Any Electricians Out There??

[cooltone]

I moved into my house a year ago and my refigerator is plugged into a two prong outlet (via a three prong adapter). We want to buy a new fridge and replace the 2 prong outlet.

From what I understand, I can replace the existing two prong outlet with a GFCI outlet even though there is no existing third (ground) wire present. Is this correct?
(BTW, there is no other place for my fridge to go..it's a very small kitchen..)

Also, will the on/off operation of the refrigerator keep tripping the breaker on that kind of outlet?

[FenderBoy]

Get yourself a Home Wiring book that'll tell you how to ground this change.


You can't have a grounded outlet that's not grounded. Simple as that.
Using a GFI without having the ground wire grounded will still result in a open ground.

[rudutch]

In Michigan, you can change a 2 wire 115V 'old style' outlet with a GFCI outlet and be NEC compliant. HOWEVER, I do NOT recommend doing this with a 'fridge, freezer or sump pump. GFCI's will trip at 4-6ma, the last thing you need when coming home from a long weekend is to find out everything you have in your 'fridge has been at room temperature for who knows how long becuase the outlet 'nusiance' tripped

Depending on where your panel / fusebox is in proximity to your fridge and how difficult the install is, you should be able to have a licenced electrician run a new wire (3 conductor) and install a new 3 wire outlet.

This is really the only 'proper' way to do this (imho)

[skywriter900]

best thing to do is run a dedicated 12/3 wire under the house to feed the 3 prong things then ground it to your breaker box......, i had to do that so the surge protectors for my puters would work.....................................I couldnt even plug a 3 wire amp in in my living room without running an ext cord to the kitchen.........now I have 2 dedicated grounded 2 outlet boxes run off a 20 amp breaker........nuthin fancy, but it saves a lot of hassle..and i think my puters are safer

[frank thomson]

12/3 wire?.......why 12/3?

12/2 wire can accomplish the same thing. Black; hot. White; neutral. Copper/bare; gorund. .......3 wires is all you need. The funny thing is that the neutral, and the ground wire, is attached to the exact same bar in the fuse box.

(fwiw, 12/3 wire is for when you wanna bring 2 hot wires to a location w/o running 2 wires.....or when you're running a 220 line.)

[rudutch]

NEC Art 406.3 - D
"where grounding does not exist in the receptacle enclosure..
(b) shall be permitted to be replaced with a ground fault... The receptacle shall be marked "no equipment ground"

[FenderBoy]

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME.

Dr. Electro-Ician says:
"Attach a wire to the ground screw on the GFI and then run that wire to the water pipe under the sink and attach it there. Hiding the wire is not necessary and you could hang your drying laundry on it if you suspend it from the ceiling. The exposed wire on the floor will also give your dog or child something to play with and chew on. And, leaving it plainly visible will give your home that wonderful Appalachian Cabin look that's now so in vogue."

[skywriter900]

im sorry i meant 12 2............hey i was half asleep