My terminology might not be correct. Bare with me.

My house was built in 1960. According to
an electrician I had that did some work for me , He said the wiring was
grounded to the back of the metal boxes.

I have changed out many outlets but have never run into this situation
before

I decided to change out the double switches near my front door. One
switch is for the outside light and the other goes to an outlet on the
wall . Where you can plug
in a light and switch it on from from the wall switch and bottom part of
the outlet is just a regular plug.

Problem

When I took the switches out to replace with new. I found two grounding
wires twisted together not attached to the box.
There are 2 separate cables coming into the box. It was obvious which
grounding wire came from each cable , w/ blk, white and ground. I
untwisted the grounds and
attached the grounding wire to the green grounding screw for each
switch.

Did I do the right thng?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Pat

If the ground wires were tied together and not attached to the metal
box and not attached to the ground screw on the outlet then you've got
a problem.

Go to Home Depot or your local hardware store and get one of those
little outlet testers for $4. You plug it into an outlet and it shows
you what, if anything, is wrong. It'll tell you when it's been
miswired, open ground, etc. That's the best way to be sure.

Mike

"Pat" wrote in message
...
My terminology might not be correct. Bare with me.

My house was built in 1960. According to
an electrician I had that did some work for me , He said the wiring
was
grounded to the back of the metal boxes.

I have changed out many outlets but have never run into this
situation
before

I decided to change out the double switches near my front door. One
switch is for the outside light and the other goes to an outlet on
the
wall . Where you can plug
in a light and switch it on from from the wall switch and bottom
part of
the outlet is just a regular plug.

Problem

When I took the switches out to replace with new. I found two
grounding
wires twisted together not attached to the box.
There are 2 separate cables coming into the box. It was obvious
which
grounding wire came from each cable , w/ blk, white and ground. I
untwisted the grounds and
attached the grounding wire to the green grounding screw for each
switch.

Did I do the right thng?

Twist the two ground wires and a short pigtail together and wirenut.
Connect the other end of the pigtail to the box using a screw.

"Rick" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Pat" wrote in message
...
My terminology might not be correct. Bare with me.

My house was built in 1960. According to
an electrician I had that did some work for me , He said the
wiring
was
grounded to the back of the metal boxes.

I have changed out many outlets but have never run into this
situation
before

I decided to change out the double switches near my front door.
One
switch is for the outside light and the other goes to an outlet
on
the
wall . Where you can plug
in a light and switch it on from from the wall switch and bottom
part of
the outlet is just a regular plug.

Problem

When I took the switches out to replace with new. I found two
grounding
wires twisted together not attached to the box.
There are 2 separate cables coming into the box. It was obvious
which
grounding wire came from each cable , w/ blk, white and ground. I
untwisted the grounds and
attached the grounding wire to the green grounding screw for each
switch.

Did I do the right thng?

Twist the two ground wires and a short pigtail together and wirenut.
Connect the other end of the pigtail to the box using a screw.


Should have added-unless things have changed, it's permissible to use
the switch mounting screws as the grounding means for the switches in
your case (metal box). I'm sure someone will correct me if this is no
longer the case.

"Pat" wrote in message
...
My terminology might not be correct. Bare with me.

My house was built in 1960. According to
an electrician I had that did some work for me , He said the
wiring was
grounded to the back of the metal boxes.

I have changed out many outlets but have never run into this
situation
before

I decided to change out the double switches near my front door.
One
switch is for the outside light and the other goes to an outlet
on the
wall . Where you can plug
in a light and switch it on from from the wall switch and bottom
part of
the outlet is just a regular plug.

Problem

When I took the switches out to replace with new. I found two
grounding
wires twisted together not attached to the box.
There are 2 separate cables coming into the box. It was obvious
which
grounding wire came from each cable , w/ blk, white and ground. I
untwisted the grounds and
attached the grounding wire to the green grounding screw for each
switch.

Did I do the right thng?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Pat





=== Yup, you did.
Please quit posting in html; use Text-only mode.

"Pop" wrote in message
...

=== Yup, you did.


250-148 (in part):Where more than one equipment grounding conductor
enters a box, all such conductors shall be spliced or joined within
the box or to the box with devices suitable for the use...the
arrangement of grounding connections shall be such that the
disconnection or the removal of a receptacle, fixture, or other device
fed from the box will not interfere with or interrupt the grounding
continuity.

250-148 (a): A connection shall be made between the one or more
equipment grounding conductors and a metal box by means of a grounding
screw that shall be used for no other purpose or a listed grounding
device.

