To insulate or not to insulate (electricians only, ground question)?
Question:Okay, so I'm splicing in an extension, the wire that I'm adding onto is 3-10, no ground; red, black and white all insulated, the white connected to the fuse box is common ground. So would it be okay to splice in a 2-10 (red, black and bare) with ground? I mean the ground touching the junction box or not being insulated wouldn't have any impact on it would it? A ground is a ground and won't be affected by touching anything, right? Or would it be better to splice in 10-3 ground, 'cause then I'd have 3 insulated wires again, and just cut off the bare copper at the ends?
-p.s. if anyone says call an experienced electrician, you are soooo getting a thumbs down.
Answers:
From what you are describing, it appears that you are hooking up something that is 220 volts. If so, use the red and the black as the hots and use the white as your common or ground. If it's a 110 volt, use the black as the hot, the white as the common (or neutral) and get some green tape and tape over the red wire. This will let someone know that the red is now a ground. A true ground (not neutral) can be insulated or non insulated as long as it doesn't come in contact with a hot wire so be careful. Always follow the codes in your area.
Ok, go with a 3-10. Always go with what you already have. And yes you need a ground even though you say there is a common ground. Safety in wiring is the best policy. Consult with the N.E.S. book you can find a copy at Lowes or almost any hardware that sells the book. It is the National Electrial Safety Book with all of the codes.
strictly by electrical code, red is line 1, blk is line 2, wht is neutral, bare or grn is ground.
in normal condition, the neutral (wht) carried current, do not use the ground wire as neutral, because ground wire not suppose to carry current, it carry current only during accident condition.
in your case use red, blk, wht, and bare.
No idea what you are doing. Extension cord? It is illegal to splice cords. Wires in conduit? I would need more information. John's answer is wrong. You can't tape or mark a #10 red wire to make it a ground. Email me with more details and I will try to help. Don't call an electrician. Just get more home insurance to cover fires.
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