this DIY HACK can KILL YOU

[@bri1779]

I admire Leah so much. I'm the "maintenance girl" at a low income housing non-profit and the videos from this channel have helped immensely with helping me help people. Thank you for extending this care by teaching the world how to be a safer place.

[@globman3]

Maybe you should go to school to learn on not rely on KZbin for "safety"

[@wyattspop]

Doing repairs in an NPO low-income housing place? Thank you for making the world a better place

[@lzh3131]

Bless you for adding to you’re job description. Leah is great😊

[@henryskinner1092]

Me too.

[@minacapella8319]

You're an amazing person for taking the time to really explain these things in such a layman's terms sort of way for everyone, with a tone that isn't snarky or condescending. You have such a gentle way to teach.

[@MarkLawry]

There is one more code requirement when adding a gfci recepticle to a two wire system. You need to affix the sticker that says "No Equipment Ground." This means that the third prong is not grounded to protect the equipment even though the gfci will help protect you.

[@robertl.fallin7062]

@G Rossi $30.00 + each! But you won't find'em due to the shortage of everything !

[@Sembazuru]

I never liked those "No Equipment Ground" stickers. They are really only useful for the inspectors checking the work right after it is done. The average user isn't going to know what it means and the safety implications, and I don't trust those labels to not fall off or "accidentally" get removed when someone is cleaning. Better to do it properly than to rely on a sticker.

[@johndorian4078]

@@Sembazuru define "properly" There's nothing improper about using GFCI they are still safer than 2 prong

[@Sembazuru]

@@johndorian4078 It might be better to have a plug to fill the ground hole. If there is a ground hole, one expects it to be functional. As I already mentioned, those stickers are useless. They'll fall off, and will confuse the lay person before they fall off.

[@BigGuy8059]

A two-wired GFCI IS completely safe: It just does not supply a true ground for radios and such that really want a ground for reception purposes. If your neutral wire breaks, any current that flows from the hot side through you to a cold water pipe, etc. will trip the GFCI breaker to protect you. GFCIs trip when the hot-side current is different from the neutral-side. One bummer though is that you need to replace every outlet with a GFCI, on a circuit where ever you want a three prong outlet. You can't just put a GFCI on the first outlet and protect every outlet down the line, because it's illegal to run a ground wire without replacing all with proper grounded Romex.

[@TornadoChickWeatherNetwork]

Leah, you are a lifesaver!! My landlord just put in a 3 prong outlet last week for the a/c (the building is very old) and i am going to ask him to pull out the outlet and show me the full ground and NO bootleg. FYI all the rest of the outlets in the apt are 2 PRONG. Never would have known this had it not been for your excellent video! THANK YOU.

[@WarPigstheHun]

Did you leave and or sue him for violating code/trying to kill you?

[@Charlotte_TSilva]

Very true. When I restored my mom’s 100 year old house & upgraded all the electrical wiring & plumbing to modern standards, the electricians pointed that out to me. Thank you for these videos that save lives & property. God bless you, Jane. Much love from Texas.❤️

[@justinchandler4226]

I always love your channel, thank you for all your great content. I’m a home inspector in an area where 90% of homes were built before 1970. We have several flippers that cut corners all over the place and this is one, that unfortunately, we butt heads on all the time. I may share your video with them to help reinforce the danger this poses. Thank you for another well produced informative video. Keep up the great work!

[@lzh3131]

I watch Leah before I do something stupid. But I have witnessed people doing stupid electrical hacks. I’m replacing a couple of outdoor outlets & covers. Just watched this to keep me on my toes. I’m glad you’re keeping those rogue flippers in check!😊

[@GoodlyEarth]

Leah, I would say this is one of the best videos that can be made about "bootleg" grounding. Not only do your videos educate they can save money and lives!! Thank you for all you do.

[@seejanedrill]

Thanks my friend!

[@rha995]

Kudos and Thank you so much for all your informative instructional videos. You are AWESOME! Keep doing what you do.

[@brucebear1]

Yes, you're right about the problem and you explain it very well. You may save someone from a bad shock or a fire. Thank you, Leah.

[@SomeOtherMikey]

Not just bootleg, but any grounding video period. This was the most concise, easy-to-follow explanation of hot/neutral/ground I've come across. It's such a simple concept, I don't know why so many videos try to make it more complicated than it needs to be.

[@brucebear1]

@@SomeOtherMikey Yes! And while it's a simple concept, it's a danger that someone will jump to the conclusion that it's a "simple fix" for a wiring proble. It's a simple fix but it's an attractive but dangerous one. Good information and education is needed to stop this dangerous reaction.

[@ParadoxPerspective]

You are one of the best practical educators in a generation. You've been making videos now for years. Thank you for contributing so much to so many.

[@archivist17]

Lethal! As a former electrician, I cannot fathom why anyone could be so tight as to cut this corner. Thanks, Leah. You've probably saved some injuries and possibly lives too with this.

[@hsbrooks]

You’ve never seen house flippers at work

[@Dark-watch]

Landlords are famous for doing this sneaky behaviour. They buy several homes split them up into apartments and they cut corners like this to save a buck I see it all the time.

[@oobaka1967]

Really? Customer wants to plug in a three pronged appliance. Calls a scumbag who claims to be a qualified electrician. Scumbag quotes them a price of a few grand to install new receptacles with grounding wires. They do this hack and pocket a lot more cash than they would doing the actual job. So many scumbags out there.

