DIYbanter - View Single Post - Anything wrong with grounding metal conduit to a cold water pipe ina 2-wire house?

Paul Drahn

On 2/6/2014 12:51 PM, wrote:
During a kitchen remodel in my mom's circa 1948 house (post WWII made out of reinforced concrete!) with 2-wire electrical and metal conduit, I mentioned to my brother and nephew that, since it was exposed, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to ground the wiring conduit to a cold water pipe, thereby grounding the entire conduit run and at the very least making grounded outlets work properly.

They reacted in horror saying it could cause a fire or even worse. I said that at least you'd know if you had a short circuit because the breaker would trip and touching something metal wouldn't kill you.

Ok, who's right here?

BTW, he's my older brother so I just let it go.
Best to leave things as they are. We once owned a 1948 house. Part of
the wiring was done backwards so the white was hot and black was common.
Yours could be the same way.

Paul