5 ways ways to fix an "open ground" UPDATED Video in description!! 

Here after watching Sparky&Electrical u

I'm not a electrician, nor do I play one on TV, but I think I've learned enough to know what I'm looking at in my 92 year old house. Thanks....

I just ground everything to the guest bed my mother-in-law uses when she stays overnight. Win-win.

Stumbled on your video after watching hours of other ones that left me unsure about how to deal with no ground. After seeing your suggestions are to code I know what I need to do now. I can't thank you enough. Sincerely

Learned a lot about residential electrical over 50 years ago. I recently am buying a 1950’s house and plan to rewire as much as I can. Thanks for your informative video it was very well done. I may have to explore these methods.

This is by far the best video on the subject I have watched! Thank you!

Can’t thank you enough ! After searching many other channels for a code acceptable open fix, yours by far is the absolute best going into the most depth. No need to go to any other uTube channel after finding yours ! Thank you

Thank you ! As a 40 year wireman and 26+ year C10, C7 licensed contractor I get so much out of your work, skills, videos. Such a treat to hear and see that your so stoked every morning on educating and keeping the craft at its very best. It fires me up ! Great stuff even though I am pretty familiar but makes me feel great for what I do for the cause also. Tip of the hat ! It's just soothing man to know that there is a great educator out there. I am passing my skills on to my son👍so he may carry the torch into the future. Take care Coach✌

Thank you for the Knowledge Coach! Houston Texas 🤟🏾

You took me back to high school with the playbook drawings👍😂❤️, thanks man.

Bro, I learned so much from you video. Selling a house and I need to change ungrounded to grounded outlet and you captured everything I need to do it! Thank you so much for a very excellent video!! Fantastic! 10 stars bro!!

Oh man, you are a real Super Hero. Thank you for your knowledge share and the excellent way you do it. I just bought an old home (a camp that was “upgraded “ to become 4-season) that has so many open ground outlets ( and so many hot & neutral reversed). The former owner was a clueless DIYer. So now I’ve contacted a couple of electricians to do corrections. Coming from a position of ignorance I was very uncomfortable at not being able to understand what they intend to do to fix my situation. Plus, the sticker shock I had when they gave me their quotes!! They said it will take them a long time just finding out which outlet goes to which breaker. So, by educating myself, I undertook some basic initial steps to at least cut down on the labor hours. I bought a Klein ET310 circuit breaker finder. I used the tester on each one and noted the wiring as indicated by the tester (correct, reversed, open ground, etc. ). I wrote down my findings about each outlet. I used the finder pen to verify what breaker services what outlet, and wrote them down for my reference. That process required a lot of going back and forth between Panel and outlet location. I see how that process alone will add to an electrician’s bill. But now I feel good. Not only have I shaved off cost to a potential bill (when I do finally hire an electrician), I also know what to expect of his services. I can confidently ask him to upgrade the breakers to AFCI/GFCI where it’s needed. I can ask him to verify my findings of the outlets and switches, and do the fix. If he suggests more or other repairs, I’ll be able to verify instead of blindly trusting him. Ordinary folks like me can be empowered through knowledge, and be able to strike that balance between respecting a professional for his expertise and looking out that we don’t get taken advantage of. Again, thank you for this channel!!

I don't know if I have the confidence for this project in my old house but it feels good to have an idea as to what's happening and what's needed. Thank you!

Happy New Year 2022 Mr. Coach! I love the way you go through the code and showing/explaining the process at the same time - You are an awesome Sparky! Much admiration- Please keep up the good work. I am now a new subscriber.

Very very helpful! Thank you for the extra safety options! 👏

Great video, I have done several electrical projects around the house but was stumped by an open ground issue lately. This showed me the solution as I installed a "rework" gang box into an existing metal system where the ground was on being handled by the outlet itself. Thanks Coach!!

Thanks coach for such a great information!

Very good explanation and you saved me from digging out my code book . Thanks

I thank God for you🙏❤️👍!! Keep 'em coming Coach!!

Thank you so much for all this information! You explained it so well.

Thanks for sharing. I actually learned something.

Wow thank you for keeping us safe good info

Awesome info...Just subscribed! I like the last method the best. Thanks for all the info...nice job!

I love the information in this video coach! A lot of helpful information.

Excellent!

Very very imfomative.Thanks bunch.

2 thumbs up for you from Chicago. Great stuff.

Fantastic video thank u coach

Thanks for cleat concise information!

Thanks bro appreciate your videos

Thanks a lot for this. Just getting into electrical, since actual, you know, professionals, cost an exorbitant amount of money. Only really looking for household type projects and such. This is really great thank you! I subbed your channel, seems you have a great deal of information that will help me. Well, educationally only, of course...