[@mawizard6341]

My grandparents had a home that was knob and tube. After they met there makers we had to sell the house. Growing up I thought it weird that they where so afraid of thunderstorms and using anything that needed power while. Well. When we went to sell the house I found out why. The microwave and various other things had 3 prong outlets and the ground wasn't even connected. Obviously you can't sell a house that's a death trap. I mean. Maybe you could fake it like this but it took quite a bit of money to get it all sorted. Well worth it. The couple that bought it had young kids. If we had done something this stupid not sure I'd ever sleep again. Any outlet that's near water needs to have a GFCI with pepper ground. Leah is right. You don't need it until you about to die.

[@mawizard6341]

@John Verne Running ground can get expensive. Especially with old walls and knob and tube. Is it worth it? Hands down yes. Personally when we build our own house running 12 and 5 volt dc lines for almost everything. Maybe 48 volt dc for USBC PD? That might be overkill but it's future proof.

[@yepisaidit100x]

Leah, I love to watch your videos because they are always informative but I mostly watch them because you always seem to cheer me up when I’m feeling down. Thanks for sharing!

[@lzh3131]

Me, too😊

[@adamjamro23]

If no one said it yet I'll say it, I love you for your time and effort to educate the public. Thank you 😊

[@beatorres6871]

I second that emotion ❤️

[@swone6349]

And I 186 that emotion! ☺️

[@kenbrown2808]

more specifically, a GFCI is approved to allow grounding type receptacles on an ungrounded circuit - because it looks for problems by comparing the power going out to the power coming back, so it can shut off a problem without the ground wire.

[@TheTheo58]

I have friends who own a home their wiring is largely un-grounded as to the existing interior wiring. There are two GFCI outlets in the kitchen on the countertop. On the same branch circuit along with a garbage disposal and D/W. I am looking to find a way (by the code) to add a new 20A 120V under the sink for the disposal and D/W and remove the outlet. The GFCI is a good idea since it monitors the amount of current going in/out an increase would indicate a fault and cause it to trip.

[@kenbrown2808]

@@TheTheo58 best would always be if you can get new wires in, of course.optimum would be two new 20 amp countertop circuits and two 15 amp circuits for the DW&disposal

[@leadoff5411]

@@kenbrown2808 NEC 210.23 (a) (2).... with new dish washers and disposals you should easily be able to bring both the dw and disposal in on one arc/ gfi protected circuit. (This is in the U.S.) saves a circuit pull and breaker! Edit: in on one 20a circuit i meant

[@kenbrown2808]

@@leadoff5411 that section only applies when you are combining fixed appliances with non fixed appliances, or with general lighting loads. also, depending on jurisdiction, some states have chosen to exclude the requirement for AFCI protection in kitchens, so check state codes before you commit. also, the average dishwasher draws 10 amps, and a 1HP disposal draws just over 6 amps. that means your total combined circuit load for disposal AND dishwasher is 16.3+ 1.5 for a total of 17.8 amps. you can get away with that, but it's still optimal for them each to have their own circuit. which is why some states have decided it's better to not require AFCIs in kitchens and reduce the likelihood of cheapskate electricians overloading circuits.

[@leadoff5411]

@@kenbrown2808 I disagree but will refer to my code book and get back to you this evening. Its very possible I'm incorrect but would like to check myself and get back to you.

[@ryandavis7593]

I found a j box in my attic the other day. It was filled to about 140 percent. To make appear correct they stabbed another box on top of the protruding wires. The hots and neutrals were correct but there was no ground going to the breaker box. I carefully found the breakers for everything going through this box and removed it. I then replaced it with a proper box with a proper cover and ran a separate ground wire. The whole mess scared me and made me shudder. That is saying a lot as I am a master locomotive electrician. Our rules are different but no less stringent. Great work. Greetings from the high plains of Texas.

[@michaelbradley7529]

There are approved extension boxes available to increase the capacity of an existing box. Nothing wrong with your fix, and the best thing you did was provide a proper ground.

[@ryandavis7593]

@@michaelbradley7529 Thank you for the compliment.

[@xsbiggy6349]

Thank you Leah. As an electrician who takes his work seriously, I have had too many instances of following behind "diy'rs" or even Hack-ticians that have done this and way worse. Currently on a commercial job and during today's demo found scores of code violations and blatantly unsafe practices left behind by the hackticians who had worked on the place previously. The cost of saving a few bucks by hiring a buddy who's put in a receptacle versus hiring a qualified and motivated Electrician is literally the difference between a burned down house or loss of life.

[@jorgeramirez5736]

I would ask her what is the material of the cloth insulation on the 2 wire system she was moving in the box made of. She was breathing it in for at least 5 minutes to explain what has going on with the false ground. Or better yet do you know what it is made of?

[@roscoep.coltraine6344]

@@jorgeramirez5736 Asbestos?

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

TBH, it's probably a case of a little bit of knowledge is worse than none. If you have no knowledge at all, you aren't likely to consider connecting them as ground and neutral have different words and different colors, so they'd be different. If you know that they both go to ground eventually, then idea of connecting them at the socket might pop into their head. But, unless you're trying to replace a 2 prong socket with a 3 prong one and lack the knowledge of how to properly handle that, you're not likely to try to do it.

