontal" blades that were popular in some areas into the 1930's. You may also come across a type that has four slots, two for each type, in one opening of a duplex cover. If you have an antique appliance with a Hubbell plug be careful not to insert it into a 240 volt socket as it will fit.
Yes good point, the older Hubbell "tandem " plug as it was called, WILL fit into a moden NEMA 6-15 /6-20R such as you might have in your living room or garage for an air conditioner, air compressor or large electric heater. That being said while it's often tempting to keep an antique appliance in the family if it has sentimental value, I'd probably advise upgrading it with a modern three prong cord and plug since most vintage items had a metal casing or at least some metal parts.
One of the first "repairs" I did when buying my 1950's home was to replace all my two-prong outlets and the variety of types and colors of switches. The master bedroom even had these molded plates with three, two-prong outlets integrated into them. Clearly seemed to be the "behind the bed" outlet intended for a bedside clock and two bedside lamps. The house is full of the rubber and braided cloth insulated wiring typical of the era. I've been told before that it's permissible to use the bare steel wire running through these cables as a grounding conductor, though I've never attempted to make that change. The stuff is such a mess to begin with it's mostly not worth the risk of damaging things further.
Hey Marc, yeah a full rewire is a whole different type of project. Do you have attic and basement access?
@@EverydayHomeRepairs Basement access yes, but attic and wall access from above is really difficult. For the first floor, I've added a grounding conductor in a few places since it was relatively easy to do and reach. Even rewiring most of those outlets entirely shouldn't be too difficult if I decide to tackle it. Upstairs is a whole other story. I just posted some pictures to the Facebook group from last year when I had to come up with some way of rewiring for a bathroom remodel.
My wife's old house was built in 1941 with knob and tube wiring run through the attic space. It was laid out quite well, and considering its age when I looked at in the late 90s, in really good condition. In the late 60s the house was in the way of the Interstate, so it was bought and moved onto a new basement foundation, where in the early 90s my wife had a contractor finish the basement and wire it up (poorly). While I eventually fixed the basement grounding problems and the incorrectly wired GFI outlets & 3-way switches, I left the original attic wiring alone except to install new switches and outlets throughout the upstairs. But it always bugged me; 60-year old wiring protected pretty much only by a non-leaking roof and a lack of mice/rats, and half the house had no ground connection. I was eventually going to get a buddy to help me strip out all the old wiring, but we decided to sell the place before I got to it.
The old wiring issue was resolved a year after we moved when the neighbor's tree came down on the roof and they had to rebuild half the house.
@@nolongeramused8135 Knob and tube is scary stuff, even when in relatively good condition and left alone.
@@marcberm But it's a beautiful sight to behold when you see a large, well-preserved professional installation. They had to do a lot of careful routing and cable management when setting up a large office building or a warehouse. Cable lacing is still a thing in the telecommunications industry but sadly that is becoming a lost art.
Great video! Thanks. Very helpful!
Great video. Covered everything.
I have seen homes where there the wiring has a ground, but where there is a two-prong outlet. In these cases, the ground wire is tied to the box. In these situations, you can use an adapter and screw down the lug and the result will be grounded. But, of course, in this situation you could also just replace the outlet and use that ground wire, which is even better.
Of course, it appears that this doesn't apply to your situation, so using a GFCI is your only option if you don't want to run new wiring to the box.
There is a problems with the adapter: does it produce low enough impedance path for the ground? If you use it at least test it afterwards. Changing the socket is way better.
The master electrician i am working under, the house he purchased 14 yrs ago was built in 1957, he has been doing electrical work for over 30 yrs, so he knew exactly what needed to be done. He replaced the 60 amp main and range pullout fuse panel with all square D breakers, while doing so, to his surprise, the original wiring, the fabric braid NM wire, did have a bare copper ground wire, but was very small maybe 16 or 18 guage, with all two prong outlets except one bathroom, which had a GFCI outlet when he purchased the home. What the builder who wired that home did was wrapped the ground wire around the outside jacket of the cable and clamp to the metal boxes. If you were just replacing the old outlets you would never see the ground wire, and assume the old NM did not have a ground, as most of that era didn't.
