speedyspaghetti OP t1_j6nwl0k wrote on January 31, 2023 at 5:44 PM

Reply to comment by KingstenHd in Ungrounded 3-Prong Receptacles Question by speedyspaghetti

Thanks for the quick response.

So, if I were to do this, and the outlet tester were to indicate a correctly grounded outlet, does that rule out the possibility that it was not grounded at the panel? Or, does the tester only detect whether the ground wire is connected to the outlet, and thus not if it is truly grounded? If the latter is the case, how would I go about verifying that it is in fact grounded?

KingstenHd t1_j6nx6pg wrote on January 31, 2023 at 5:48 PM

It will tell you if it's grounded to the panel or I very least to a ground rod. Which is where you want to be grounded anyways..

speedyspaghetti OP t1_j6nxrse wrote on January 31, 2023 at 5:52 PM

So as long as the outlets show grounded on my plug-in tester after doing what I suggested above, I'm good?

I'll probably just pull off the cover on all the outlets in those two rooms to ensure that nothing else janky was done.

KingstenHd t1_j6ny94z wrote on January 31, 2023 at 5:54 PM

Correct, you'll be good. Sorry I use speech to text and I'm I'm running around trying to answer lol. Best of luck to you.

speedyspaghetti OP t1_j6or6xm wrote on January 31, 2023 at 8:53 PM

Lol no worries - speech to text is always a shot in the dark for me. Thank you so much!

marigolds6 t1_j6os2f2 wrote on January 31, 2023 at 8:58 PM

To really be certain, it would be a good idea to get a multimeter and verify that you are getting the correct voltage when testing between hot and ground (should be the same as testing between hot and neutral). You can do this carefully with the bare wire in the box before cutting it. But be careful, as you would be reaching into the back of the potentially live box with a probe while the circuit is energized!! (Highly recommend safety gloves if you do this.)

Remanage t1_j6pjhn5 wrote on January 31, 2023 at 11:55 PM

Technically it might also show grounded if it's touching a metal box that also is metal all the way back to the panel, or if it's tied into a neutral prior to getting back to the panel.

I would personally stick with the plan of making the first outlet in the circuit a GFCI. You can still tie into the wire that may be ground, and if it's wrong, the GFCI will still attempt to protect you.