[@MatthewDeVries]

I'd argue that hack is actually more difficult than most of the correct ways of dealing with an ungrounded outlet, like replacing with a GFCI/AFCI Outlet. You're going to the store to get a replacement outlet anyway, they're one spot over.

[@seejanedrill]

I agree.

[@farstrider79]

Adding a GFCI is a lot more expensive though.

[@MatthewDeVries]

@@farstrider79 1 GFCI/AFCI outlet can protect all the outlets in the room, so you're buying 10 builder's grade cheap outlets and one that's 30% more expensive to not have to worry and to be in code. When it's that easy you're just applying the hack at that point because you want to hurt someone.

[@MrBilld75]

@@MatthewDeVries Yeah, I see your point and I actually did that. I had a GFCI already in my kitchen in my old apartment. But I wanted an extra outlet in the bathroom directly behind it, as the bathroom only had one at the opposite end, not near the sink and mirror. Both have to be GCFI because they both are within 3 feet of a water source. And I realized, that I did not have to have a GFCI in the bathroom for the new one, as it was on the same circuit as the kitchen one and it was a cheap and easy alternative and safe and within code. The only difference is you have to go into the kitchen to reset it if it trips but it is still GFCI protected.

[@farstrider79]

@@DocXango I'm not arguing that you shouldn't do it correctly, I'm saying why people don't.

[@boss350z5]

The fools motto: Everything will be fine, as long as nothing goes wrong...

[@lorrainevillano3797]

Reminds me of a hotel stay a while ago. Around midnight, I awakened and to my dismay, the outlet on the wall was spewing increasing amounts of acrid smoke and an orange glow was coming from its box. As the breakers were distant, I quickly removed the plate and outlet and cut the supply line. Turned out there was a wiring fault, likely from overcurrent from previous guests electric heaters, which had damaged the other outlets in the room and the wiring. Add in all were daisy chained via the outlet bus strip - through the break off tab, a miracle that the place didn't burn down! No, evacuation wasn't an option, insufficient attire...

[@skywolfx76]

wise words

[@spvillano]

@@skywolfx76 the wise words are concepts paid for by the blood of others.

[@markgallagher1376]

I love your seatbelt analogy. Spot on. It’s amazing at the hack work you find in older houses. I have seen a lot of things that make you wonder how the house didn’t burn down.

[@MrJeffcoley1]

My aunt and uncle lived in a very old house. When they remodeled it in the 1980s they found the old wiring had become so hot it scorched the framing all over the house. It’s amazing the place didn’t burn down, and the only reason it didn’t is because the home was made with old growth lumber that was very dense and hard to kindle.

[@kungfutzu3779]

or like if your car breaks down in the desert & you have to tramp to the nearest oasis so you take your car door with you so you can wind down the window when you get hot

[@elijahwatson8119]

I was helping my father in law fix some electrical issues in a circuit in a rental house he bought. It started with knob and tube, and was then tied into aluminum(!!) and then tied into copper romex. I'm amazed that house hadn't burnt down. It got entirely rewired, if you're wondering.

[@tinnagigja3723]

It's like plugging the belt in before you get into the car to stop the seatbelt reminder beeping, and then sitting on top of it while driving. At a wall.

[@kungfutzu3779]

@@tinnagigja3723 that beeping is really annoying.

[@GUYJO1969]

When electricity goes to ground it doesn’t go to earth ground, but back to the service ground (neutral). The ground rod is bonded to the neutral bar in the main panel however, but that is more for making the earth around the panel the same potential as the service neutral. I can go more in detail if anyone is interested.

[@svensplooge9961]

Damn you sounding like my dad haha. He gets too damn fancy with his words and will confuse the shit outta u

[@ryanpierson220]

i was going to say something like this as well, wouldn't this be alright as the neutral and ground are basically connected to each other just the wires its self are split apart, the boot leg ground and real ground would do the same thing, when the hots shorted to the neutral, boot leg ground or ground it will draw more and more amps to the point the braker pops

[@markchidester6239]

@@ryanpierson220 the problem is the location of the connection. It needs to happen in the breaker box. In the event of the use of a sub panel, the connection needs to happen in the main panel. Reason being, the ground should not carry current.

[@GUYJO1969]

@@ryanpierson220 No sir it is dangerous to wire a receptacle that way cause voltage and current and actually travel back on the ground back to the appliance. The easiest thing to do is to install a gfci receptacle, you will still show an open ground, but the gfci will keep any voltage or current from going back to the appliance.

[@GUYJO1969]

@@svensplooge9961 Nothing fancy about my words sir. I’ve just being doing this for 30 plus years and use trade terms. I just want people to understand the difference is all.

[@Beenthere2xs]

New subscriber here! I love the analogy and how you explain things. Also the inflection in your voice is excellent! You are a really impactful and effective communicator. Keep up the great work you do and thank you!

[@catawissa2weinhold579]

Ground rods don’t actually save people from the misplaced power. Just as the power leaves the panel and returns to the panel minus whatever power was consumed. The power in to the panel is returned to the transformer, then substation, then generator. The ground is a redundancy to give a return path that is less resistive then people. Electricity always follows every available path so any time you get between the hot side and a return path your a part of the circuit and get shocked. In fact ground rods that are added at locations other then a panel increase the change of shock to people rather then preventing it. In fact I’ve been shocked by walking between 2 light poles. One had a broken neutral. The ground was providing the return path and everything appears to be working fine and normal except that a ground rod had been added thinking it would help with lightning protection. When it rained and there was lots of ground water, I got shocked Walking between the two lights because the ground rods were providing a path into the water. Where it traveled about 50 feet to the ground rod at the next light post. Grounding does clear faults but “faults” can have a far different electrical meaning then simply a broken wire. That gets pretty deep into the weeds electrical theory real quick.

