Ground outdoor outlet?

[Clifton T. Sharp Jr.]

actually most all outdoor outlets have to be GFCI according to the
NEC.

What I was getting at was the two-wire circuit on an outdoor outlet. I'm
not sure that NEC allows that, even with a GFCI.

I know I wouldn't want to be holding (for example) a three-wire electric
drill out there during an insulation failure.

The real point was the GFCI does not need the equipment grounding wire
to be safe as it does not use that wire.

See above. The GFCI may not need it, but the hapless holder of a failed
appliance might.

 

[CJT]

What I was getting at was the two-wire circuit on an outdoor outlet. I'm
not sure that NEC allows that, even with a GFCI.

I know I wouldn't want to be holding (for example) a three-wire electric
drill out there during an insulation failure.




See above. The GFCI may not need it, but the hapless holder of a failed
appliance might.

I suppose that depends on whether the GFCI works.

 

[Sam Goldwasser]

See above. The GFCI may not need it, but the hapless holder of a failed
appliance might.

While I agree with you 100%, this statement seems a bit misleading. The
point of the GFCI is that it will trip if you were to touch that failed
appliance and provided a path to ground. It might not be pleasant but
you'd probably still be alive to realize it wasn't terribly pleasant.

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No worries, Mate!


It turns out that the rooms where I was adding the outdoor outlet did have a
3-wire circuit. This extension of the house is newer than the original house,
which has only 2-wire circuits.

So, the ground issue is a non-issue.

But I learned much about GFCI and grounding requirements thanks to all who
contributed here.

I'd recommend retrofitting GFCI outlets at the beginning of all of
your outlet circuits, grounded or not. The only exception would be
for circuits where a nuisance trip might drop power to a fridge.

A GFCI saved my butt. I had reached behind the fridge to shoo our
pet rabbit out and hit the power cord she'd been chewing. I was
standing on concrete barefoot. Everything went black for a split
second and I heard the GFCI pop on the other side of the room. My arm
was aching for about an hour.