Posts Tagged ‘Ground Fault’

Do you live in an older home? 2 wire outlets can be replaced with a similar outlet or they can be upgraded. National electric Code doesn’t allow you to change a two wire ( old ) receptacle to a 3 wire ( new ) receptacle. But there is a answer to this problem. I like to recommend changing them to a ground fault circuit interrupter frequently called a GFCI or GFI. It is the easiest way to replace a 2 wire receptacle with a 3 wire receptacle.

Before you do anything, always switch off the electricity to that receptacle or group of receptacles you will be working on or changing out. You can test a receptacle with a metering device or merely use a lamp. Make sure that the receptacle is off before trying to change.

The white wire should be hooked up to what is called the line side of the GFCI on the silver screw. There could be more than one white wire. Attach them both to this silver screw. Screws should be color coated to understand which ones to use for which side ( white and black ). Some GFCI might be marked white for the white wire as electricians refer to it as the ‘grounded conductor.’ In some receptacles, you could have more than one wire as it may feed other receptacles from those wires. White wires should be on the side of the receptacle with silver screws.

Black wires should be on the gold screws. If there are two black wires, attach both of them to the gold screws. This is easy to recollect. Black to gold : white to silver. This is vital because it’s what electricians call ‘keeping your polarity correct.’ This means white wire on the outlet is the wider part of the prong. The white wire is the widest part of the wire called the ‘grounded conductor.’

GFCI monitor a circuit or current flow within itself. That is why it is possible to replace a two wire receptacle with a GFCI. You can not just replace with a 3 prong receptacle because it doesn’t have a grounding conductor. If you have hardware that faults or fails, it will go through to its nearest path that might be you. Be safety sensible, it’s best.

Why Are Electrical Inspections Important?

The advantage of having a qualified electrician to perform an inspection for you is after general inspector is finished and has pointed out infractions an electrician can follow up and do a more intensive inspection, explaining to you not only why the difficulties might or might not exist but a way to repair them.

Electrical inspections generally performed only by a licensed home inspector for someone who is buying a home. Whilst there’s zilch inaccurate with this as a general inspection, a home inspector is not a certified electrician. Don’t you think your electrical safety is similarly important.

Home Inspectors are trained to point out electrical issues such as a double tapped circuit, ungrounded receptacles, mention where a GFCI receptacle is needed or hazardous electric service panels these are helpful when purchasing a building. They are not authorized to be permitted to offer you electrical advice.

For example, a receptacle might not be grounded. A home inspector might even point out that it is because of knob and tube wiring without an electrician’s correct metering kit and the facility to use it correctly, you will not know for sure. If the inspector is right, they almost certainly will not know all the strategies this can be corrected because they aren’t needed to keep up with all the current codes that electricians must.

An alternate way that this could be corrected is by installing a ground fault receptacle, which actually measures the current going through the plug itself and will trip if there’s an in balance in current. While both these will meet the requirements of the code, you are still left with the dangerous knob and tub wiring.