On Apr 26, 8:41 pm, Stan Brown wrote:
Thu, 26 Apr 2007 09:22:39 -0500 from Chris Hill chill_mapsfree_000
@centurytel.net:

Why? It was safe enough in the past without a ground wire. If you
want more safety, install a gfci and be done with it; if you mark it
"no equipment ground" it might even meet code.

Funnily enough, at my home maintenance class tonight the teacher
happened to mention that grounding is good but GFCI provides similar
protection if grounding is impractical.(*)

A GFCI doesn't provide similar protection to grounding. With
grounding, you could grab a hot wire in one hand, grab the ground with
the other and the circuit will not trip unless you exceed the breaker
rating, 15 amps, 20, etc.. which is several orders of magnitude more
than it takes to kill you. With a GFCI, a few milliamps of current
flow, far less than it takes to kill you, from hot to ground will
trip it. Grounding basicly makes sure that any metal components of a
fixture or 3 pronged appliance will not be at a higher potential than
surrounding metal, like a wall plate or water pipe. But the
protection of a GFCI is far superior. A hair dryer falling into a
sink or bathtub is a classic example of an accident that a GFCI can
save you from, but a grounded outlet will not.






He said if it's not
actually grounded it must be stickered but will then meet code.

That's interesting. I'm not aware of any code reqt to go back and
label existing old non grounded outlets. And I'm sure you can't put
in new ones and pass inspection, with or without a label.




(*) The class is aimed at people who bought existing homes,
especially older homes, so there may be only two-connector wire in
the wals and rewiring would be a considerable expnse.

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com/