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Adding Separate Ground Wire to 2-wire Circuit benjililley 12-30-2006
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Posted by on December 30, 2006, 12:09 pm


I recently bought an older home with a newer addition. The original
portion of the house has 2 conductor wire with no ground. The addition
and recently wired parts of the basement use 3 conductor wire and all
the outlets are grounded and appear to be wired correctly (when tested
with a $5 outlet tester from the hardware store).

I need to plug in some computer equipment to two older outlets in the
original part of the house. I understand that I need a "real" ground
wire back to the panel for surge protectors / computer equipment (no
GFC or ground tied to water pipes etc).

Here is what I want to do - I would like to know if there are any
concerns with this approach:

The new wiring for the basement and the addition are easily accessible
in the basement and each has a junction box located near the older
outlets I want to add ground to. I plan to run a ground wire from the
two older outlets where I need to connect my computer to the juction
boxes with the newer wiring in the basement, and connect them to the
ground wires in the juction boxes.

Assuming that the ground wires in the newer wiring are properly
connected back at the panel, will this present any sort of problem?
Will the two older outlets be properly grounded for use with computer
equipment?

Ben


Posted by zxcvbob on December 30, 2006, 12:29 pm


benjililley@hotmail.com wrote:
> I recently bought an older home with a newer addition. The original
> portion of the house has 2 conductor wire with no ground. The addition
> and recently wired parts of the basement use 3 conductor wire and all
> the outlets are grounded and appear to be wired correctly (when tested
> with a $5 outlet tester from the hardware store).
>
> I need to plug in some computer equipment to two older outlets in the
> original part of the house. I understand that I need a "real" ground
> wire back to the panel for surge protectors / computer equipment (no
> GFC or ground tied to water pipes etc).
>
> Here is what I want to do - I would like to know if there are any
> concerns with this approach:
>
> The new wiring for the basement and the addition are easily accessible
> in the basement and each has a junction box located near the older
> outlets I want to add ground to. I plan to run a ground wire from the
> two older outlets where I need to connect my computer to the juction
> boxes with the newer wiring in the basement, and connect them to the
> ground wires in the juction boxes.
>
> Assuming that the ground wires in the newer wiring are properly
> connected back at the panel, will this present any sort of problem?
> Will the two older outlets be properly grounded for use with computer
> equipment?
>
> Ben
>


That green wire should run all the way back to the electrical panel, or to
one of the grounding electrode conductors if that is easier. "Borrowing" a
ground from another nearby circuit isn't Kosher (even though it works,
wink, wink, nudge, nudge)

Best regards,
Bob

Posted by on December 30, 2006, 1:15 pm


zxcvbob wrote:
>
>
> That green wire should run all the way back to the electrical panel, or to
> one of the grounding electrode conductors if that is easier. "Borrowing" a
> ground from another nearby circuit isn't Kosher (even though it works,
> wink, wink, nudge, nudge)
>
> Best regards,
> Bob

Thanks Bob. After looking at it some more, running a ground to the
panel isn't that bad. It's only about 30 feet, 2 outlets, and there
are plenty of ground lugs in the panel, so that is what I will do.

Ben


Posted by on December 30, 2006, 6:58 pm


wrote:

>That green wire should run all the way back to the electrical panel, or to
>one of the grounding electrode conductors if that is easier. "Borrowing" a
>ground from another nearby circuit isn't Kosher (even though it works,
>wink, wink, nudge, nudge)
>
>Best regards,
>Bob
You can extend a properly connected equipmemt grounding conductor as
long as it is bog enough. The code says a shared equipment ground
needs to be sized to the largest breaker involved. For example you
could ground a 15a circuit to a 30a circuit with a 10 or 12 ga ground.
Just be carefull around older wiring methods that used a ground
smaller than the circuit coinductors.
Alternately you could "bus" a #12 around the attic/basement and pick
up all the receptacl;es you could fish a wire to. Just use boxes for
the splices and something like smurf tube (the blue tube) to provide
physical protection for anything exposed. This could also carry an
extra circuit or 4

hint hint, wink wink

Posted by Tom The Great on December 30, 2006, 12:41 pm


On 30 Dec 2006 09:09:56 -0800, benjililley@hotmail.com wrote:

>I recently bought an older home with a newer addition. The original
>portion of the house has 2 conductor wire with no ground. The addition
>and recently wired parts of the basement use 3 conductor wire and all
>the outlets are grounded and appear to be wired correctly (when tested
>with a $5 outlet tester from the hardware store).
>
>I need to plug in some computer equipment to two older outlets in the
>original part of the house. I understand that I need a "real" ground
>wire back to the panel for surge protectors / computer equipment (no
>GFC or ground tied to water pipes etc).
>
>Here is what I want to do - I would like to know if there are any
>concerns with this approach:
>
>The new wiring for the basement and the addition are easily accessible
>in the basement and each has a junction box located near the older
>outlets I want to add ground to. I plan to run a ground wire from the
>two older outlets where I need to connect my computer to the juction
>boxes with the newer wiring in the basement, and connect them to the
>ground wires in the juction boxes.
>
>Assuming that the ground wires in the newer wiring are properly
>connected back at the panel, will this present any sort of problem?
>Will the two older outlets be properly grounded for use with computer
>equipment?
>
>Ben

imho:

Too many words.

First check if you have an existing grounding method. See if the
receptacle boxes are metal and the wiring method is AC (BX). Now if
you aren't a qualified electrician then get one to do the work.
Cheaper than replacing computers, and such.

Good luck,

tom @ www.Consolidated-Loans.info


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