Pete C. wrote:
BETA-33 wrote:
I have a house with 2-wire receptacles. From one of the 2-wire receptacles,
I want to run a line to a new 2-wire receptacle that I am adding. The wire
I have to run the line is 12/2.

The question I have is, "What do I do with the bare ground wire in the 12/2
wire?"

The original 2-wire receptacle box and the new 2-wire receptacle box are
metal. I am assuming that I should NOT connect the bare ground wire to the
metal box on either end.

Is that correct, or am I supposed to attach the bare ground wire to each
metal receptacle box even though I don't know if either box is grounded?

Thanks.

Check to see if the original metal box is grounded. The cheap little
plug in testers will do the job. Depending on the age of the house you
might have the early romex with ground and the metal boxes are grounded,
but ungrounded receptacles were used. If that's the case you can convert
to grounded receptacles with relative ease.
..
The first problem is pluging the tester in when the outlet should be 2
wire. Simple plug in testers can tell you there isn't a ground. They
can't reliably tell you there is a good ground - they test with a very
low current. RBM's idea of a pigtail socket and light bulb is better.

I agree that a GFCI outlet that protects the downstream outlets is a
good idea. Downstream outlets can then be grounded type, even though
they are not grounded. Mark them as in the Mike Holt link.

If there is no ground I would try to avoid attaching the ground wire to
the boxes. If you had an event that makes one box hot they will all
become hot. If you have a GFCI outlet and protected downstream grounded
type outlets all the outlet grounds will be hot. (But the GFCI should
protect you.) The bare ground wire could be insulated with tape.

--
bud--