Grounding outlets is crucial for electrical safety. Faulty two-prong outlets can cause electrocution, but converting them to three-prong models can bypass people and send excess electricity safely into the earth. To ground an outlet, locate the circuit breaker, unscrew the protective plate, attach the hot and neutral wires to the new outlet, connect the green wire to send electric current to the earth, screw the outlet back in place, turn on the circuit breaker, and test with a circuit tester.
Grounding your outlet is an important aspect of safety when dealing with electricity. Grounding ensures that a faulty electrical outlet does not use a person to pass electricity. This problem mostly affects two-prong outlets, and the best method for grounding your outlet is to convert a two-prong outlet to a safer three-prong style. With a few tools and a little careful work, a simple method can create a grounded outlet that is safe and usable by all.
Electricity, by nature, always tries to find the easiest path to reach the Earth. With improper grounding of the outlet, this often passes through people, often leading to shock and electrocution. An electrical grounding makes a connection from the electrical source to the ground and bypasses people, even if the outlet, also commonly referred to as an electrical outlet or socket, is malfunctioning.
The most common place to find an ungrounded outlet is with a two-prong wall outlet. The easiest way to ground your outlet is to replace this outdated outlet with a three-prong self-grounding model. The added third opening is to send all excess electricity safely into the earth.
The first step in outlet grounding is to locate the circuit breaker connected to that particular electrical outlet. This is usually a large metal box with a series of circuit breakers. There will be a switch labeled for that particular room or wall which must first be moved to the “off” position to avoid possible electric shock. Next, a screwdriver would be used to unscrew the protective plate holding the socket in place and the system would be pulled out, revealing its wiring. The wiring connected to the outlet then unscrews so that there are two wires coming from the wall, most likely a red and a white wire.
Next, after purchasing a three-prong outlet, the red wire, also known as the hot wire, needs to be attached to the brass screw on the new outlet. The white wire, or neutral wire, is then attached to the silver screw. The outlet will have a green ground wire hanging from this point. The new socket should come with a matching green screw, or you can purchase one. This green screw is screwed into the back of the outlet box and the green wire must be connected to send electric current to the Earth and not through human hands.
To finish grounding the outlet, the wall outlet must be screwed back into place. After that, the switch in the circuit breaker must be turned to the “on” position. A circuit tester, properly inserted into the prong holes, will ensure that the outlet is properly grounded. If not, the process should be repeated and all work should be double-checked.
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