How do I convert a non-grounded electrical outlet to a 3-prong grounded socket?
Question:I am moving into a 50 year old house. All the electrical outlets are the two-prong type. How do I change or convert these to three-prong outlets so that I can plug in my electronics items with three-prong plugs?
Answers:
Aren't you lucky I saw this question? Here's the deal:
Turn off the breaker that serves an outlet in the area you want to plug in. Make sure that circuit is OFF.
First, try the adapter technique: this is usually a gray plug with two prongs on one end -to go into the old outlet, and a green wire with a hook or loop at the end. The green wire gets hooked up to the screw in the middle of the cover plate, that hold the plate to the outlet. Unscrew it, attach the green, screw it back in place.
To test the ground, plug in your surge protector. I'M ASSUMING THAT YOUR SURGE PROTECTOR DOES HAS A GROUND FAULT INDICATOR. If it DOES NOT, then use one that does. Then turn the breaker back on. If there is a "fault" in the ground, a light on it (or maybe a warning noise) will tell you so -and the protector may not even give you power.
What this means is that the adapter -while it gives you a way to mechanically plug something in, DOES NOTHING in terms of actually grounding anything. It would be the same as cutting off the ground prong from the electronics equipment. Accomplishes NOTHING.
But, if the surge arrestor works normally, you're good to go.
At some point, you may want to switch out the outlets themselves to the grounded type. In that case, run a short piece of bare copper wire from the grounding screw of the new outlet (usually green, and on corner) to the metal outlet box or to the copper wire you see screwed into the box. Then your white wires go to the light colored terminals, blacks to the dark ones. After you've hooked it up, then do your surge protector test again.
You said 50 years old? That would be back in the mid 1950's. Possible problem: the wiring MIGHT be aluminum. If it has a white metal color -not copper- than it IS aluminum and you may find that the ends sort of break off when you unscrew the old outlet. It is also very soft. In that case, you'll need to get a special "co-alor" outlet that let's you connect aluminum wire to it -expensive; otherwise the aluminum will separate from the regular outlet terminals and possibly cause a short circuit and a fire.
Actually, if what you have is aluminum, you may want to call a pro.
Good luck.
The hardware store has 3 to 2 adapters for a quick fix.If you want a permanent fix,buy a grounded plug and change it out with the non grounded type.make sure power is off to switch,hook black wire to gold terminal,white wire to silver terminal.you can use a bare wire from ground terminal on switch to any location in box for fail safe ground or if you have the three wire wiring to the bare wire in cable Good luck...George
Changing the receptical is not a big deal-it's practically self explainatory, but does that mean your entire electrical system is running as an ungrounded system? That is the real issue.
You can buy adapters, but somewhere along the line your wiring will probably have to be updated. We had to do that b4 we could get insurance on our "older home".
Good luck
It's a little more complicated than just swapping out the outlets. If you house wiring uses conduit or AC (armoured cable), this is actually easier than it sounds. If you simply have wires running into your outlet boxes you will have to have the entire house re-wired and this is not a job for the amateur.
Shut off the power to an outlet you are going to access and remove the outlet cover and the outlet itself from the box. Look into the back of the box and see if there is a screw that you can attach a grounding wire too. If so, you're in luck. If not, you might be able to attach a grounding wire to the screw that holds the outlet to the box.
First you will have to make sure electrical system is grounded. You will need to get a 4-6 foot copper grounding rod and drive it into the ground outside next to your electrical meter. Then attach a copper wire to it, run in into your house and attach to some conduit using a metal clamp.
Now to test if your system is grounded, you'll need to change out of the two prong outlets with a three prong. The difference is you will notice that the three prong outlet has a grounding screw that is normally green. You will need to attach a wire from this screw to the screw in the back of the outlet box or to the screw that holds in the outlet. Once it's all re-wired, turn on the power and check for ground with a ground tester. You can buy one at the local home store and they are relatively cheap.
If you have ground the ground light will light up and you're in business. Now just swap outlets throughout the house.
Things to know:
* You need to buy outlets that are made for the type of wiring you have in the house. Older homes might have aluminum wiring and you will want outlets made for aluminum. Mixing aluminum and copper might cause the aluminum to become brittle and turn to powder due to the reaction between the two metals.
* Getting an electrician in to give you a quote might also get you some free advise. Re-wiring the house is an expensive proposition but if your house is capable of being grounded, you could have an electrician do that and you could do the rest.
buy a adaptor at any hardware store. home depot, lowes, ace, etc. or you might try your local radio shack.
The national electric code states where no ground is available, you have to replace a two prong receptacle with another two prong receptacle. An exception is made for installing a GFI receptacle (3 prong) in the place of the 2 prong. Be aware, there still won't be a ground available for your equipment. Those are the only legal options you have besides rewiring to provide a ground. That is assuming there is no ground available at the box and chances are there is not. You are not allowed to run a ground wire separately to a water pipe or ground rod as the non trained hacks are going to try to tell you. That is a code violation. All conductors for a circuit must be run together according to the National Code. To convert your house or maybe just certain rooms, call a real electrician or pull new wires to the receptacles.
Careful with wiring in old houses!
Colors of wires don't mean anything, the white (neutral) could be HOT!
I've seen so many cases and even personally got zapped many times because some expert years ago did such a beautiful job of hooking up everything backwards and the wrong way.
The worst I've seen was an add-on breaker box for a garage which was hooked up backwards and the neutral run over a breaker. I nearly had tears in my eyes!
The best is always to rip this old junk out and install brand new wiring to specs of NEC.
If continuing to use old wiring, I would perform a load test on each circuit and watch for excessive voltage drops, this is the only way to say that it is 90% safe.
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