@@Sparky-ww5re I saw the same thing in my previous home. Although built in the 60's the basement wiring used that same fabric-wrapped NM wire. I suspect it was taken from someone's junk pile because the rest of the house is using normal NM wire.
In my case, there were 3-wire outlets with the thin ground wires were tied to the ground screw of the outlets, with a pigtail also going to the box (using an extra screw).
Years later, when I did a basement reno, we removed and replaced all that junk with modern 20-amp NM wiring.
@@Shamino0 Fabric covered Romex was available until the late 1960s, and since the late 50s with ground wire included. In that type of cable, the insulated wires were wrapped in paper, then the treated cloth braid served as the outer jacket. It is messy stuff to work with, as some of the compound can come off on your hands.
@@dougbrowning82 very interesting, to know that fabric wrap NM came standard with ground wire since the late 50s, as the NEC didn't require grounded receptacles aka three slot outlets until 1962, though homes may still have ungrounded receptacles even later than that as there are parts of the country that do not always adopt to the latest NEC. In the case of the 1957 home with the thin ground wire and fabric NM connected to two prong outlets, rewired by the electrician I am under, my thought was the home was built by a very wealthy person, who was just future proofing it, before we started using 3 slot outlets. I guess in that case, the bigger question would be does that thin ground wire offer low enough impedance to operate the overcurrent protection device in case of a fault, such as the motor on an old metal cased electric drill grounding out to it's housing.
Actually you can still buy two prong outlets in some hardware stores. They are only code as replacement for old two prong outlets. Now GFI's are good replacement for old two prong outlets, except that the box might be too small.
Being 74 years, I remember the time before three prong outlets.
I know of two deadly electrocutions because of lack of grounding, or 3 prong outlets.
One was a young man in 1968, who was using an old style electric drill, and he got electrocuted while sanding rust of the undercarriage of a car.
The most interesting happened to a Michael Cannon in New Orleans around the late 80's.
He was moving large beverages vending machines. He was between two of the vending machines.
One machine was powered by an old 2 prong outlets with an adapter to 3 prong.
The other vending machines was wired by a 3 prong outlets.
Because of impedance, one machine had better grounding. Also refrigerator motor tend to go to ground.
When Michael pushed between the two machines, he created a grounding path between the two machines and was electrocuted.
I ran into boxes that were too small for a GFCI. Ended up having to use a GFCI breaker.
@@Johnnybytheway GFI breaker is one of the best solution.
Another solutions would be wiremold external box on the outside of the existing electrical box.
Appearance wise the large box does not give a good appearance, although it is strong secure fitting.
Thank you for your polite response.
@@jamesmooney8933 You're welcome. I'm ONLY 67 but also remember some horror stories from the "good old days".
It has to be defective. While working devices can leak current that is not allowed on dangerous levels. For example PCs leak some 0.5 mA. That shows the risk of mixed grounding environment. In Finland grounded outlets were required on dangerous locations since 1930. Also here you would not have connected an ungrounded plug on such just for the reasons you pointed. In the US anyone could still use such an old drill without realizing the risk. Here the plug would not fit.
Not that people here did not use adapters either but they at least had to make them themselves.
Thanks for the great information. Super helpful video
Your most practical video yet. Many people will install the gfi improvement. Thank You.
Another clear instructional video from this super source of information!
Nice old outlet! That would be somethin' for my vintage electrical collection. The latter includes some examples of the old coplanar & perpendicular (NEMA 2) plugs that would fit it.
Except the two plugs that fit that outlet are now used for different voltages where grounding is not required. 1-15P is still used for 120V, and 2-15 is for 240V. Where ground is required, 5-15 and 6-15 are used instead. The change was made sometime after the 1920s when split phase 110/220V was offered to homes. These dual standard receptacles are no longer listed as NEMA wiring devices.
Luckily my early 50s house has metal receptacles in metal conduit to the panel, with ground wire to water main. So, I switched out all 2-prong receptacles with 3, and according to my inexpensive outlet tester, all grounded.
LOL see comment above...
What's the LOL for? And which comment? Gotta love the Intertubes.
