Neutral-Ground bonding at receptacle?

C

Craig Hauber

Sophomore
Jan 20, 2011
242
1
18
53
Between Williston ND and Plentywood MT
www.mondaksound.com
Was this code 50 years ago?
IMG_0089.jpeg
All wired with 2-conductor 12ga, but because I've seen it in quite a few buildings around here I was wondering if it was code at one time for 2-prong to 3-prong conversions or something.
Although it could have just been the same "electrician" I guess too.
Wouldn't be an issue on a bar-band stage either as the muso's always break their ground pins off anyways :-)
 
Re: Neutral-Ground bonding at receptacle?

2 conductor to a 3 prong was never code.
A Neutral to Safety Ground jumper was never code.
2 conductor to a 2 prong was OK.
2 conductor to a 3 prong with the Safety Ground to a water pipe was sometimes OK.

A good solution for 2 conductor (no ground) is a GFCI receptacle (with safety label). They are now available in a small form factor to fit into old boxes.
 
Re: Neutral-Ground bonding at receptacle?

Just imagine what will happen to someone holding a grounded appliance plugged into that outlet if somehow the neutral gets disconnected somewhere between that (illegally) hot-rodded outlet and the service entrance.

Hint - its easier to work out if you draw a diagram...
 
Re: Neutral-Ground bonding at receptacle?

Kevin Graf said:
2 conductor to a 3 prong with the Safety Ground to a water pipe was sometimes OK.
Click to expand...

As far as I knew, as long as the receptacle was grounded to the box and the box was grounded by some means (MC, BX, or pipe), then it was kosher. That's what those fancy ground-screw pigtails are for.

Even those 2 to 3-prong adapters are intended to be grounded to the plate screw.
 
Re: Neutral-Ground bonding at receptacle?

Silas Pradetto said:
As far as I knew, as long as the receptacle was grounded to the box and the box was grounded by some means (MC, BX, or pipe), then it was kosher.
[******}
Click to expand...

Very true. The Safety Ground (EGC) did not/does not always need to be an individual wire.

The big but is: Some of these systems were tricky to install correctly. Then years later the 3 bulb ground testers came out. So all kinds of dangerous hacks were done on the systems to make the tester look good.
 
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Re: Neutral-Ground bonding at receptacle?

It's illegal, immoral and fattening. You find this done to fool the little 3 bulb neon light outlet testers.

Mike Sokol has a long thread about these kinds of practices.
 
Re: Neutral-Ground bonding at receptacle?

The little 3 bulb neon light outlet testers do NOT check for Neutral & Safety Ground swaps! So stay alert.

Also some of the older wiring systems had undersized Safety Ground (EGC) connections or wires.
 


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