[@Eric-xh9ee]

Yeah I was about to say the same thing. Electrical engineer here. I worked as an intern for a consulting firm and it's against code to use grounding rods rather than sending power to a transformer although you see it because many electricians don't understand it. I do quantum computing now.

[@Ender_Wiggin]

I was also coming here to say this. There are a lot of misconceptions of how the ground wire adds to safety. The gournd wire is just there to make a fault a bad one so that the circuit breaker trips. Turns a high impendce path (human) to a low impedance path (wire). Therefor drawing enough current to trigger the CB. Just like an open neural wire can kill you so can an open gournd wire. I don't see much of a distinction here. The thing you should be very careful of is to make sure the neural wire and hot wire are not swapped. That is what will kill you due to being energized where it should not be. A device that has an open neural does not make it inherently able to kill you. You still have to poke your finger into the device where the hot wire is coming in.

[@Matt-kr2es]

Thank you for the clarification. I was just about to add one. People, including those that claim too, really don’t understand grounding or what the ground rod is really used for. The basic information in the video is correct but the technical information is inaccurate.

[@phoenixx5092]

Most houses i've seen in Australia pair up the neutral and the ground. You have a block in the meter board where all the ground wires return to terminate, and it goes to a ground rod.... but it also bridges to the other block where all the neutral wires terminate as well. Electrically they are interchangeable, but the extra ground wire is an extra safety redundancy for various reasons. On older active ground chasis appliances like old radios it "grounds" the metal, making it in theory safe to touch, older houses don't even shield their ground wire. In newer appliances it gives you the safe overload path if the neutral is defective, and on rcd's it gives a point of reference to cut corners to cheaply test the continuity if the neutral compared to the ground, and if a variation is found cut the power quickly and safely before someone touches it. I imagine there are other reasons and advantages too, but I am not trained in such things. Tho i notice oddly that the 3 phase into my shop has only 3 actives and no neutral back to the pole, it appears to use ground/neutral back to earth for that purpose. My house has 2 phase but 3 wires to the pole, and 1 to ground. I believe in the USA the nifty breaker boards they use there can bridge 2 phases to facilitate a hacky 240 volt supply too. While Australia seems to have rather less elegant wiring in our fuse boxes.

[@Eric-xh9ee]

@@phoenixx5092 your house is single phase. 2 phase would be 180 out of phase which would cause destructive interference and you would get no signal. A three phase in a wye connect has 4 wires (3 hot+ 1 neutral). Three-phase in a delta connection has only 3 hot wires then you pull an extra ground wires for both arrangements

[@godz2928]

Thank you… i feel like home while listening to your voice… i grew up with my grandma and both my grandma are gone now so thanks for the warm voice

[@SGray44444]

Great topic! A few other thoughts on this... By definition, a NEUTRAL conductor is a GROUNDED, current-carrying conductor. This means that it is intended to complete the circuit and deliver power, but it is at ground potential, literally (as you noted in the video) connected to a rod driven into the ground, and at close potential to the house, the people, etc. The Neutral and ground conductors should be tied in one spot at the main panel, and never at the outlet. This is how the "hack" fools the meter. What can happen under load is that the potential of the neutral can elevate due to a voltage being dropped across the wire, which has resistance. By ohms law, current times resistance equals voltage, so you can get a measurable voltage ACROSS the neutral wire under heavy load. When using a sub-panel, for example in a garage, it is not correct to use a separate grounding rod. The Ground is supposed to run back to the main panel and tie in to the ground point that has the main ground rod connection. What can happen if there are multiple ground rods is, during a lightning strike, the ground currents can cause different potentials between your grounding rods and create a high current in the ground wire connection between the 2 panels. This is dangerous and could cause a fire. The safety GROUND wire is NOT intended to carry current, except under fault conditions, and so will always be at ground potential. Any short from the hot to the neutral or safety ground wire will be a fault condition and create maximum current, tripping the breaker. Electronics with 3-prong line cords often rely on the safety ground wire for not only the chassis safety connection, but also as a drain point to let electrical noise and static electricity "drain" to ground, eliminating it from the system and preventing component failure or malfunction. This would be radio frequency noise, for example. You can actually have 2 hot conductors without a neutral (not in the US at 115V, only with 230V outlets). If you ever see black tape on a white conductor, it likely has been marked as HOT, so be aware, and be careful. Treat it as a hot wire. The household power system in the US is actually a single split phase 230V. The genius in the system is that it is literally a 230V transformer, with the center tap (the exact center potential of the 230V winding that powers your house), grounded. This means that neither leg of the phase exceeds 115V, when compared to ground, which is the potential we are at. This improves the safety of the system, although 115V still does have enough potential to kill you. It is versatile also, as you can take the circuit from both ends (each bus bar on the breaker box- double breakers) of the transformer for 230V (this would be the condition mentioned above for having 2 hot wires), or use the center-tap neutral wire to either side of the transformer for 115V. Pretty cool.