Well since I put each grounding wire to the green screw on each switch.
The switch that goes to the outside won't turn on the light.

what I noticed is that the box for some reason does not have a screw to
fasten a pigtail. All the rest in the house do.

what now. Is it safe what I did? And why would the outside light not
work. The outlet in the wall where the one switch regulates does.

Pat

Oops sorry it does light. it is a motion light. But is it safe what I
did?

Thanks for your help, I've learned a lot by reading all you
posts.everyday.

Pat

Pat wrote:

Oops sorry it does light. it is a motion light. But is it safe what I
did?

Are all the grounds connected directly together or not? Are these two
single switches or a duplex switch shaped like a duplex receptacle
(outlet)? All ground wires on the one ground screw of a duplex switch? Or
two individual switches with ground wires from the light or receptical
connected to the ground screw of its respective switch? And then where is
the incoming ground connected?

If something ever happened where current had to flow on the ground wire
(say a short circuit to ground in the light, the controlled receptacle or
something plugged into the receptacle) would that current coming down the
ground wire have to get to ground by coming off the ground screw on the
switch, go through the body of the switch, then to the junction box by way
of the switch mounting screws, then to the incoming ground line whereever
it's connected? If something like that is the case then it's not right.

No, it is not safe. You have interrupted the ground circuit to the lights
and/or some other part of your wiring. Twist the wires back together along
with one end of another long piece of wire. Install a wirenut on the three
wire ends. Connect the new wire to the box and to the green screw on both
switches. On the box and one switch, just loop the wire around the screws
without cutting it so you can connect all three with one wire. Be careful.
Don Young
wrote in message
...
Oops sorry it does light. it is a motion light. But is it safe what I
did?

Thanks for your help, I've learned a lot by reading all you
posts.everyday.

Pat




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Fri, 16 Dec 2005 17:51:09 -0500, (Pat) wrote:

You ask if what you did is safe, but it's not clear what you did. Did
you change things to match the instructions of everyone here (except
the guy who said Yep)? If you did what they said, you're safe, but
then you ask again so I'm not sure you did what they said. And I
can't tell from teh sentence below.

Well since I put each grounding wire to the green screw on each switch.

Did you put one wire to each switch, or both wires to each swtich?

The switch that goes to the outside won't turn on the light.

D


what I noticed is that the box for some reason does not have a screw to
fasten a pigtail. All the rest in the house do.

what now. Is it safe what I did? And why would the outside light not
work. The outlet in the wall where the one switch regulates does.

Pat


Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.

Ok! there are 2 cables coming into the box. One for each switch. both
have a blk, white and a bare ground wire.

One switch on and off is for the outside light the other switch is for
a outlet on the wall. top part of outet must be wired to the one
switch. Because if you plug a lamp into it you can turn it on and off
with the switch. the bottom part of the outlet is not effected by the
wall switch.

When I went to replace the both switches, neither old switches had a
green ground screw, The ground wires from both cables were twisted
together hanging loose in the box. And there is NO screw inside the box
to attach he ground wires. So I untwisted the wires and put them on each
green ground screw on the new switches. It was obvious which cable went
to which switch.

Never had a problem before and this house is 45 years old. But never
seen 2 ground wires twisted together like that and just loosly put in
an electrical box.

Now what should I do . I cut one of the ground wires shorter to put on
green ground screw.

Pat

"Pat" wrote in message
...
Well since I put each grounding wire to the green screw on each
switch.
The switch that goes to the outside won't turn on the light.

what I noticed is that the box for some reason does not have a screw
to
fasten a pigtail. All the rest in the house do.


That's why the stores have packs of pretty green grounding screws.
Generally, they aren't supplied with the box...


I guess there's a possibility they aren't connected to any ground wire
at the other end of the runs so they were just left hanging out
there....

On Sat, 17 Dec 2005 16:59:12 GMT, "Rick" wrote:


"Pat" wrote in message
...
Well since I put each grounding wire to the green screw on each
switch.
The switch that goes to the outside won't turn on the light.

what I noticed is that the box for some reason does not have a screw
to
fasten a pigtail. All the rest in the house do.


That's why the stores have packs of pretty green grounding screws.
Generally, they aren't supplied with the box...

Silly me. I took it to mean there was no screw and no screw hole
either. You didn't make that mistake.

A screw hole is as good as a screw for someone with extra screws or a
place to get them..


I guess there's a possibility they aren't connected to any ground wire
at the other end of the runs so they were just left hanging out
there....



Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.