Proper way to replace 2 prong with 3 prong.

[crzy2bealive]

Hey guys working on my new house and I want to convert some of my 2 prong outlets to 3 prong.

I want to try and tackle this myself but want to make sure I do it right and to code.

What is the proper way to do this?

Part of the house has three prong and is wired correctly. (Newer half of the house)

Part of the house has three prong but has an open ground.

And part of the house is 2 prong.

-robert

 

[spectracular]

Hey guys working on my new house and I want to convert some of my 2 prong outlets to 3 prong.

I want to try and tackle this myself but want to make sure I do it right and to code.

What is the proper way to do this?

Part of the house has three prong and is wired correctly. (Newer half of the house)

Part of the house has three prong but has an open ground.

And part of the house is 2 prong.

-robert

Can you use the flex/conduit as your ground?

 

[terrax2]

It depends on the wiring method that was used. Is it steel flex, aluminum flex, pipe or old romex (cable)? If it's a flex or pipe pull ground wire to panel. If its old romex just light a match. JK. The only way to do it to code would be to rewire it. There are things that you could do to add a safe ground that wouldn't be to code.

 

[Sawtooth]

If the junction boxes are metal you can look inside the back and see if there is a machine screw head, normally they would have run a #16 copper wire from junction box to junction box that is attached to this and this would be run all the way to or from the service panel. If this is the case then they make a metal clip (looks like a blind nut for a car door speaker screw) that "clips" to the front edge of the junction box and you can crimp a ground wire pig tail to it and then attach to the outlet/switch. Otherwise you would have to run a ground wire to each junction box, sometimes easier if a raised foundation or you can poke a few small holes and fish wires into the attic.

 

[SHOCKtheMONKEY]

If there's no conduit ground the only way to put a three prong in is to use a GFCI outlet with the "No Equipment Ground' sticker. Short (electric joke:champagne of running a ground wire to each outlet which is another can of worms.

 

[Backlash]

The "Proper" way to do this would most likely be to rewire the house. What year was the house built?

 

[crzy2bealive]

The "Proper" way to do this would most likely be to rewire the house. What year was the house built?

1958

 

[SHOCKtheMONKEY]

Conduit or romex?

 

[Backlash]

You most likely have steel flex throughout the house. Boxes are all probably steel too. The Romex was added or tied into the electrical system at a later date and most likely isn't up to code. Just my opinion but I would just rewire the whole house. Then there's nothing left to chance.

 

[crzy2bealive]

You most likely have steel flex throughout the house. Boxes are all probably steel too. The Romex was added or tied into the electrical system at a later date and most likely isn't up to code. Just my opinion but I would just rewire the whole house. Then there's nothing left to chance.

What's the average costs to rewire a house?

 

[Backlash]

Tough to say. There are a lot of variables to consider. But like anything else, to have it done correctly by a professional isn't going to be cheap. But that's not a place where you want to skimp on your lifelong investment.

For this type of work, please consider a licensed electrician who knows what the hell they are doing.

 

[was thatguy]

I went through this exact same thing at our house in Anderson. If I had to do it again I would make the phone call and cut the check to rewire the whole house.

Your deal might be different, but with ours it seemed like each of the 3 previous owners had their own ideas about wiring and breaker panels from the service panel on down.

I could map the home additions through the years by the added breaker panels and tie ins. Was able to "fix" the questionable loops, but the right way would have been to start at the service panel and do the whole damn thing.

 

[Taboma]

Are the old 2 prong in rooms where it even matters ? Obviously, outdoors,garages, kitchens, bathrooms, and laundry rooms CAN BE relatively important due to the proximity of water and grounded water piping.

This, assuming what you're plugging in even has a 3rd wire ground, most of mine don't they're simply polarized (Neutral slot larger prong) 2 prong.
Look around your homes, how many 3 prong plugs are on your devices, other than larger appliances and some electronics. Sure all our power strips are 3 prong, but almost nothing I've got plugged into them does, except my computer.

I'm not trying to dismiss the importance of grounds in certain conditions, or a motivation such as re-sale by bringing the entire house up to modern standards. Also let's face it, other than the relevance of short circuit protection (Tripping a breaker if something shorts to ground), if Fido chews through the lamp cord, he's dust, ground or not. Otherwise, how does one get shocked in the living room or bedroom when there's essentially nothing for your body to ground to ?

For many years all varieties of flexible conduit were utilized as grounds, the problem arose under short circuit conditions if the convolutions didn't provide a direct bridge and low resistance path. The current was then forced to follow the convolutions rather than across, creating a high resistance path and the flex became extremely hot (Think light bulb filament).

I'm not sure of your motivation, but just because you're home isn't fully grounded up to modern code requirements doesn't make it necessarily any more dangerous than my modern fully grounded up the ass home. Access your needs and proceed accordingly, but do remember this, a poorly ground home, one with high resistance grounds, can be more potentially dangerous than a home that's not grounded at all. Because once you provide a ground path, it better be a good one !!

The other problem with older homes is just how good is your main ground ? More than likely it was installed long before Fred Ufer came up with his encased in concrete concept. It could be a ground rod that's corroded off years ago, could be a water pipe that was replaced with plastic 15 years ago.

Grounding is a system that requires all aspects of it to be sound in order to be effective.