Testing my 2-wire home receptacles with a Southwire model 50020S-A

Question

I'm about to put my 1885 Victorian on the market. When I moved in, every receptacle except those in the newly-remodeled kitchen was a "2-prong." There are otherwise no ground wires or armored cable in the house. For convenience, I installed new "3-prong" plugs, ungrounded of course, throughout. I was fully aware of the consequences. (I'm an EE.) I have no doubt that any prospective new owner will have a home inspector come in to check things out. While more of an industrial/factory new build EE, I honestly wasn't aware that replacing the old receptacles with ungrounded 3-prong receptacles broke code. Now I do. I've familiarized myself with NEC 2014, and begun installing AFCI/GFCI breakers in the modern panel. I called Leviton and they sent me a pile of "GFCI Protected" and "No Ground Connected" stickers to place on all of my receptacles. So I think I'm good, right?

On my last trip to Lowe's to get some more breakers, I bought one of those cute little plug-testers -- the one with the GFCI test button -- for about 8 bucks. Yikes! When I plug the tester into any of the receptacles in the circuit for which I've installed the AFCI/GFCI breaker, my initial reading is "Open Ground." (Yay. It works!) But when I press the GFCI test button on the Southwire tester, the AFCI/GFCI breaker does not trip and I get a code for "Hot and Neu Rev." It would seem to me that the Southwire tester's circuitry is attempting to use the ground wire that isn't there to perform this test. Is that true? I remember reading something a while back that the home inspectors' circuit testers don't report GFCI tests properly on 2-wire, ungrounded systems. If that's true, is there a tester that "properly" tests a GFCI on a 2-wire system? (Note: Both the AF and GF test functions work perfectly on the breaker itself.)

I noticed that one of the modern, new-ish GFCIs installed in the updated kitchen also seems to lack a proper ground, and yet when I depress the "test" button on the GFCI it does trip it. But the Southwire's test button does not trip it. Five feet away is a properly-wired GFCI, which reads with my tester that a ground wire is present and this GFCI trips with both its internal "test" button as well as with the test button on the Southwire tester.

In an effort to reduce how many pages long my potential buyer's inspection report will be (peeling exterior paint, ancient furnace, etc.) I'd like to make sure that the wiring is at least up to code standards. If I have to install new 2-prong receptacles, I will, but I'd rather offer something better.

Here are my questions:

1. Is this Southwire model 50020S-A receptacle tester really that bad that it can't trip a GFCI of any kind without a proper ground wire present?

2. If the answer to #1 is yes, is the LED indication that the hot and neutral wires are reversed when I depress the "test" button meaningless?

3. If the answer to #1 is yes, is there a proper receptacle tester that I should be using?

Answer 1

Use the Test Button on the outlet!

"GFCI testers" do indeed rely on a ground to provide a "controlled leak" past the GFCI so that it trips. The test you really need to be doing to test the GFCI protection is pushing the test button on the GFCI itself, as that leaks a bit of current line-hot to load-neutral (or vice versa) and thus trips the GFCI. Also, the indication you get from the testing device when the button is pushed is indeed no good due to that open ground.

Answer 2

One test that will tell you that your receptacles are protected with the breaker is to bleed a bit of current to true ground from a given receptacle; a breaker should trip. An Ideal #61-164 Sure Test with their Ground Continuity Adapter #61-175 will give you the ability to make that test. This tester will prove that a particular two wire circuit with a three wire receptacle is indeed protected by a GFI breaker. It gives you the ability to provide a true ground to the receptacle being tested. FYI these home inspectors get their certification with a 2-week course. Don't expect them to listen to reason.

Answer 3

You need a third path

GFCI devices simply compare the current on the hot wire to the current on the neutral wire. If they are the same, no ground fault. If they are different, it means current is taking a third path potentially through a human being.

Now, take your GFCI circuit tester and put it in a 2-prong cheater, the kind you use to plug a 3-prong plug into a 2-prong socket. This is, electrically, exactly the same as plugging your GFCI tester into an ungrounded 3-prong outlet. Now here's a question for a very smart EE. Where's your third path?

You can't have a ground fault with only 2 wires.

To fix your tester, get 100 feet of wire, anything will do. Run the wire from a known grounded point like your grounding electrode, to the tab on that cheater plug. Now you have a third path, because as you guessed, that GFCI tester leaks current from hot to ground.

