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I would like to know if that could of caused any potential damage to the electronics in the house that are on different circuit breakers in the breaker panel. All the rooms in my house have properly grounded outlets except for one I just discovered where the grounding wasn't working properly. That one room has two desktop computers, computer networking equipment that are all plugged into a surge protector. So far all my electronics turn on fine. Since the room isn't grounded properly I am concerned if outlet accident would have caused any damage to the equipment in that room.
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I have no electrical background so if any certified electrician could answer my questions I would greatly appreciate it. While I was testing a power outlet, the live wire side of the outlet touched the metal boxing and some sparks flew and knocked out the power for the entire house. Both the breaker for the outlet and the main breaker were tripped.
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After resetting both the breakers I got the power back up. I would like to know if that could of caused any potential damage to the electronics in the house that are on different circuit breakers in the breaker panel. All the rooms in my house have properly grounded outlets except for one I just discovered where the grounding wasn't working properly. That one room has two desktop computers, computer networking equipment that are all plugged into a surge protector. So far all my electronics turn on fine. Since the room isn't grounded properly I am concerned if outlet accident would have caused any damage to the equipment in that room. I have no electrical background so if any certified electrician could answer my questions I would greatly appreciate it.
Actually the computers were off at the time but the modem, router and switch are on 24/7. Not sure being powered off makes a difference as they are connected to the outlets through a power surge protector however the room they are in have outlets where the grounding that isn't working.I turned off the power and checked the wiring in the room with malfunctioning grounding, the outlets have the ground wires connected tightly and the ground cable is connected at the breaker panel end as well. I have no idea why it stopped working. Welcome to the Community!My concern at this point is that you have a room full of electronic equipment that has no ground. Without a good ground, a surge protector cannot operate properly.
If it is just that room, then you should be able to follow the circuit that supplies that room to the next junction box/outlet/switch outside that room leading back to the breaker box. Somewhere along the line ground continuity was lost, and it should be a simple matter to fix.By the way, an easy method to keep outlet screws and wires from touching metal electrical boxes is to wrap electrical tape around the outlet once the wires have been installed.Chris. I have the power surge bar plugged into another room with working grounding via power extension cord after I found out the grounding stopped working. It was actually the screws on the right side of the outlet that touched the metal boxing while I was checking how the wiring looked on a grounded outlet. As for the room with no working grounding, I can only check the outlet itself and the ground wire connection to the breaker panel itself, they are all connected tightly, I am unable trace the whole power wiring completely as they are behind dry wall. To me it seems rather odd that I get perfect power to the outlets and since the ground wire is in the middle of the power cables, so something damaging only the ground wire in the power cabling is unlikely. Thanks Chris,I have the power surge bar plugged into another room with working grounding via power extension cord after I found out the grounding stopped working.
It was actually the screws on the right side of the outlet that touched the metal boxing while I was checking how the wiring looked on a grounded outlet. As for the room with no working grounding, I can only check the outlet itself and the ground wire connection to the breaker panel itself, they are all connected tightly, I am unable trace the whole power wiring completely as they are behind dry wall. To me it seems rather odd that I get perfect power to the outlets and since the ground wire is in the middle of the power cables, so something damaging only the ground wire in the power cabling is unlikely. Is there anyway to test if the ground wire is working from the breaker panel end to the outlets?
If the hot and neutral wires were reversed would that cause the grounding to stop working? If you have a bad ground only at the outlet(s) in one room, then it is reasonable to assume the room is at the end of a circuit. Cut power at the breaker panel to that room, and look for other outlets and lights that also do not work. These items will be ahead of your bad ground in the circuit. Starting at the nearest physical location to your bad ground, remove the cover plate and switch/outlet. There should be a ground both coming and going at that point. You are correct that having a ground wire go bad in the middle of a cable is almost unheard of.
It is the continuity of connections that is missing here. If you have a bad ground only at the outlet(s) in one room, then it is reasonable to assume the room is at the end of a circuit. Cut power at the breaker panel to that room, and look for other outlets and lights that also do not work. These items will be ahead of your bad ground in the circuit.
Starting at the nearest physical location to your bad ground, remove the cover plate and switch/outlet. There should be a ground both coming and going at that point. You are correct that having a ground wire go bad in the middle of a cable is almost unheard of. It is the continuity of connections that is missing here.
I am not sure how you are testing your outlets for ground, but a simple outlet tester like the one shown below will indicate good or bad grounds, as well as reversed polarity. The effect of reversing hot and neutral wires can vary from sparks flying and breakers tripping to nothing noticeable at all, depending on where it is done and what else is connected. This will not impact grounding though.
