older home without ground wires

[Skinned]

the home was built in the late 1950's, no ground wires that i have noticed. A four foot two tube fluorescent fixture finally gave up in my laundry room. It was probably about 30 years old. It had a ballast that was not grounded. I am thinking of replacing it with a four foot LED fixture from one of the big box stores. Just wondering if it will function okay without a ground. Instructions for most of them indicate they must be grounded.

 

[Snoonyb]

It should operate just fine.

You may have a path to ground that you are unaware of, in that the wiring may be in metallic flex with metal boxes or there may have been an 18ga. conductor, in the romex, bonded to the metal boxes which has been obscured by plaster

 

[nealtw]

It should operate just fine.

You may have a path to ground that you are unaware of, in that the wiring may be in metallic flex with metal boxes or there may have been an 18ga. conductor, in the romex, bonded to the metal boxes which has been obscured by plaster

It would still work with out ground????

 

[Snoonyb]

Like most fixtures the grnd is for the protection of the "casual observer" when the fixture needs to be re-lamped, in 20 or 30 years.

 

[jeffmattero76]

The ground does absolutely nothing, it carries no current, unless and until there is a fault, like a hot wire touching a piece of metal on a fixture. When that happens to a grounded fixture, it will immediately trip the breaker or blow the fuse.

 

[bud16415]

If your home wiring is still vintage 1950’s and unchanged there are a few things you should think about changing from a safety viewpoint.


Your laundry room light fixture change over should be no problem as posted above.


Your kitchen, bathrooms, laundry room, garage / basement and outdoor outlets should be GFCI protected at minimum IMO.


They are not that expensive and not to hard to do as a DIY project as long as you understand basis home wiring procedures and concepts. They don’t all need to be replaced if they chained together one feeding the next only the first one need be changed over.


Doing this will not bring your home totally up to code but will go a long way to make it safer for you and your family.

 

[Johnboy555]

It's easy to check if boxes are grounded, use a tester and check from hot to box. If tester reads current then you can run a ground wire to the box. If there isn't a threaded hole, or one that you can use a sheet metal screw in drill a hole that you can use .TURN OFF POWER FIRST !

 

[Johnboy555]

Also , if boxes are grounded you can use 3 hole outlets as they ground through the mounting screws. Much safer for the rest of the house .

 

[WyrTwister]

Some electronics expect an earth ground . They may work without one .

Three hole outlet . Have not heard of a receptacle refered to that way . Have heard of a three hole outhouse .

Wyr
God bless

 

[jeffmattero76]

It's easy to check if boxes are grounded, use a tester and check from hot to box. If tester reads current then you can run a ground wire to the box. If there isn't a threaded hole, or one that you can use a sheet metal screw in drill a hole that you can use .TURN OFF POWER FIRST !

Correct me if I am wrong, but, if testing from hot to box reads current, you ALREADY have a ground, and there is no reason to run another ground wire.

 

[WyrTwister]

In that case , yes you already have a ground . Unles , some hack has done somethingwrong .

Wyr
God bless

 

[Snoonyb]

Correct me if I am wrong, but, if testing from hot to box reads current, you ALREADY have a ground, and there is no reason to run another ground wire.

You are not reading current, you would be reading voltage.

 

[jeffmattero76]

Obviously, you are correct. I was simply responding to johnnyboy''s wording.

Thanks.

You are not reading current, you would be reading voltage.

 

[Snoonyb]

It was a point of clarification, and while you can measure current with a VOM, there are limits, and it's not a general practice because of those limits.

 

[JoeD]

Reading voltage to metal box does mean it is properly ground by code. There metal jacketed cables that give a ground voltage reading but they are considered legal grounds.

 

[Eddie_T]

Some electronics expect an earth ground . They may work without one .

Not sure why any electronics might require an earth ground, maybe the ground wire rather than the grounded conductor for noise reasons.

 

[bud16415]

Not sure why any electronics might require an earth ground, maybe the ground wire rather than the grounded conductor for noise reasons.

https://www.audioholics.com/home-theater-connection/ground-loops-eliminating-system-hum-and-buzz

maybe?