@@HabAnagarek He means his comment above about armored cable being grounded and not requiring a rewire.
As in your situation.
@@chrisboyd4433 LOL ok
Thanks for the video.
This is a very good Show and we love it !
Remember that while this may provide a safe looking receptacle that gladly accepts your 3 pronged plug, surge protectors rely on the ground to shunt over-voltage away from your equipment. So plugging a surge protector into one of these receptacles would render the surge protector ineffective. I almost bought a house where the owner had replaced all but one of the receptacles with 3 prong without adding a ground source but when I saw the older receptacle I tested and found they were all UN-grounded.
Surge protectors typically have three varistors, one between each wire pair so they should work also without the ground wire though maybe not as efficiently. Of course one in general can question their usefulness.
The main problem is that this could cause voltage spikes especially if you connect ca computer to a TV with an RCA connector. Fortunately that is not done anymore. RCA is a badly designed connector as the signal connects before the grounds. It is better to use wireless solutions if the computer is not grounded.
I lived in an apartment like that. Seeing some of the other work done, I suspected the grounds weren't hooked up though then found the 1 2 prong outlet and pretty much knew but I checked anyway. I was right.
It'll make cable boxes pick up noise and have occasional pixelation errors on certain channels not being grounded right. DVD players are sensitive to skip too. Microwaves & refrigerators can give you a mild shock if you touch something grounded or have a concrete floor barefooted.
im going to drill a hole thru the ouutside wall and run a ground wire to ground rod right there outside. NOT 8' long as the ground here is like reinforcedd concrete so if i can water the ground and get the ground rod 2' in the ground and keep it moist i think that will be fine... kinda cheezy but... beats having to rewire the whole place with 3 wire wires in old house that is brick and no access t the wires, old wires... without just running new wires outside in conduit attached to the side of house/back of house where no one sees it anyway. new wires straight to the elec panel. in short run... a hole drilled in wall and ground wire to ground rod outside for the GFCI outlet to work right, better than 2 wire only from 1947 ish
@@n1umj guy told me he did that in old house FOR SALE... replaced all 2 wire outlets with grounded outlets... no ground. LOOKS right... he cld have drilled ahole thru the wal and driven 2' long ground rod in the rock hard ground for the ground with a little more work. yes not exactly right but it wud have a ground.
One of the methods permitted in 406.4(D)(2) is to replace a non-grounding type receptacle with a GFCI type receptacle.
When doing this, the 2014 NEC required the “receptacle” to be marked “no equipment ground”.or their cover plates
Someone knows the code, thank god
What does "no equipment ground" mean?
@Aaron Wilson Means there's no ground wire in the home.
An important thing to note is that without a ground wire, there's no way to actually detect a ground fault. A short circuit would trip the GFCI, but it would also trip the breaker.
@@banggugyangu Not how the device works, The device measures extremely accurate CURRENT going through the 'hot' and neutral. if they do not match, then current is leaking elsewhere. that is the fault. Ground conductor is not needed or used for the measurement.
Thanks for sharing knowledge 👍🏼
Love your videos! You're the best.
Thank you for the tip about daisy-chaining the first outlet with GFCI and the rest with standard outlets - will save a ton of $. Several people have commented on the "difficulty" of hunting down the first receptacle on the circuit so that they can use only one GFCI outlet and daisy-chain the rest with standard outlets. What's the best way to find the first outlet? Do you have to one-at-a-time disconnect all the outlets (starting with the most logical one) and then check if all the remaining outlets become non-functional? Is there another way? Thank you!
You're pretty much on point. Just have to shut off the breaker, then test to see what has power/what doesn't. Usually it's the closest to the panel, but I have found some Mickey Mouse home runs that were at the very end of a room.
There is another way. A much better and faster way. You buy a fox and hound, or a similar tool. You hook it up to the outlet or device that is not powered (you could pull the circuit breaker and hook to it, Once the circuit breaker is removed, there is no power to it. You would test anyway just as a precaution; sometimes crazy things pop or are wound at the oddest times.) and point this wand or the hunt tool at outlets and lights; if it beeps or lights up, you know it's on the circuit. They used to be expensive. Today they aren't really expensive. You can look them up on UA-cam and or the web to see what they cost and how they work.