If you find reversed polarity by all means fix it asap.Testers: LINKIf you are not comfortable working inside your electrical boxes, I highly recommend that you have a qualified electrician take care of this for you. For them this will be a routine fix.Chris. I have been testing my outlet grounding by plugging in a new surge protector I just bought, it has a led that turns green if the grounding is working. I have used it in all my other rooms and it shows working grounding and an older surge protector I have been using also says the same thing. The room has 5 outlets and none of them have working grounding and all 5 outlets are on one circuit with nothing else connected to it, the wiring of the circuit goes directly to the breaker panel. The lighting in that room is on a separate circuit which has working grounding. I have checked all 5 outlets and made sure the grounding cable is connected properly to the ground connector on each outlet. If reversed polarity doesn't effect grounding then I have no idea what's causing it at this point.
I tried searching for an outlet tester on the Canadian Home Depot website but I am unable to find any.
GFCI Devices
Most of my customers that visit our Electrical department know well what circuit breakers and surge protectors do, but often ask about the more specialized protective devices. GFCI and AFCI are lesser known but offer very important electrical protection in your home.
Ground fault circuit interrupters are designed primarily to protect you from getting an electrical shock. A ground fault is an unintentional electrical path from power to ground. Typically used as receptacles, GFCI protection can also be installed as a specialized circuit breaker. The picture above shows GFCI outlets with their characteristic test and reset buttons. Under normal conditions, there will be a balance between the current running through the hot side of a circuit and the neutral side. A GFCI monitors this balance and will trip when a mismatch of as little as 4 or 5 milliamps occurs, shutting off power in a fraction of a second. How can a mismatch occur? Wet conditions or broken down wire insulation are 2 common ways. Use a power drill outside in the rain and it is quite possible that current will find a way to run into your hand and through your body to the earth, (ground). Since that power is not being returned on the neutral side of the circuit, the GFCI will quickly shut off power and protect you from harm. These devices are typically required by code in potentially wet locations such as kitchens, bathrooms, outdoor areas, basements and garages.
One other use for GFCI outlets is to upgrade older 2 prong ungrounded outlets to 3 prong grounded outlets. When a ground does not exist, these devices provide a safer alternative to using 3 prong adapters. Labels marked “No Equipment Ground” are usually supplied with the GFCI outlets and should be applied to it and any downstream outlets. Obviously it is better to properly provide a ground for these circuits, but this is one acceptable way to improve the safety of these old electrical systems. Note that a GFCI does not need a ground in order to work properly. It senses the difference in amperage between those 2 prongs and shuts down when it finds a difference.
How does a GFCI protect downstream outlets? If you connect the wiring so that outlets further down the circuit have their power pass through the GFCI then they will be protected as well. All GFCI receptacles have terminals marked “Line In” and “Load”. Power comes in through the “Line In” side, and the wires going out to downstream receptacles attach to the “Load” terminals. You can run up to 4 additional outlets off that “Load” side.
AFCI Breakers
AFCI, (Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters), have been around since the late 1980s and became widely marketed in the late 1990s. These devices are typically special circuit breakers that detect harmful arcing on a given circuit. The trick is that it is normal for switches, motors and other loads to produce arcs in the circuit when used as intended. To design a breaker that can distinguish normal from harmful has been no easy task. Since 2002 when the National Electrical Code required new homes to be protected by AFCIs in bedrooms, newer editions of the code have gradually increased the number of circuits required to be arc fault protected.
How do these devices work? AFCI breakers need to have the neutral line pass through them so that they can discriminate arcing hot-to-neutral vs. hot-to-ground. Unique current sensing circuitry monitors electrical activity and de-energizes the circuit when unwanted arcing occurs. Arcs that stay in the circuit are controlled much less aggressively than arc faults to ground. This is one way they minimize what is called “nuisance tripping”. Notice in the picture above the white coil of wire. That white wire goes to the neutral bus, and the white neutral that normally does not go through a circuit breaker is then attached to the AFCI. Arcs to ground can trip the AFCI at low amperage levels, while arcs to neutral are allowed to a much greater degree. The whole point is to prevent fires from starting when electrical faults occur that would not normally trip a simple circuit breaker. Even a 15 amp circuit can create fire producing heat levels without tripping a breaker. Think of electric heaters before they had tip over protection as an example.
On occasion I have had customers ask me if it’s OK to replace a frequently tripping AFCI with a “regular” circuit breaker. I always tell them not to do this. It is most likely that the circuit is tripping due to wiring issues that used to be common but no longer should be. An example of this would be two circuits sharing a common neutral. Other options would be where the neutral wire is unintentionally also grounded at an appliance or receptacle. Finding these issues can take a bit of sleuthing, but it is worth doing in the long run.
Chris
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