[@TobyD43]

You did a great job expanding on the issue.

[@edwardritchotte3458]

Fantastic explanation!

[@truthsmiles]

As I understand it, you’re still supposed to drive ground rods (2 of them, 6 feet apart) when you have a subpanel in a separate structure. You still use a 4 wire feeder and don’t bond neutral and ground in the panel, but redundant ground rods are required.

[@stevesether]

@@truthsmiles I believe you're correct according to the NEC.

[@surfin4him]

Excellent explanation, thank you.

[@chanreka]

This is great information and as an interior designer I wasn't even aware that someone could create such a work around. I will definitely keep that in mind moving forward with clients in older homes. Thank you ☺️

[@raven4k998]

now you know just to watch out for this cause it can trick you into thinking everything fine till you get a short and then all hell breaks loose

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

The limit of such idiocy is pretty much non-existent. For nearly a century my parent's home had one knob and tube circuit that literally went all the way around the house, rather tha the hot and neutral wires following the same path back to the box. Then there were the random splices in to other circuits, it's amazing that the house hadn't burned down in the decades before they bought the place.

[@Gary_007]

Great video Leah!! I've seen all kinds of shady bootleg stuff in my time. In my house the receptacles were recessed in the wall with no box. They were wired with 18/2 lamp cord and twisted around the knob and tube wiring and wrapped with friction tape. I re-wired the whole house before I moved in.

[@MrTBoneMalone]

Thank you for making this one Leah! People are always trying to cheat the system and this is definitely one shortcut that shouldn't be made.

[@frank480]

Actually, the equipment grounding conductor helps to prevent electric shock by providing a low impedance path from bonded material to the electrical source. As to create an overcurrent fault and trip the circuit breaker. The grounding electrode (ground rods) provides a path to the earth to help dissipate overvoltages such as lightning strikes.

[@jorgeramirez5736]

She will not know this because she is not a Electrican. Most people believe what she is saying and do not know what the ground rod is for.

[@deeharper1364]

@@jorgeramirez5736 That is not what she is saying though.....

[@zm6301]

Yeah but the bootleg and grounding rods are two separate aspects of the grounding system. The bootleg is no different from the bonded connection at the panel but the neutral is also the ground conductor in case of a short to chassis on an appliance to provide the overcurrent and trip the breaker. The ground rods wouldn't come into play in that situation. The problem with the video is that everyone thinks the "ground is fake" or it's an automatic death trap and it really isn't if it's done correctly, some places still allow it for certain situations. The problem is that if it's not done correctly then yes, it most definitely is deadly. For me this is one of those things to keep in your back pocket for an SHTF situation.

[@Eric-xh9ee]

Many electricians I don't think know this. It's frustrating dealing with electricians and arguing with them over this stuff as an EE. Then I'm just like "hey, it's against code" although you see code violations everywhere. It's scary but luckily today, things are overengineered

[@code3responsevideos872]

@@Eric-xh9ee “Electrons are NOT trying to go to GROUND” - Mike Holt 😂

[@jasongoestospace8415]

Wow that is scary that people actually do this.

[@tybo09]

You should see some of the electrical work the previous homeowner (an electrician) did in my house. A lot of "wow... really?" At least I know not to hire him to do any work at my house.

[@Robert-ug5hx]

My house was built in 1903, I have been slowly redoing and upgrading plumbing, electrical, it is unbelievable the 5hings that have been done over the decades

[@jamielittle2628]

4p6.

[@jamielittle2628]

6 7

[@glasslinger]

It's not as scary as you make it out to be. If you know what is going on it is completely safe. But most people don't know what is going on. Therein lies the problem.

[@fluffytuff]

Leah, please do more of these videos for those of us that have NO idea what we are doing! I learned a LOT by your video, even by you explaining how the paths of electricity flow. Thank you and keep it up!

[@ajkleipass]

This scares me. I used to live in an old apartment building with aluminum wiring and glass fuses. I'm honestly not sure if it was grounded (mixture of two and three prong outlets on the same circuit), but the AC needed an adapter to fit the three-prongs into the two-prong outlet. Some tenants had paid to have their service updated, but the building's super would just use copper pigtails to connect the aluminum wire to copper only outlets / switches. Gotta love folks who put profit over proper maintenance!

[@seejanedrill]

Wow, that's scary!

[@lucash1980]

