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Actually, it was papered over, with the outlet cut out afterwards, I'd say. When I pulled the faceplate screw, it seperated from the wall and made the mess on the baseboard heater.

Ian A.

[This message has been edited by Theelectrikid (edited 03-02-2007).]

I have a 3-wire cord on a Western Electric 500 set which dates from 1962. Red is ring, green is tip, yellow is the ringer return. For a regular single-party line the yellow would have been strapped to green at the terminal block, but for 2-way party service with split ringing the yellow would have been run to a local ground.

I frequently see cover plates that have been decorated with wall paper. Only problem I ever saw was the guy that used Mylar" paper. It is the shiny / silver stuff they use for ballons.
It conducts electricity !!!
Lit up the entire wall in a fast food resturant where they hung a neon sign that didn't have a ground.
One note: A GFI receptacle without a ground will NOT provide surge protection for your computer. Even if you have a surge protector plugged into it. No ground, No protection.
Copper might be expensive but, $1,500 will buy a lot of wire. The ground can be run seperate from the rest of the circuit to any available part of the G.E.system.
Alan--

Alan, I know it won't provide surge protection. Wouldn't help much as it's only a $3.99 power strip.


Try telling that to my father or mother who are too busy doing yard work to worry about the leaky water pipe in my bathroom, or the breaker that kicks everytime I plug an extra computer in for five minutes... I keep telling them to call an electrician, but, hey, Cheaters are 79¢ each, having an electrician install a few new circuits costs $$.

You guys aren't the only ones to deal with this everyday.

Ian (Going to Cobalt Ridge to borrow a bulldozer!) A.

[This message has been edited by Theelectrikid (edited 03-11-2007).]

Wait till your dad's not at home, go to Home Depot or whatever and buy a replacement 2-pin outlet.

Yes, they're still made for replacement use in situations like that. At least it will keep the plug from falling out.

Wait till your dad's not at home, go to Home Depot or whatever

Home Cheapo? Who needs Home Cheapo when there's an Ace Hardware within riding distance of your home?

buy a replacement 2-pin outlet.

Heheh...



Ian A.

(edited to add image to ECN server)

GIT R DONE!!!!!!

I have to say I have NEVER seen a 2-wire device like that brand new!
Those things are just not found here in Canada, and of course people just use a standard U-ground as a replacement, WITHOUT:

1. Blocking the ground slot.
2. Protecting with a GFI.
3. Adding a separate ground.
4. Rewiring completely.

Come to think of it, option #1 is illegal now I THINK.. It used to be legal at one time, but personally if it is a " quick fix" for a rental property or where $$$ and the "wall damage factor" is an issue, option #2 is what gets done, If its not then I would choose option #4 and start from scratch..

A.D

Hahaha....well then Ace works. I just mentioned HD or (B)Lowes because I've always seen them there.

Oddly enough, they're more expensive than the cheeepie 50-cent grounded types, and about the same price as the heavy-duty grounded types.

The two-pin socket is still manufactured and sold here for replacement use ONLY, in cases like Ian's.

I'm pretty sure I also have a couple new ones at home I can send you also *shrug*.

Probably due to production volumes. I'm sure they make a lot more of the grounded type than the ungrounded type, so the cost goes down. Unfortunately, I'm sure that encourages DIYers to use the grounded type even in places where there is no ground.

Brian is absolutely correct. I worked for many years for a major electrical manufacturer. We had hoped to run the new version of these ungrounded residentials on one of the grounded automation lines by making a cover with the ground holes filled in (plus leaving out the ground contacts and the ground screw tab and screw). Very quickly we ran afoul of the NEMA configuration standard. You will notice that the parallel slots on the ungrounded are more toward the center of the duplex profile than the same slots of the grounded. As Brian suggested, the low volume for these ungroundeds as replacement-only made the tooling investments unjustifiable. I had the unhappy task of adjusting the factory costs of these ungroundeds upwards to reflect non-automated assembly.