Clear concise information.

thanks for the information i have a better understanding on it you rock electrical code coach

I directed 'video joe knows' to your channel by leaving a link on his channel. He was not being clear in some aspects regarding the grounding of non grounded 2 prong recepticles. Thanks for your channel!

This is great... Thank you

Awesome stuff coach thank u brotha

Thank you.

I going to learn a lot from you guys. Thanks

Thank you! My house was built sometime around 1940 and some of the rooms still have the old wiring and no ground...unfortunately I didn't realize this till AFTER I bought a replacement heavy duty receptacle, they may have been labeled before but over the years plates get changed and stickers go away, I didn't know about the breaker which would be a quick way to solve all this mess. Although if I could I'd rewire it all brand new with the latest and greatest receptacle's with ground and protections.

a couple of questions: What are the labeling requirements when using the breaker method? If I have a customer that wants grounding wires and i use the green wire method can i pull a single wire to each receptacle and use a grounding bus bar in the basement as a terminal block and then run a single home run to the panel or other grounding point? If i use either method, under 2020 am i required to provide afci and gfci to those circuits i work on or update all circuits?

Appreciate the video.

Awesome channels brother Perry 👍

Where have you been all my adulting life? 😆Thank you so much for this very informative teaching moment. New sub!

Very informative! I had a single outlet without ground protection and was wondering if I could go to the outlet's ground that's a foot away. I installed a GFCI instead just because I didn't want to risk it. I don't really know how to fish a ground wire through a stud in the way without tearing up the wall :/

Thank yuo for sharing

Real good video.

Thanks

New Subscriber Thank You So Much 😊

Such a great video. Cudos to you and anyone who viewed this. A little on why I'm educating myself. I bought an older home and it needs updated. My breaker panel is a pushmatic (JUNK) but still functions properly. I can't do much in the panel. All outlets that I'm aware of are 2 prongs. I'm not sure if any are grounded and assuming they're not. I can't afford to rewire the whole house or update the panel just yet. If I'm understanding this video correctly, my ONLY option at this time is swapping out 2 prong outlets for GFCI outlets, correct? Question 2.... Would I need to find "the first" 2 pronged outlet on the circuit in order to change it out for a GFCI and then change the remaining outlets on the same circuit to a normal 3 prong? I heard you say after the GFCI, you can change out all others downstream to a normal 3 prong out. How would I determine what is "downstream" since I don't know the wiring layout. All I know right now is which outlets are on the same circuit by using a circuit breaker identifying kit. Any info is greatly appreciated!!

Would it be possible to add a link in the description to the afc breaker installation video. Thanks for the detailed explanations.

Need to do this are there reputable places to buy parts like the breakers for older systems?

I knew of three but I'm not an electrician. Great video will suggest to my friends!!

Hello, thanks a lot for all the good info. Can you clarified, in the "5th way" if you install a gfci breaker inside panel do you still need to install a gfci receptacle at the beginning of circuit? Again thank you so much

So if we replace it with a GFCI outlet, when we test it using a standard tester, it should still show "open ground" because we still do not have a ground connected? Thanks!

If you install the gfci breaker in the panel, and use normal 3 way plugs down the circuit, does this make them ok for equipment ground, no stickers needed??

If an outlet is gfci protected can i install a grounding pigtail to the metal box? Would that be considered sufficiently grounded or i still need to label no ground?

I recently purchased a house that was built in 1951 with two strand wire in metal boxes installed in plaster walls. It appears that the original ground wire was attached to a copper water pipe on the opposite end of the house from the water main. This was upgraded by running 6 ga. insulated green copper wire from the main panel to the water main where it enters the house. When I began to replace the two prong outlets with 3 prong outlets I noticed that the metal boxes appear to be grounded. Does this satisfy the code? Also, I am using the more expensive outlets with a copper grounding strip that holds the bottom mounting screw in place like that shown for the GFCI outlet at 10:13 in the video. The two prong replacement outlet shown at 6:52 in the video uses cardboard to hold both mounting screws in place and is unlikely to bond with a metal box. Inexpensive 3 prong outlets designed for plastic boxes also use cardboard.

Under number 2 (any accessible point on the grounding electrode conductor) is it allowable to connect to the number 6 bare copper conductor that runs from the main panel to the street side of the water meter? The main water line is copper also.

Greetings Coach, I own a house in the middle of an electrician desert. The house is from the 1960's with 2 prong aluminum wire. Does the GFCI breaker code cover aluminum wiring? Also, can you use a GFCI receptacle and ground it to a metal outlet box? Much Thanks...