Hello, and thank you for this video. Could you please tell me what it means to "make sure no exposed copper is going past the housing"? Thank you in advance. Kimberly
You don’t want house fires or anything damage and dangerous problems. That’s what I think he means.
When you strip the insulation from the wires (especially the hot side) you want to strip the correct length so when you insert the wire into the back wire terminal then the plastic housing will completely cover/protect any exposed copper.
@@EverydayHomeRepairs hey bub if i got a 1954 house sitting up off the dirt 3ft off the Ground on wood and cement piers and electricians can easily maneuver under the house will they still have to tear my walls out for a complete rewire.
@@EverydayHomeRepairs Thank you! That was very clear and helpful 😊
For those of you wondering what the name of the vintage outlet. It is a vintage Paulding T slot 125V 15A duplex receptacle, manufactured by John l. Paulding, INC. New Bedford Massachusetts.
saw this today and thank you!
Can I install a gfci for every outlet? Also can I pigtail them for the outlets that need to be? I have an older house an want to update the 2 prong outlets. Thank you and your videos a great and very helpful
You would spend a ton of extra money buying all gfci. And not necessary. Not sure what you mean by pig tail? Think you meant daisy chain. Pig tail is the piece of wire you use when you wire nut 2 or more runs together and wire the device. Find where the power is being fed in the outlet. The hot romex goes on the line side like he said. The romex going to the other outlets goes on the load side of the gfci. Then every receptacle on that circuit will be protected by that first gfci. I am a licensed electrician. For your piece of mind.
His other video think he called it pig tail. When he took 3 sets of wire and made it 1 to wire to the outlet. It doesn’t matter there is not that many outlets to replace that’s why I was just going to use all gfci
@@mikerapeer4848 Yes when you wire nut 2 or more runs and add a pig tail to connect the device. That's correct. When tying 2 or more devices on the same circuit that daisy chain. Wish I could of been more helpful. But hope you get everything worked out.
If it was a metal box and metal conduit was used all the way back to the breaker (or fuse) box, one of those two-prong to three-prong adapters could have given you a real ground if it was screwed in with the center screw. You might actually find that in an old house with two-prong plugs. If you think that might be the case you can measure the hot side to the box to see if it has 120 VAC across them. Otherwise the GFCI outlet is the way to go.
Or use some common sense, bite the bullet and switch to the British wiring system.
If it's built in the era of conduit, it's already a three-prong.
Thank you for the excellent instructions.
Happy to help!
Would like to see a video of doing this in an older home where both wires are the same color. Thanks for the great videos and I hope you continue to do so.
If both wires are the same color, get a multimeter and test continuity on each wire.
With the power off, find a nearby outlet or plug an extension cord into one. Set your multimeter to continuity mode, and then see which sockets/wires produce the noise in combination.
Then you will know which wires are which.
I was waiting for the part where you crawled under the house to connect a ground wire to the nearby cold water pipe...
We have basements where I come from. Oh and how to you ground to plastic pipes like in use today.
And BTW two and three wire with a ground wire cable has been in use since the early to mid sixties!
@@dwightlyon3643 I live in CA and they are really uncommon here. Too expensive to build them
That's not proper grounding for your receptacle. Thats Grounding and bonding 101 lol
You should not do that especially in an apartment. At worst someone in s bathtub touching a water pipe will get killed.
@@dwightlyon3643 I don't think that it was mandatory until more recently though.
I understand the traditional nomenclature when speaking about the different wires in a typical household wiring circuit. But I believe that it is important to let everyone know that with alternating current (AC) both the black and white wire are hot. The main difference between the black and white wire is where on the transformer coil that the wires connect.
The two black wires entering the circuit breaker panel connect to ether end of the transformer's 220 volt AC coil while the white wire connects in the middle of the transformer's 220 volt AC coil.
Because the white wire connects to the center of the transformer's 220 volt AC coil, it gets only half of the 220 volts AC the whole coil generates, which is why any device connected to one of the black wires and the white wire will receive 110 volts AC.
