Installing new outlets - unsure if I have a ground in the receptacle

[Al Neri]

my condo is about 50 years old - the majority of the outlets here have 2 prongs - i really dont think that they have a ground - is it ok to just install the GFDI outlets like this?



thnx - dr

 

[skyking]

you'll know if you have a ground when you open one up.

 

[Al Neri]

if i dont - are gfdi's the way to go?

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: Don Rodriguez
if i dont - are gfdi's the way to go?

Yes, but you'll need one at each outlet, iirc.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

You need to check whether or not the outlet box is alreay grounded. Even if there aren't three wires, some of the older setups have metal outlet boxes that are grounded. Use a continuity tester. (It's two wires attached to a light. You can pick one up cheap at Home Depot or Lowes.) If the box is grounded the light will illuminate when you attach one wire to the hot wire of the outlet and the screw that attaches the wall plate to the outlet box. If it doesn't illuminate there's no ground.

If the box is grounded you can bond a ground wire, or install a self-grounding receptacle to the box, and use a GFCI.

If the box is not grounded you can still install a GFCI but it should be marked "No equipment ground."

 

[NoShangriLa]

Q2. Under what condition can a two-wire receptacle be replaced with a three-wire receptacle, when no ground is available in the box?

"A. Where no equipment bonding means exists in the outlet box, nongrounding-type receptacles can be replaced with [406.3(D)(3)]:

* Another nongrounding-type receptacle.
* A GFCI grounding-type receptacle marked "No Equipment Ground."
* A grounding-type receptacle, if GFCI protected and marked "GFCI Protected" and "No Equipment Ground."

Note: GFCI protection functions properly on a 2-wire circuit without an equipment grounding (bonding) conductor, because the equipment grounding (bonding) conductor serves no role in the operation of the GFCI-protection device.

CAUTION: The permission to replace nongrounding-type receptacles with GFCI-protected grounding-type receptacles doesn't apply to new receptacle outlets that extend from an existing ungrounded outlet box. Once you add a receptacle outlet (branch-circuit extension), the receptacle must be of the grounding (bonding) type and it must have its grounding terminal grounded (bonded) to an effective ground-fault current path in accordance with 250.130(C)."