Watch out for too-smart testers

The traditional 3-lamp tester is simply 3 neon lights between the 3 pins. Normally on a grounded plug, the hot-neutral and hot-ground lamps light, and the neutral-ground lamp (red) does not.

On your ungrounded outlets, only the hot-neutral lamp should light. However when you push the "test" button, the red neutral-ground lamp is now in series with the test button. No wonder it lights.

However, you may note that the legends on those 3-lamp testers are a bit of a "magic 8-ball". In an effort to fix this, manufacturers added some silicon electronics to some deluxe testers, to try to make the indications more clear. Of course these only get in the way of people who know how to read the lamps directly.

Getting clean with Code

A GFCI receptacle with no ground is not legal and will get written up unless it has a sticker that says the following:

No Equipment Ground

Every GFCI device is sold with a half dozen of these stickers, that's why. 90% of people do not affix them, and the remaining 10%, their partners tear them off because they're ugly.

A plain 3-prong receptacle without a ground will also fail; to be 3-prong, it must be GFCI, and there is no evidence that it is. Code also requires a sticker that says

GFCI Protected

So in most cases you'll be using both stickers. To deal with the "ugly" factor, the stickers can be self-made and don't need to be blue. You can get outlet covers that have this engraved into them, but they're more expensive than I would like. You can use white labeling tape e.g. out of a P-Touch, that looks reasonable on white cover plates.

Answer 4

I like that: (Yay, it works) ;-) Take that for what it is telling you: Confirming that there is no ground.

First, to answer your question directly: GFCI means Ground-Fault Circuit Interrupter - a safety anti-fire hazard instrument.

They are designed to throw a mini-breaker if they detect leakage current on the ground lead, like if a hot wire touches a grounded enclosure inside an appliance or if it gets dropped into a sink.

Thus your pocket tester will not trip a GFCI outlet in a 2-wire system. You MUST have a ground wire for GFCI to function correctly.

Ground leakage is a clear indication that some of the power in an appliance is touching the grounded enclosure or otherwise finding its way to the ground lead.

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Safety Rule #1 about Neutrals: never consider them to be a good ground. They cannot be counted on to provide the same safety protection of a third ground-only lead.

I have seen many situations where the neutral is the wire that comes loose or has some resistance between the appliance and the service panel somewhere and then two-wire appliances will give you a tingle when you touch them since the neutral is bonded to the enclosure. This can happen with refrigerators as well as toasters.

That is why we went to the three-wire system. SAFETY FIRST AND FOREMOST.

2-wire systems are a fire hazard.

My first home was mobile, and I had to not only add grounds but also convert it all to copper. It was much later torn down to make room for housing without having ever burned. I believe a lot of that was because I didn't rely on the resistance-prone chassis to be a part of the ground system. And yes, replacing entire wiring systems is a big job.

But you don't probably need to worry about this.

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Depending on where you live, you most likely aren't "breaking code" by minor changes like outlets, especially in a house of that age.

In most US states there is no requirement to bring a house up to today's code.

Depending on where you live it may be required for major remodels.

A good clue is whether or not your modifications require a building permit.

Also, note that California requires all electrical work to be done by a qualified electrician.

Anybody with half a brain will know that a house of that era is going to be a 2-wire system. You still want to disclose it, and it won't surprise anybody.

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Here is what I think you really want to know:

You do have a duty as a seller to disclose the outlets. You could keep quiet about it and roll the dice and just see what happens in a home inspection.

But that's a bad idea for a lot of reasons. Like if the house burns down a week after the new owner gets it insured.

As they say in real estate: "Disclosure is like voting in Chicago: Do it early and often" As long as you put it on the form, nobody can say you tried to hide the situation by changing the outlets.

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As a buyer I would be looking for indications of foundation or roofing problems anyway. Allaying those concerns up front can help with the sales process. I always paid for my own home inspections before selling. More information helps the potential buyers make a decision more quickly.

Some simple issues (like hot water heater mounting) can be easily fixed by you, then others (like perhaps needing new carpets) can be offered as an allowance to the buyer, included in your asking price, so they can pick what they want. There is no accounting for taste so let the buyer do it themselves, if necessary.

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Selling a house is a lot of fun. Then buying your next can be even better.

Enjoy the process and don't worry about any one thing too much.

Cheers!