That is also why any device, like and electric oven or clothes dryer, that connects to both black wires will get 220 volts AC.
This also means that the white wire is only "neutral" because it connects to the center of the transformer's 220 volt AC coil. And because electricity must make a complete circuit to perform any work, an amount of electricity must flow through the neutral wire equal to the hot wire. This also means you can be electrocuted just as easily touching the white wire when energized as the hot wire.
Alternating current alternates the direction it travels through a circuit and, in the United States, travels both directions alternating direction 60 times a second (60 hertz).
Yes, however the white return wire is bonded to ground in your service panel. This means the white wire holds 0V relative to ground. Only when one of the hot black wires is connected (from either side of the 240v feed) does the circuit become live with 120v relative to ground since it is split phase. Only when both sides of the phase come together in something like a 220-240v socket such as a 14-50 are both hot wires supplying voltage relative to ground.
@@codedGiraffe
You are forgetting that electricity MUST make a complete circuit. You are talking about ALTERNATING current, not direct current. ALTERNATING current means the flow of electricity changes direction periodically which also means that the source of current from the transformer is the white wire as often as it is the black wire. In the United States the current direction alternates approximately 60 times a second.
The white wire holds a zero or minuscule volt potential relative to ground because it can not return to the transformer through the ground. If you take the white wire for any circuit and put an amp meter between it and the bus bar and turn on a device on that circuit you will get an amperage reading equal to what you would get if you did the same thing with the black wire going to that circuit. You would also get the same voltage potential.
The ground serves two purposes. If the wires were to somehow come in contact with the metal skin of a device, it will enable enough current to cause the breaker to flip to the off position which would break the completed circuit at the service panel rather than the device switch. It also enables static electricity from whatever source, like a direct or close strike by lightening, to go to ground. Something that is important with integrated circuits where a static spark equal to what happens when you reach for a door knob is the equivalent of you being struck by lightening.
ua-cam.com/video/P-W42tk-fWc/v-deo.html
Old Time Farm Boy, I'm not gonna go grabbing a bare energized neutral line anytime soon, but when properly wired you shouldn't see any significant potential between neutral and ground. As Drew told you, the neutral is bonded to ground at the panel, so if you see 120VAC on the neutral, you've got wiring issues. You can test this with a fun physics experiment: Get one of those neon test lamps, stick one probe end into one of the terminals of the outlet and attach the other end to a something big and capacitive. Your body will do. The neon lamp will glow when plugged into the hot, but not the neutral or ground.
@@robbruce2128
And as I clearly stated and you obviously did not comprehend, electricity must return back to its source to complete a circuit. Only the black and white wire are connected to the source, the transformer coil. There will be no potential voltage between the white wire and the ground because the ground is not part of the circuit as long as all wiring is sound. The only reason why there is any potential voltage between the black wire and the ground wire is because the ground wire is bonded to the white wire in the supply panel. And the potential will be the same as if you measured the voltage between the black wire and white wire.
Break that bond and the voltage potential between black and ground will be the same as white and ground. Nothing or so low as to be insignificant
Either way, using a meter or if you just used a piece of wire, you are creating a short circuit. The meter measuring the voltage has enough resistance to make the current nearly zero. Using a piece of wire will smoke the insulation and melt the wire if you bypass the breaker in the process.
@@oldtimefarmboy617I don't think the term "short circuit" means what you think it means. But hey, I have comprehension problems as you so nicely put it . . .
Great and detailed video .Thanks
Very informative. Thanks.
I had a flood in my condo, and my hall ceiling light and wiring has been damaged, along with the switch. How can I remove everything so I can replace everything?
Hey Robert, I wouldn't want to attempt to troubleshoot something like that through YT comments. Probably best to call in a pro as there could be multiple issues and safety concerns. Isn't the damage covered by the HOA or even the unit above which caused the damage?
First thing you'll need to do is contact your insurance company. File a claim, and they should send out one of their preferred electricians to take care of the work. If they don't. Pick the contractor with the best reviews near you. Document everything, see what you can get reimbursed for.
If for some reason you absolutely must DIY this, just know it involves cutting the damaged circuit out, and installing a replacement.
