Question About Grounding Ungrounded Receptacles in an Old House

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JFletcher;1720205.... Also said:
likely to become energized[/B]". I say it's unlikely my fridge/washing machine frames become energized except under a fault condition, an abnormal and unlikely scenario.
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Those words are not in the 2014 NEC. I think the last edition that used those words in that section was the 2005 code.
 
No egc

No egc

What was the first year the nec states that a gfci with no GEC is not up to code for a refrigerator (code cycle) ?
 
domnic said:
What was the first year the nec states that a gfci with no GEC is not up to code for a refrigerator (code cycle) ?
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It's a heck of a lot more than refrigerators.

In short pretty much any appliance or tool with a grounding pin on the plug is required by section 250.114 to be plugged into a receptacle that has an EGC.

I do not know when section 250.114 was put in the code but I strongly suspect that section or one like it has been in place for 30+ years.
 
domnic said:
What was the first year the nec states that a gfci with no GEC is not up to code for a refrigerator (code cycle) ?
don_resqcapt19 said:
It was in 250-45(c) in the 1978 NEC.
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The Code handles this rule in an interesting way. It doesn't talk about the receptacle, or whether there is GFCI protection.

Rather, the Code states that "exposed noncurrent-carrying metal parts of cord and plug connected equipment, . . . , shall be grounded." And then in (c) of 1968 NEC 250-45(c) the residential refrigerator, among others, is listed.

So the requirement that the metal body of the refrigerator be grounded is right at half a century old.

The 1968 NEC has the bar notation, connoting new text, beside the entire passage of 250-45(c) and exception and includes in the list, for residential occupancies, freezers, air conditioners, and clothes-washing, clothes-drying and dish-washing machines, sump pumps and portable, hand held, motor operated tools and appliances of the following types: drills, hedge clippers, lawn mowers, wet scrubbers, sanders and saws.

The exception allows for double insulation schemes to not have a connection to ground.
 
The Great Sarducci said:
Hi,

I'm looking for some clarification on what the NEC permits as far as options to ground receptacles that are inherently ungrounded. I live in a 1941 ranch; which of course is no surprise that all of the original circuits are fed by 2-wire ungrounded romex. Although I may choose to keep some of the receptacles in my house as 2 prong ungrounded type (particularly in areas of the home unlikely to see many modern appliance applications), I do wish to convert the majority of the receptacles in the home to grounded circuits. From my previous experience in residential work; whenever a job called for this we'd usually do one of two things; A) Meet the requirement by installing GFCIs on each ungrounded circuit, or B) If the job was much more involved in updating the wiring in the home; we'd just run new 2-wire w/ ground romex to the circuits in need, and rip out the old wiring.

Now to my question; Is it considered an acceptable option according to the NEC to ground my receptacles by running individual ground wires to each circuit from the main service grounding point (Green THHN/TFFN)? I remember a while back being told by a fellow Journeyman that this was a viable option, but am not seeing anywhere in the NEC that permits it (looks more as if it's prohibited in the code). I found some information about an exception in article 303, but it seems inconclusive. Some have told me its an acceptable option, others have told me its never acceptable to ground circuits this way, and yet some others have told me that although the NEC generally prohibits running ground wires to a circuit in the case where the grounds are not contained in the same cable/raceway as the rest of the circuit, there is an exception provided when the circuit of the old work is unable to be modified without replacing the entire cable, and where this is the only means of grounding. I just need some of your opinions on this, so that I can know once and for all if I should even consider grounding my outlets this way. Rewiring the whole house isn't going to be an option for me at the moment (time & money, etc), and would really rather not resort to having to go with GFCIs everywhere in the house for the simple reasons that A) that's expensive, and B) In my opinion, unless a circuit requires a GFCI, I'd rather not have to deal with using them. To me they just tend to be a pain in the rear sometimes with nuisance tripping, bulkiness, etc.

Sorry if I'm rambling on, but would love to hear what you guys have to say.

Thanks, Ryan
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It's legal but to be honest if you need an egc and you plan on grounding more than a few receptacles you might as well just run new nm from the panel and completely gut the old circuits or leave em alone and run new nm from panel to where needed. As iwire pointed out, basically your labor/aggravation is going to be the same: either way you go you're going to be at least removing devices or boxes (this would also be a good time to invest in those newer deeper boxes too:happyyes:) to easily fish/ splice the new conductors.

The only benefit you might get out of whole deal is the (not that much) cheaper thhn vs. nm- but with nm, you would also get the benefit of fresh new ccc's instead of having to tape or heat shrink crumbling 1941 insulation-imo, no point in trying to retrofit the old stuff to save a few dollars.
 
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