Nothing safer than operational GLASS FUSES. Fuses are safer than breakers in every way except the user error. Idiots bypass the fuse or put fuses of an amperage higher than the wiring can handle. I once saw a loose fuse that arced and melted its socket, but again, it was user error-LOOSE! Also nothing safer than a GFCI outlet. You can install them in any location, especially with older 2-wire systems without a ground wire and they work great in possibly wet/damp locations with and without a ground. They are nice to have when working outside with corded power tools. There is a nice sticker in the GFCI retail box that says NO EQUIPMENT GROUND that you can stick on the outlet. The inspector will like that. Electrical supply outlets are cheaper than the Home Despot. Buy a bunch, install the GFCI on the first outlet in a series, it protects everything down the line. Next to the breakers, write a note for the next electrician/homeowner of WHERE THE GFCIs are located!!! If there is a problem, start there FIRST!! AFCI (arc fault) has so many nuisance trips/ false positives (especially with older equipment, like vacuum cleaners with sliding switches) that people will ultimately/eventually/stupidly bypass the protection. There is NO excuse for a bootleg ground. PERIOD. Pig-tail those old wires to the outlet with some new Romex, you don't want to be bending and twisting that old wire insulation...chances are they are super-short wires too, anyhow. Pigtail old aluminum wire too with the proper copper-aluminium connectors. If the insulation is old and cracking, you're looking at a re-wire job. Cheapos just run new wire back to the nearest fixed point/staple (where it hasn't been moved/bent around), but FFS, just run a new wire back to the box and SLEEP at night. Love you Leah, keep pumping out those videos. Young people in the world need you. It's not rocket science or brain surgery, but you do need to THINK a little, ask the right questions, stop to look before you leap, and you CAN do this. Right to Repair is a movement to empower people to fix their own stuff (or choose who they want to repair it). You might laugh if I tell you that car companies want to sell and install the gas in your car, but they will make it a law if you let them. If you want to change your oil or replace your brake pads or change a light switch or replace a faucet, people already say "hire a professional" and it is so sad that they lack the confidence, knowledge, and/or empowerment to do these things themselves. I understand paying someone when you don't have the time, but that's different from giving up all personal ownership and responsibility--and rights--to fix it yourself. Fixing builds character and perspective. It is also better for the environment than our throwaway society. Keep learning, keep fighting the good fight.

[@Ressy66]

@@lucash1980 spot on , probably the same everywhere, dangerously in Australia in years gone by (even now, still popular in older suburbs) the 'ol wire fuses, when they blew, you get the card of wire, and wind it around two posts - I've seen idiots stick NAILS in there to stop the blowing rather than get a sparky out to add another circuit or fix whatever is always wrong. I do telecomms and data, before we enter roof spaces power must be off, but if I see that nail hack, I walk away

[@andrebartels1690]

@@Ressy66 it's always better to walk away than to be carried away.

[@Ressy66]

@@andrebartels1690 for sure :)

[@surferdude642]

My house was built in 1950 with 2 prong outlets throughout, but not knob and tube. Just 2 wire fabric style cables. I'm not an electrician, but I noticed ground wires on a ground bus bar at the main panel. I then realized that these bare wire's are connected to the back of each box in the house. They are all metal and I verified that all boxes are grounded. I am well aware of this tactic known as bootleg grounding from educating myself about residential wiring. I changed the receptacles to 3 prong and GFCI's where required. Fortunately, there were no bootleg grounds.

[@patriciaitalia]

Even though I would never do it, I'm glad I can now tell other people why they shouldn't do it. Thanks, Leah!

[@davidwooden4175]

As an electrician, and something I have done on remodels with knob and tube wiring, something that was mentioned at the end of the video. If it is not possible to update the wire in the walls from knob and tube, install a GFCI without connecting the ground. With this method when the GFCI detects a surge to the ground, it will trip even though the current does not travel to the ground it still protects the device plugged in and anyone touching the device.

[@A.M.Independent.Consultant]

Yeah...nope sticking to what I know......not messing with any electricity... Thank u for sharing this....hope they listen.... U stay safe out there❤

[@ramblinman7153]

It's not that bad.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

TBH, chances are that even if you do come into contact with a live wire, that you're going to be fine. The reason why we're careful is that there's a substantial risk that you won't. An electrician working at a neighboring building died when he got hit with an unexpected 400 volts. It wasn't the shock that was fatal, it was hitting his head when he was thrown from the ladder that was fatal. If he hadn't hit his head, he probably would have been fine. We take precautions when working with wires because it's possible that something bad will happen, not because it's a certainty. If you do take the appropriate precautions to prevent being shocked, you'll be fine. But, the household currents aren't that bad, I've been shocked a few times by poorly insulated gear, and it's not even hurt. Obviously, if I saw damage to the gear, I wouldn't have used it and I repaired or replaced it afterwards as appropriate.

[@radius.indrawan]

Thank you, Leah. I'm a person who has very limited experience about house mains electricity, and this video you made, educates me so well. God bless you.

[@patthesoundguy]

This video will save lives. The ground rod is only for lightening and static discharge. The equipment grounding conductor is there in the case of a fault it creates a low impedance (Easy) path back to the source, in that case the panel. And it causes loop and in turn an overload for the breaker to trip and clear the fault. You can run a hot wire to a ground rod and it will not trip a breaker. What can also happen with a bootleg ground is it can put voltage where it's not supposed to be, and could cause issues with some sensitive electronics.

[@BrightBlueJim]

Not really. The neutral wire is actually a lower-impedance path, since it is almost always a larger-gauge wire than the ground. The ground rod is not just for static discharge; it ensures that leakage current in the pole transformer doesn't end up as high voltage at your outlets. The ONLY thing a separate ground wire protects you from is a neutral wire that isn't connected. In the US, the neutral wire is connected to ground - a ground rod, that is - at the breaker panel. So technically, that bootleg ground IS grounded. It's just that the separate ground wire provides a redundant path to ground.

[@LKHolik]

Leah, I have seen your videos from time to time, and never really paid close attention,…and because of this receptacle video, …Im a believer With the videos you put out, You are…THE BEST! You cover details so precisely. (along with the way you edit),..again,…you ARE excellent in your explanation of how things are done. Thank You so much.

[@Hrothgar13]

Didn't even know this existed! You're amazing Leah! I just changed all the receptacles in my house as well. Saw some interesting-creative wiring in the drop ceiling but luckily none of this. Thanks again for all the excellent information you give out!!