Get someone who knows how to pull new wire thru walls . It’s easier with 2 people ;
Probably don't have to replace the wiring if it was just a flood of water. Just all your devices that got damaged.
1:59. When double checking for voltage, SOME broad tip testers, or any tester with weak batteries may indicate a false negative, especially when testing outside the actual outlet as shown.
After installing a GFCI if the light is on, it's hot. If not push the reset... if not again, well ya botched the wiring somehow.
Once I'm sure the electricity is off I always touch the hot wire to something that would short just to be doubly sure before I handle it
A simple method I've used to ensure the correct breaker had been flipped to turn off power to the outlet you are working with is this: I have an old alarm clock that I don't really used. Triple prong mind you.
I plug clock in and see that it lights up. Power is on.
I take my tester/ voltmeter and ensure it lights up properly.
Plug clock back in. Lights on. Power on.
Leave clock plugged in and walk to breaker panel.
Flip breaker walk back and see if the clock is on or off.
Unplug replug. Wait. Check for the clock lights. No lights would suggest no Power.
I grab a tester/ voltmeter and double check all circuits. No lights/beeps no Power.
Commence electric work.
When finished, rewire if necessary, plug clock back in.
Flip breaker.
1 of 3 things will happen:
1. the clock will turn on and that's it.👍
2. The clock does not turn on. Bad wiring. Redo/ check with voltmeter. 👎
3. The clock turns on for a hot second before it metls, explodes or smokes. Sometimes makes popping sounds or a very loud pop. This means too much power ⚠️⚡🔥🧯
(perhaps a 240v instead of 120v) a good voltmeter should tell you this going in but sometimes they fail. Sometimes pre done wiring is insane. Safer to have an alarm clock No one cares about explode, melt or light on fire than risk your house full of stuff later on.
ALWAYS check with an appliance you dont care for and one rated at 120v as most things are standard at 120v.
Obviously certain Plugs may be wired for 240v for heavy appliances.
****Disclaimer****
I am not an electrician by trade or training. This is just how I do things when alone to minimize shock and or death. NEVER DO ELECTRICAL BY YOURSELF. ALWAYS have someone near by incase of shock or electric fire. As well as ALWAYS have an ELECTIRCAL FIRE rated fire extinguisher on hand. (Not all fire extinguishers are the same and many will not put out electric fires, please be safe.)
I honestly recommend having a professional do your electric work.
Oh wow this is interesting and helpful. Subbed.
Excellent video! Solve my problem and answered my questions. Thank you
Great video! You made it simple, and easy to follow. I'm replacing multiple outlets with GFCI's. I have one question. Years ago, I plugged in a paint sprayer to a knob and tube outlet. The sprayer was sitting on grass. When I went to move the sprayer, I was shocked by touching the metal area of the sprayer. Would a GFCI replacement have prevented that? Did the fact that the sprayer was sitting in grass that may have been a little wet cause the metal to be charged? If not, I would be concerned if say, a metal toaster could carry a charge. My guess is it wouldn't.
I would guess that your neutral and hot were switched. If it was a two prong outlet, you could have flipped the plug . The paint sprayer was probably grounded to the Fram. when you flip the plug, it will put the neutral on the Fram
@@islanddave8606 Nothing is grounded through the neutral.
An electric shock generally means that there is a fault in the device or the cord. A GFCI could have triggered because it was on wet ground. In general you still get shocked in case of a fault but the GFCI cuts the power before it can cause serious harm.
I would not trust a GFCI alone in a wet place.
I thought you were going to start stripping out that ancient wiring and put in a new wall box.
Very informative. Thx.
You're welcome!
Thanks, answered my questions.
20 years ago when my district was starting go put internet into schools, I interviewed to be the head of our new tech department. The Superintendent asked me if I was hired what would be the first thing I would do. I said I would hire an electrician to estimate how much remove all the 2 prong outlets in the schools and replace them with 3 prong GFI outlets. And then we would need more than 2 per classroom and we would need a dedicated power supply to make sure each room had clean 60 cycle power. He had no idea what I was talking about and I did not get the job.
I bet he was thinking, "Ooh, that sounds expensive."