Outlet grounding

[robushey]

My house is generally not grounded. There are only 2-wire circuits over most of the house. There are some places where a seperate non-insulated wire is attached to some of the metal outlet boxes. How can I find out if this wire is providing a ground connection? If so, is there a way to determine externally (without removing the plugs or switches) if an outlet is grounded?

[John Nelson]

Spend $8 at your home center on an outlet tester, a device that plugs in and has three lamps on it. It's as good as you're probably going to do. It cannot, however, detect bootleg grounds where somebody dangerously interconnected the grounding and neutral wires outside the panel. But there is no simple way to detect that.

Please put your city in the location field of your profile. The rules in this area are very country-specific.

[gilmorrie]

Originally Posted by robushey

is there a way to determine externally (without removing the plugs or switches) if an outlet is grounded?

A receptacle that is ungrounded should have just two slots, not three. Ungrounded, 2-wire receptacles are still available, although they should not be used for new work. So, after you determine which outlets are ungrounded, you may need to replace the receptacle.

GFCIs are available only in three-wire versions. They come with stickers that say "No Equipment Ground," and such a sticker should be afixed to the GFCI cover plate if used in ungrounded circuits.
Doug