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I'm a DIYer swapping out existing switches/receptacles for a different color. I ran across a light switch that had ground wired to neutral instead of the ground connection on the switch. This doesn't make any sense to me but I'm not a pro so maybe I'm missing something?

In Ohio, maybe something in the code here that allows it under certain circumstances? Internet Search is failing me so thought I'd ask.

PS: Duplex receptacle a few feet away has the neutrals cut with tips electrical taped, and ground connected to the neutral terminal. (ಠ_ಠ Confidence in the correctness of the wiring in this area is not very high)

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    Does disconnecting the grounding wires at the receptacle in question cause whatever's controlled by the switch to stop working?
    – ThreePhaseEel
    Commented Dec 26, 2020 at 22:22
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    I get the feeling that someone has erroneously tried to send the neutral from the switch to the outlet via the ground wire. A photo of the inside of the outlet box would help. I think BOTH boxes need to be addressed before the power is restored to the circuit.
    – Alaska Man
    Commented Dec 26, 2020 at 23:33
  • Makes one wonder how the panel is wired.
    – Jim Stewart
    Commented Dec 27, 2020 at 12:47
  • Yeah, so it turned out to be a hack as a result of an improperly installed wire nut on neutrals a few segments back and the neutral wasn't making contact.... They just tied ground to neutral after that point instead of troubleshooting it and fixing it properly... sigh ಠ_ಠ Thx for the feedback tho! Looks like we're good now.
    – hcoverlambda
    Commented Dec 28, 2020 at 1:39

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Nope. Get the ground wire outta there! (out of the neutral splice). There should be a ground wire from the bottom of the switch hooked on a green ground screw and tied to the ground(s) in the box, nutted with a green nut. The neutral splice should only consist of neutral wires and the ground wires should all be tied together with a green nut. Wire colors can't be mixed in most cases.

Would like to know if home was recently built before the postscript question?

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  • Ok, thx!! So finally tracked down the root problem, a few segments back someone didn't wire nut the neutrals properly and one wasn't making contact. So instead of troubleshooting it and fixing it properly, they just tied ground to neutral after that point..... ಠ_ಠ It's a house built in '99 so not that old but there is A LOT of shoddy post construction work done on this place (like using painters caulk to seal the shower instead of silicone.... ಠ_ಠ). Anyways, looks like I'm good now, thx!
    – hcoverlambda
    Commented Dec 28, 2020 at 1:36

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