On Friday, October 10, 2014 11:31:22 AM UTC-4, TomR wrote:
"John G" wrote in message

...

On Wednesday, October 8, 2014 9:39:45 AM UTC-4, TomR wrote:

This question was posted in another forum by someone that I know and I

thought that I would try posting it here to get some feedback on his

behalf:



He wrote,



"In a house that has ungrounded, 2 prong outlets, with wiring in good

condition, is it acceptable (and allowed by current electrical code) to

run

a separate ground wire from the outlets back to the ground at the panel,

in

order to be able to replace the 2 prong outlets with 3 prong outlets?

Existing wiring is in very good shape."



*Article 250.130(C) in the National Electrical Code gives the options, but

the short answer is yes.



Thanks John and all for your replies. I passed on the information. I had

also mentioned to him that depending on the location of the outlets, it may

be almost just as easy to run new NM wiring to the outlets as it would to

run separate ground wires to the same outlets. And, I mentioned the option

of replacing 2-prong outlets with 3-prong GFCI outlets, without running any

new ground wires etc., as long as the GFCI had a sticker that said "No

equipment ground"



As it turned out, the outlets in question were first floor outlets above an

open ceiling basement. So, he ended up having an electrician just run all

new NM wiring to those outlets on the first floor -- basically because the

electrician said that it would take almost the same amount of effort to do

that as it would to run separate ground wires.

In that situation I would agree, that's the right way to do it. The only reason to run the separate wires and/or use GFCIs is if replacing the cables is prohibitively difficult.

nate