Two Prong Outlets

Originally Posted By: jorbeck
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Ok, going out on my first inspection, and admittedly electrical is not my strongest point. The house I will be looking at was built in 1960. I am assuming that there might be Aluminum wiring in the house, plus the client has told me that there are only two prong outlets in the house. Any suggestions on how to deal with this or what I need to be looking for would be of great help.


Thanks in advance.


Originally Posted By: Greg Fretwell
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You won’t have aluminum in 1960. You should try to determine if there is a ground in the wiring method. It will probably be 16ga but they could still use it to install grounded outlets if it was connected to the boxes.


Originally Posted By: jtedesco
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Receptacles


http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/524.html


--
Joe Tedesco, NEC Consultant

www.nachi.org/tedescobook.htm

Originally Posted By: lkage
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Be aware of ungrounded 3 prong outlets on a two wire system.



“I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn’t learn something from him.”


Galileo Galilei

Originally Posted By: sspradling
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Larry,


What would you write up on ungrounded 3 prong outlets? I always check for polarity, but do you call it out as a defect? Just curious.


Stu


Originally Posted By: dbush
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Stuart, I’m not Larry, I usually write something along the lines of, although the outlets have been upgraded to three prong receptacles, they test as ungrounded which indicates that the wires most likely were not upgraded to a grounded wiring; therefore the typical ground protection is not provided at these outlets.



Dave Bush


MAB Member


"LIFE'S TOUGH, WEAR A HELMET"

Originally Posted By: jjackson
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Joe


Check for polarity-and you might want to see if they are in a grounded box. Recommend that GFCI breakers be installed on those circuits.



jj

Originally Posted By: jkline
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Try taking a look at this thread:


http://www.nachi.org/bbsystem/viewtopic.php?t=1984&highlight=twowire

Good long discussion of two-prong receptacles.


Originally Posted By: lkage
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sspradling wrote:
Larry,
What would you write up on ungrounded 3 prong outlets? I always check for polarity, but do you call it out as a defect? Just curious.
Stu


I recommend a qualified electrician change ungrounded 3 prong outlets back to 2 prong outlets or replace ungrounded 3 prong outlets with gfci outlets for enhanced safety.


--
"I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him."
Galileo Galilei

Originally Posted By: jorbeck
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Thank you for all the advice and assistance on this subject. You all have been very helpful and it is appreciated. Thanks again.


Joe


Originally Posted By: jorbeck
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Just wanted to let you all know the inspection went without a hitch. Found some minor things in the electrical department but nothing real serious. In my report I stated that the electrical was adequate at the time the house was built, but if upgrades are to be consider recommend evaluation by a licensed electrician. Thanks again for you assistance.