On Mon, 10 Jul 2006 15:39:42 -0400, Ari wrote:

We just bought a new house and want to upgrade the electrical system,
some of which was done in the 60's when the house was built. The vast
majority of the electrical outlets have only 2 wires, the ground
terminal is missing.

Some of the outlets are in the basement, where the wiring is partially
accessible however.

Is it legal (according to the electrical code) for me to change the
outlet to a more modern 3 prong type and to obtain a ground from a
nearby copper pipe or from one of the nearby plugs that already have a
3 prong outlet???? I notice the previous owner did this in several
locations, but I need to know if it's legal to obtain a ground in this
manner???

We live in Maine, but belive the National Code is the one that has
jurisdiction.

You should not use the plumbing system as the path-to-ground
for your outlets, no. The simple "solution" is to replace
the receptacles with GFCI outlets, and mark them "no equipment
ground", (which labels ought to come with the recepticles).
This will get you within shouting distance of the same level
of protection.

The complex solution is to run completely new wire.

An intermediate solution is to pull a separate ground
wire, and run it back to your service panel.
If you do that, you want to make sure that no ground
wire serves the devices on more than on circut, and
that each one is big enough to handle the circut it's
on.