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Older house electrical

Beastmanz | Posted in General Discussion on August 31, 2014 07:00am

Just moved into a house built in 1965 and electric seems original. Outlets are just 2 wire. Went to hook up printer for computer and it said to plug into a grounded outlet. House has 60 amp service box. What is the potential problem if I plug it into a non-grounded outlet and potential remedies? Thanks. 

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  1. gfretwell | Aug 31, 2014 08:55pm | #1

    There is a chance that you have a grounded wiring method and they just put in 2 pin receptacles.Look and see if there is a bare ground wire going to the box. If so you can buy self grounding receptacles and be good to go.

  2. DanH | Aug 31, 2014 09:45pm | #2

    A house built in 1965, if it was built to code, should at least have ground wires in the outlet boxes.  (Built a year or two later, depending on when the newer code was adopted locally, it would have had to have 3-prong outlets.)  So in theory (if the electrician followed code) you should be able to remove the 2-prong outlet and install an 3-prong outlet and connect it to the ground wire.

    1. gfretwell | Aug 31, 2014 09:48pm | #3

      If you spend an extra buck an outlet and get the spec grade self grounding receptacle, you don't even need to mess with the ground wire, as long as the box is grounded.

  3. User avater
    spclark | Sep 03, 2014 01:22pm | #4

    Ground(-ed, -ing

    Potential problems include static electricity taking out something vital to your 'puter's components. Potential fix is first turning off the breaker to a chosen outlet then pulling the cover plate & outlet fixture, see whether you have metallic or plastic boxes.

    If the former, check whether wires coming in are enclosed in conduit (metal pipe made for running wiring, commonly referred to as EMT) or flexible metallic sheathing (often called BX) which has conductors in spiral-wrapped steel or aluminum. (Looking at what goes into your service panel - if exposed - serves the same purpose.) '65's a bit early for use of non-metallic cable (NMC) with metallic boxes, but that's possible too I guess....

    If you have plastic boxes then likely they're wired with NMC.

    Metallic boxes with conduit has grounding provided by the conduit so easy fix is swap out self-grounding 3-prong outlets for the 2-prong you have now. Metallic boxes wired with BX cabling might be grounded by the cable's sheathing if properly installed and maintained. Easy fix is same as above but pick up a cheap circuit-tester (see pic; should be ~ $7) when you buy a 3-prong self-grounded outlet to install so you can check for proper grounding once it's installed.

    Plastic boxes wired with NMC should have a bare grounding wire run into the box then connected to the grounding terminal (usually green) of all devices installed in them.

    Remember to turn the breaker back on once everything's been put back together.

    If you have ANY DOUBTS about working with electrical stuff in your new place (or elsewhere) STOP! Mistakes can kill you or others.

    1. DanH | Sep 03, 2014 07:42pm | #5

      "Romex" (NM) goes back to the

      "Romex" (NM) goes back to the 30s, at least, though before maybe 1960 it was fabric-covered.  The odds are good that what's in the house is Romex.  If installed in 1965 there should be a ground wire in the cable, if the electrician didn't cut it off flush with the jacket (as, unfortunately, many did at the time).  One does need to make sure that the ground wires are connected in any intermediate junction boxes and at the panel, as this may not have been done.

      The cheap circuit testers for grounding are not particularly reliable, but probably better than nothing.

      1. gfretwell | Sep 03, 2014 11:32pm | #6

        The NM you find in a late 50s and 60s house will be the woven fabric type and usually with a smaller grounding conductor but it is still enough to operate the breaker and protect the user with grounded case equipment.

        1. DanH | Sep 04, 2014 06:54am | #7

          My parents bought an old farmhouse in 1965 and had it wired (note: no "re-" involved).  The brand new code at that time (Jefferson County, KY) required 3-prong outlets.  (Grumbling involved on the part of the electricians.)  The cable was plastic jacketed and had, close as I can remember, a full-sized ground.  And I recall a friend's house nearby, built probably 1955, that had the cloth cable and thin ground wires (with 2-prong outlets).

          So I date the switch to 3-prong to about 1965, with the knowledge that grounded cable of one sort or another was required for maybe 10 years before that.

          1. gfretwell | Sep 04, 2014 12:00pm | #8

            It all depends on when the local AHJ adopted the NEC version for each rule.

            The ground wire was required on all circuits in 1962 but it could be 16ga for 15 and 20a circuits. The grounded receptacles were required everywhere then. They were already required in the laundry, basement, kitchen, garage and outdoors.

            The requirement for full sized ground came in 1969.

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