Can the circuit breaker GFCI be used on a circuit with lights on it?

Thanks very much for this, very helpful. My question on solution #5, do the downstream outlets need to be labeled "No Equipment Ground" as well, since they technically don't have an actual ground conductor?

2prong non grounded receptacle can you connect neutral on a 3prong receptacle to ground screw.

Would I need to mark all receptacles in circuit coming from a GFCI breaker “no equipment ground?”

Would it be a bad idea to put a ground rod outside an exterior wall hook a ground wire to it and run it through the wall to the receptacle. Just so you don't have to go crawling through the attic?

Thanks, question! I used method 2 (fish a ground wire) to add a ground wire to my dryer circuit to make it a 4 wire install. Does code say the added ground wire has to be insulated and/or green, or anything specific about 220V connections?

If you use the panel mount GFCI do you still label the replaced 3 prong cover plates "No Equip Ground"? If so, where do you get the labels without buying an extra expense regular GFCI? Will the panel mount GFCI also come with labels?

do you still need to put no equipment ground stickers on all face plates when installing the gfci breaker

great video

Hey man can you help me cuz I am replacing my kitchen outlet w a gfci outlet. It’s in a metal box but it has no grounding wire. Can I or should I install a ground? I am already having a hard time putting the gfci in after I hook up all the 4 wires and getting it to fit back in the box. Is there a trick to do this. I think I’m gonna have to cut the wires a lot to get the gfci to fit in the box. I hate to cut the wires so short, but If I don’t, the gfci outlet won’t fit back in the box. It’s really not a lot of room. It had just a regular outlet before it caught on fire and now I’ve got to replace it. Thank you.

Thanks for this video! I had a question/comment about downstream receptacles as you describe @10:59. You didn't point this out, but as I understand it (and the text seems to indicate), the downstream receptacles can only have their hot/neutral terminals connected, but not the grounds. That is, the ground terminals of all the involved receptacles have to remain disconnected from each other. Do I have this right? This came to my attention when I was thinking of adding a receptacle downstream from an existing ungrounded GFCI receptacle. The new romex from there to the new receptacle has its ground wire, and it's very tempting to connect both ends to the respective receptacles. I thought of doing so in anticipation of one day replacing the upstream run from the breaker panel with new romex, but it seems that code explicitly forbids doing just the downstream connection without the upstream connection. I presume we're supposed to just cap off the unused grounding wire in this case, but when both ends are in metal boxes, I'd imagine the wires are still likely to (unintentionally) connect the boxes, and in turn, the receptacles. Is this sort of unintentional ground connection acceptable, or would we need to cut off the ground wires so short as to be useless for future connections? Or would the answer be to wrap the unused ground wire in enough electrical tape to isolate it until it's ready to be used?

Dam good video

Great video! Appreciate the advice and the code references. If I'm running an insulated stranded wire to a receptacle on a 15 amp circuit with 14AWG conductors, does the green ground wire need to be the same gauge, or can it be smaller? I'm doing this now and have some 16 and 18 gauge wire on hand, but not sure if I should use it or go buy some 14. Thanks.

Great video... I have 2 grounds in outlet..2 lead coming in...reads open ground..please direct me to your learning videos..I had it hooked up once and all walls worked...then when I secured it no longer working

Hi Coach, If using a afci/gfci breaker, do the new three prong outlets still need to be marked "no equipment ground"? Thanks for the help and the very informative video!

LOTS of bad advice on this subject on other sites! Watch out for terms like this is how I do it. Excellent! Back up with code references and explanations. Remember your ground must go back to main panel, not to water pipe like Main was grounded before I had panel replaced.

I have a manufactured home (trailer) built in 2001 and some open grounded outlets you think this is likely an issue at the panel or the outlets? I'd like to fix it.

Is a desktop computer a sensitive electronic device that needs a ground? I’ve got those “adapters” for a tv and a window a/c unit but don’t want to risk it on my computer.

I have a fuse box that I want to replace with circuit breakers, do I have to rewire the ungrounded outlets first?

Would replacing it with gfci receptacle still pass inspection in 2023?

Just found out my neutral wire in my sub panel box is grounded 2 the case. Don't have any ground wires in my sub panel. Should I be concerned? If I use an afci/gfci breaker as my master for my sub panel, can I use regular breakers in my sub panel and all the breakers added to sub panel have afci/gfci?

Do you have to label each outlet saying that there is no equipment grounding if you use the GFCI AFC I breaker solution?

