How do I tell if an outlet is grounded?

[enipla]

@Crafter_Man

The problem is that the circuit analyzer is three-prong, and Opal’s receptacles are two-prong.

The best advice is to simply use a voltmeter or neon bulb thingy. (See my original post.)

oops. Yep.

[Valgard]

@Crafter_Man

The problem is that the circuit analyzer is three-prong, and Opal’s receptacles are two-prong.

The best advice is to simply use a voltmeter or neon bulb thingy. (See my original post.)

“Neon bulb thingy” AKA an electrical circuit tester, here’s a pic:

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/rm_safety_electrical/article/0,1797,HGTV_3792_1394744,00.html

I have a multimeter but when I’m doing electrical work around the house I keep a circuit tester, a 3-prong outlet analyzer and a continuity tester in my toolbag. Total price for all three is about $10-15. IMHO it’s a great combination, in part because there are no dials, switches, settings, etc. Many hardware stores will have all three packaged together along with a Romex stripper.

OpalCat, the circuit tester is just two wire probes coming out of a plastic handle, with a little bulb in the handle. You touch the probes to two conductors (say, the hot and neutral slots of an outlet) and if current is flowing, the bulb lights up. Simple. Completely testing an outlet will work the same way as Crafter_Man’s first post only instead of watching for a reading on the ohmmeter you just look for the light to come on. For a properly grounded outlet you should see current flowing when you test (hot & ground) and (hot & neutral) and no current for (neutral & ground).

[Crafter_Man]

Unless I encounter a very weird problem, I prefer the neon bulb “circuit tester” (or an old-fashioned analog voltmeter) vs. a digital voltmeter when troubleshooting home electrical problems. The reason? A digital voltmeter has very high input impedance. It thus has the capability of measuring a voltage with fairly high series impedance. This can be a problem, as it will sometimes indicate voltages that “aren’t really there.” (Technically speaking, the voltage is there, but it goes to almost zero volts when a reasonable amount of current is drawn.)

[Rick]

@Crafter_Man

The problem is that the circuit analyzer is three-prong, and Opal’s receptacles are two-prong.

The best advice is to simply use a voltmeter or neon bulb thingy. (See my original post.)

buy a three wire adaptor, scew the ground lead under the mounting screw for the face plate and plug in the circuit analyzer. In 1 second you will know if the hot/nuetral is correct or reversed, and if you ground is good.

[Crafter_Man]

@Rick

buy a three wire adaptor, scew the ground lead under the mounting screw for the face plate and plug in the circuit analyzer. In 1 second you will know if the hot/nuetral is correct or reversed, and if you ground is good.

Yea, that’ll work, too. A minor nitpick, though: if there’s no earth ground at the outlet, the tester will not be able to determine if the outlet is wired in reverse.

If there’s no earth ground at the outlet, and you want to be able to determine (via an electrical measurement) if the outlet is wired in reverse, you’ll need to somehow connect one lead from your voltmeter to earth ground. This is when a spool of wire comes in handy.

[Valgard]

@Crafter_Man

Yea, that’ll work, too. A minor nitpick, though: if there’s no earth ground at the outlet, the tester will not be able to determine if the outlet is wired in reverse.

If there’s no earth ground at the outlet, and you want to be able to determine (via an electrical measurement) if the outlet is wired in reverse, you’ll need to somehow connect one lead from your voltmeter to earth ground. This is when a spool of wire comes in handy.

Or a nice long extension cord, with a three-prong plug at the end. Plug it into a known good grounded outlet and haul the other end over to wherever you need a ground for testing purposes. Then you can quickly check hot-ground and neutral-ground with your circuit tester.