[@donwolverton6222]

Absolutely love the way you explained this to us. You took your time to explain it. So we could understand what you explaining. With out talking down to us, and making us feel stupid. Then you went on to tell a proper way ti wire the plug. Great video, I always enjoy your videos so good.

[@seejanedrill]

Thanks Don

[@Milosz_Ostrow]

(1:22) You don't have to go all the way back to knob and tube wiring. I grew up in a house that was built in 1958 with two-conductor fabric-wrapped Romex cables, so no earth ground was available anywhere in the house. All the outlets were two-prong, although we replaced a few with grounding outlets, but left the ground contact unconnected. This was for convenience in plugging in devices with a ground prong on the plug without having to use an adapter. Since the floors were all hardwood, chances of getting an electric shock were negligible and we never had any problems. Strictly speaking, though, it did not meet NEC requirements.

[@gtb81.]

yeah we do that a lot, simply for convenience, though i would rather have left the two prong outlets in.

[@marlenalinne7958]

Good morning, Leah. You're my hero and I look forward to every one of your videos. I know enough about plumbing to fix the basic plumbing problems, but the electrical stuff, not so much, so they're especially valuable to me. Plumbing can get messy but electrical can be deadly. While my house doesn't have knob and tube wiring, I know what it is and this video is excellent in explaining it. You're outstanding at explaining things in everyday language that's easy to understand and I love it. Keep up the good work and I'll stay tuned.

[@jonathanw5629]

Years back when I was remodeling my house, I discovered the cob job somebody prior to me did with the electrical when I found a bootleg ground. I don't know how long it was like that or how the previous owner(s) got away with it, but it turned into a full stop and all electrical was redone 100%. Knob and tube tied into copper, copper tied into aluminum, and about half the outlets bootlegged, if they were even grounded. I don't scare easily, but that's the kind of stuff that scares me. Glad you made this video to bring attention to it. I'm sure there are quite a few people out there that don't know this is a no no

[@tombirkland]

This is a fantastic video! When we bought our house in North Carolina over a decade ago, the owner of the house tried to respond to my concerns with the older wiring by "upgrading" the two-wire circuits by sticking in "grounded" three-wire outlets. I don't know if they false grounded them, but it was really obvious that this was sketchy, and we made him return the wiring to the proper two-wire outlets. Later, we had an electrician properly ground the outlets. This is a great explanation of why this bootleg ground is so dangerous.

[@JenkinsStevenD]

Good video, Leah. Electrical engineer here. GFCI installation on a 2 wire works fine and is allowable per the NEC. The test function won't work though. The GFCI works by using "hall effect" sensors that compare the current on the line and the current on the neutral. If they differ by more than about 5mA then it opens the circuit (shuts the outlet off). The reason the test feature won't work is because when you hit the "test" button, it normally pushes >5mA through the ground conductor which causes that >5mA differential between the line and neutral which then trips the GFCI into being open...but if you have no ground conductor, then there is nowhere for the current to go except through the neutral still so the test feature doesn't work.

[@seejanedrill]

Thanks for taking the time to explain how it works, much appreciated!

[@QueenGail]

I have no idea what you are saying, But between you and Leah I'm buying GFCI outlets for the remaining outlets I haven't changed out.

[@kenbrown2808]

on most of them, the test button on the GFCI will work, but a plug in tester won't trip the GFCI. every even remotely modern one I've worked with tests by bypassing the neutral sensor.

[@kenbrown2808]

@@QueenGail remember if you have multiple outlets fed like a daisy chain, you only need a GFCI in the first one, and it also protects everything downstream. or you can buy GFCI breakers if you have a panel that accepts the common modern breaker types. sometimes that's a little more work because you have to move the neutral to the GFCI breaker, but it will protect the ENTIRE circuit.

[@dickgenitalia1506]

@@kenbrown2808 Only if they’re wired in series. If they are parallel wired it will only work on the GFCI outlet.

[@jgriffingarcia1623]

I had no idea about this. I just shared this to my Facebook and Twitter because I have a feeling that many people need this information as well. Thank you very much, Leah.

[@MarcGray1990]

I’m no electrician but I work on houses day in day out in the UK and it’s really interesting to see just how different your electrics are in the US. We have super strict regulations over here and I presume you have similar high standard regs. Just fittings and terminology on your side of the pond is totally different. For example I’m guessing your “ground” wire is our earthed wire… denoted by a green and yellow sleeve on it. Live is brown and neutral is blue… 👍 take care Marc 🇬🇧

[@kdawson020279]

Our standards are typically those in some year's publication of the National Fire Protection Association Publication 70, the National Electric Code. Wall outlets are typically serviced by 2 or 3 insulated conductors [120V hot + neutral/240V 2 hot legs and 240V 2 hot legs + a neutral respectively] with a bare wire ground. Wet locations require ground fault circuit interruptor [GFCI] protection and more recently certain rooms are required to have arc fault circuit interruptors [AFCI]. It's very particular. The breakdown happens when people make shortcuts to save money or materials in situations where inspection is not mandatory such as in one's own home or work not requiring a permit performed poorly. You have to realize that the United States is a place where the Consumer Products Safety Commission banned the sale of gigantic darts [draughts] with plastic fins and a sharp metal tip to be thrown across the lawn in an arc much like the game of horseshoes except deadlier, and up until recently there were people coming up with ways to evade the ban on imports since manufacture is illegal here as well. A feeling of personal liberty to do extremely dumb things for fun or profit at the expense of personal safety even when sober is a quintessential American pastime.