I'm assuming if you choose only to add the AFCI/GFCI breakers as mentioned around 12:00 then ALL new 3 prong outlets you install on those circuits would have to be labeled "NO EQUIPMENT GROUND" correct? Great video thanks!!

That was useful and well timed!

It would be easy to run separate ground wires in my crawlspace. What kind of wire is suitable, and how do you properly connect single wire to a J box?

Just bought a house, two outlets on the same run say open ground. It’s a 3 prong. The wiring is 12/2 Romex and it does have the ground wire attached to the green. So I’m not understanding where the issue is

Okay, I have always been told and seen on other YT videos that using a ground from the panel to ground a new 3 prong at the non grounded 2 prong location was illegal. The thought was if you can run a new ground wire, then you should be replacing the whole wire. Is this a new update to the U.S code or what? I got a quote from a 5 star yelper for $150 per location, that worked out to about $20K for small 1200 sq ft home. LOl.

I was waiting for the two prong to GFCI receptacle test.

i have ungrounded 2 wire cables supplying the outlets. i like the option to replace breakers with afci/gfci breakers. is it ok, safe, and good idea to replace all 11 breakers in the panel to ground all circuts in the house? fyi, all the breakers in the panel are 10A

None of the wires in my sub panel have a ground. My main panel has a good ground. I have wall sockets in my den wired from my main panel with a ground. My kitchen wall sockets are wired from my sub panel with no ground. Can I use the ground from the den to ground my kitchen sockets?

Here's a rare non grounding situation, but one worth mentioning. What if I have a fixed piece of equipment. In this example I have an electric water heater, connected to old 2 wire no ground NM. And let's assume the water heater is NOT installed in the basement where it's easy to simply replace the old wire with a piece of 10/2 w/G NM for example some very old houses have the water heater in the attic where fishing a new cable or wire would be very impractical depending on the layout of the house. Could we use a two pole, 30 amp GFCI breaker to achieve the same protection as a non ground receptacle?

Can you borrow a ground from a 240V circuit to supply ground to a non grounded 120V circuit if they both come from the same panel?

It’s like using the word “we” to remember west and east but instead L for Large Left B for Black on Brass. LL & BB

Black to Brass. B to B. That's how I tell folks to identify where the neutral and the hot get connected. If you go with B to B then that only leaves the silver screws for the neutral. Green is Ground. Gr to Gr. Ground wire to the Green screw.

I am selling my house and have a plug under the sink for the garbage disposal that is not grounded would adding a gfi receptacle meet code? Second question I know it would be expensive but can I just replace all my receptacles I probably have 20 with GFI and would that meet code if I put all the stickers on?

Quick question, and a lot of mine are done this way. Can the 3rd prong be attached to a cold water ground? Note, my lines are copper & I'm telling plumbers that ever come in to never use any plastic pipe. Also, on a dryer. Can I use the old 3 prong cord & connect the case to a cold water line or panel ground, since it's close to the dryer?

I bought an older home with a mix of grounded receptacles and non-grounded receptacles. Most all of the receptacles were replaced previously with new 3-prong receptacles, some GFI even though not grounded. Questions. 1. Can my electrician install AFCI/GFCI breakers just for the circuits that do not have grounded receptacles and leave the regular breakers in for properly grounded circuits? 2. Do any of the receptacles in a circuit that don’t have grounds but are protected by an AFCI/GFCI breaker need at least one GFI receptacle in the circuit? 3. Can a whole house surge protector be installed along with AFCI/GFCI breakers? Thanks in advance! 😃

One of the problems with GFCI's is in older houses (mine is 1950) they used really small, shallow box's, just enough to fit a standard toggle switch or outlet (steel must been very expensive back then). All the GFCI's I've seen are like double the size and I could just barely squeeze them in after wiring them up.

Thank you so much for this video. I was wondering, if i swap out 2 prong, non grounded outlets with 3 prong deco style outlets, and the outlets are all on a circuit which has a combo AFCI/GFCI breaker in the panel, will that act as a a ground? Can I add a ground wire from the outlet to the box in order to ground as long as the boxes the outlets are in are metal?

Where can I buy a book on the electricity information and how to use it for wiring products

My house was built in 1948. I’m doing work on it to sell next year. All the receptacles are 2 prong type aside from some that I have replaced with GFCI outlets. Home is very small with a crawl space. Do you think best route to go would be to just run a ground from the panel to the first receptacle in each circuit, then attach a ground to each receptacle to it’s own box? The breaker panel isn’t from 1948, it’s modern with today style breakers. I’m just thinking a bunch of outlets with no equipment ground stickers would turn off potential buyers. Your thoughts?