There is no grounding wire in fixure I'm replacing: what to do?
Question:1904 house, posted earlier than I couldn't figure out which was the hot wire because they were covered with black cloth. Got a volt sensor. It sort of beeps on both wires! And...I realized there are only 2 wires coming out of the ceiling hole, and my directions say there should be a grounding wire coming out, too.
On the new fixture, there is a grounding wire that connects to the fixture again. What am I supposed to do? Any ideas?
Thanks! L
Answers:
Nothing you can do , just dont hook up the ground wire unless you have a metal box that is grounded but prob. not if the wiring is that old, it prob. is knob and tube and they didnt ground anything not a huge deal without the ground the bigger issue is prob. how old the wiring is and may want to have a electrician come out to look at the wiring.
In the new fixture, just don't hook up the ground wire. It's AC current so it really don't matter which wire you hook the other up to. The only other choice you have is to hire an electrician to upgrade the wiring in the house with proper grounding. That will be expensive!
Attach the green wire on your new fixture to the existing box,if there is one,look at it and figure what screw hole will work.If no box is there wrap it around whatever you are using to mount the fixture(I am assuming screws)
Back in that day they didn't ground receptacles or light circuits.I might get some guff for this but .It is not critical to ground a light fixture unless you have a metal pull chain and are standing in water
the old houses probably to mid 70s were only wired w/ two wires no ground wire ... it worked well but had the danger of a short killing or hurting you ...
which rarely happened ...
Innstall the new fixture and tape off the green or the ground wire on both ends
it will work ok but just be aware the house is not grounded and you will need adapters for your 3 prong plugs
if you are working on your own house the grandfather clause will allow you to ignore the ground wire,
,it is important even if you are not standing in water,
there is no need to tie it to anything if there is not a ground wire
if you have a long enough lead or make one ,, you can use a volt meter and test each wire to a known ground,,metal water pipe,,satellite ground,,cable ground,,
the hot wire(black) will show voltage and the neutral( white) will not
For a ceiling light fixture it's not such a big deal to not have a ground. You can add a ground wire yourself ... it literally means ground. You can buy a ground spike at places like Home Depot ... it's a big copper spike.
Places like your bathroom and kitchen you may want to try to add a ground wire ... replace as much of that old stuff with standard house hold wire. By the way ... some of that old cloth insulation is made from asbestos, and is a fire hazard due to the thinness of the wire.
For the time being you can jerry rig a ground in rooms you may get shocked in ... as you know, the function of the ground wire is just so current will flow to ground instead of through your body should you make contact.
For things like bathroom outlets, just run an insulated wire from a grounding post outside up through the floor to ground fault outlets.
Well, what I would do in this case is one of the two (depends on your abilities).
1. Run a new line to the outlet that includes a ground line
. . . . .(a) If there is no ground you will be getting 'Zapped' from this outlet. And take the chance of destroying equipment during a thunderstorm. .. rule("Electricity will seek out the path of least resistance")
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Just so you know, a lot of homes dating from the 1960's on back did not use a color code or standard of this type. they used the one color cloth style coating over " Aluminum" wire - this wire will melt much sooner than copper wire - the reason for the standards.
This can lead to a fire, in particular in those cases where people would put the penny behind the fuse so they did not have to replace it and even more so if there is no ground.
Truth is, if the wiring is this old it needs to be upgraded for the safety of those living there. If it uses the old fuse box that is probably only 60 Amp service, get upgraded to a breaker panel box with 100 Amp service. For safety you should figure about three devices to one line when running your own. They can be two outlets and a wall switch (light). But I would figure the three things on one 120V line. If its a 220 line then it is exclussive for that one device only. Such as, a dryer, or heating unit.
I personally would not feel close to safe running off of those old alum. non-grounded power lines. I would really change that before anything else would happen there.
You could have an electrician come out and install the breaker panel box and run the power lines for you and connect any 220 line devices. then you yourself can come along as you want to install the outlets and run wall switches and install lighting. This will save you a little bit and it will not be so intensive you cannot do it.
Afterall, the main elec is ran all you are doing is connecting to that system.
Or just have the electrician do it all, unless of course you can do it all yourself.
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2. You could locate the main water line to the home. Run a ground line off of this, but use a good clamp to secure it to the water main. Once the line is in the hole in the wall secure it to the back of the box. In stall your outlet and secure the ground wire to the metal box. You will be grounded through you plumbing system ( an old 70ish method) but again this is not as good a ground as being grounded through the panel box.
I would follow the standards set down since the home was built - they are in place for safety purposes not to make it harder on you. If you ignor safety you know an accident is more likely to occur.
The house needs to be rewired for safety. Otherwise, purchase a ground fault circuit interruptor (GFCI) for any appliances that might pose a shock hazard. These are plugs that trip faster than a regular breaker to avoid shocks. (for example, next to bathroom sinks)
Sounds like it might be a coastal three way to me just hook up the wires to two of the screws on the fixture and it will work.Remember to shut off the breaker first You don't necessarily need a ground wire.
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