[@Mr.Pop0]

The problem over here is that we're so big and spread out they cant possibly oversee what's going on. People do remodels all the time and never pull a permit so you find a lot of hack jobs from house flippers that don't wanna spend the money on a permit or even worse an electrician.

[@kdawson020279]

@@Mr.Pop0 I live in the rural part of one of the only counties in Kansas with the money to care whether or not you follow code and the only permit I have ever had to pull was for the new roof from the hail damage because it required a code upgrade. There's a lot of counties here where head of livestock outnumbers people by orders of magnitude. They barely have the budget to have roads. Population density tends to correlate strongly with code enforcement [and corruption sadly].

[@jonofham6658]

@@kdawson020279 in the UK all our circuits have to be protected by RCDs or more recently RCBOs that detect an earth loop fault, no matter whether it's a wet zone or not. Our wiring regulations also recommend everything is surge protected, so I wouldn't be surprised if that pretty soon becomes mandatory. All earth wires have to be sheathed also, can't have any bare conductors. Having said that, it's the same over here...while you're supposed to apply to the local authority for "building regulations notifiable works", i.e consumer unit changes, new circuits etc. not everyone does, and there are many DIYers and trades alike that simply won't bother and will bodge in the worst kind of way. Happens the world over.

[@sarahann530]

@@Mr.Pop0 Yet the EU can maintain standards over a large area made up of multiple Countries .

[@WalterKnox]

I LOVE the way you explained grounding like a safety belt in a car. It is so hard when I try to explain what it actually does, and people always just seem to have a hard time understanding it, I will have to try that analogy next time I need to explain it.

[@OtayBuckwheat]

I've been replacing all of the outlets in my house that was built in 1983 and I had flickering lights on one circuit that was quite puzzling. I discovered that a concrete nail in one of the junction boxes was barely touching one of the connections on the receptacle.

[@seejanedrill]

Nice detective work!

[@chekovcall2286]

My sister's house had that as well.

[@sais9221]

My bathroom light is doing just that. Now I must investigate! Also, my house has few three prongs outlets but the rest are two prongs... Could they be bootleg ground three prongs??

[@honeybadgerisme]

😱

[@honeybadgerisme]

I've seen nails for repairs pierce the wiring. Rented so many places over the years--it really is scary just what some will do to a place people go to sleep in.

[@joannfagen4457]

Leah, your videos are very clear and encouraging for DIYers who want to learn these skills, thank you.

[@lindacarlson8886]

Thank you so much! Leah, have you considered posting an audio file of about two hours' length, probably off channel, of yourself reading something soothing? It would be popular, I think, among us insomniacs as a soporific! Your voice is so soothing!

[@tanyahallam2418]

I agree! These videos are fantastic!

[@alexinburlesontx9967]

Well, I guess I'll be checking the 81yr old family house I grew up in, this weekend. There are 2 prong and 3 prong wiring throughout. ⅓ of the houses in that neighborhood burned down in the 70s & 80s due to electric or gas fires. Now I'm worried for Dad. Thank you Leah. I so look forward to your videos. You have taught me so much over the years, and I have tried to share your knowledge, wisdom and tricks of the trade with everyone I help.

[@johndorian4078]

also keep in mind just because the house is 81 years old it's possible there were renovations. You'll see this especially in kitchens where they are remodeled to have new outlets. So it's not a sure sign that something is wrong. Especially since like she said GFCI's can be used and it doesn't even have to be on every outlet just one at the start of the line. I think you can even use a GFCI breaker as well.

[@gardenineden]

I’m a self taught DIYer and I really enjoy your videos. Thanks for this.

[@wandasetzer1469]

My ex did that all over our old house. So far I'm still alive. What now? Put in GFCIs? I can do that myself. Have to watch this again. Thanks so much for these videos. I love 'em!

[@PsychicZeldaKelly]

Wow, Leah! Love this video! I want to go around to each of my plugs now and look! Seriously, this is a great video and it made me stand to attention and realize how many shortcuts "may" be taken during a renovation or even a build. Thanks so much for posting this! This is one of your greats! Take care, Leah!

[@richstanton8545]

Leah, this video alone makes me so glad I subscribed to your channel! You've saved me some grief with other hints. Luckily, I've never encountered a "bootleg" ground, but I know what to look out for. When I need a grounded plug in my older house (1947 build), I've always gone with a GFCI. I'm sure you've saved some lives with this video. Thank you!👍

[@javiergalvan242]

I've actually seen that Leah, some electricians also call it a bridge. They did some work on my folks home which is about 65 years old, (I wasn't there) but I was told from my father what the tech had done. I learned this sometime back and I had the whole house rewired by a reliable electrician and I'm happy for my folks. Great video Leah as always, this just brought back memories, thanks for all your tips and education! :) God Bless......

[@neoasura]

How much did it cost to have the whole house rewired?

[@javiergalvan242]

@@neoasura $3,240, I have a buddy that does that type of work.

[@ABadManinLondon]

Leah, I enjoy your videos - your clear and calm delivery is brilliant and I've learned - and was reminded of - a great deal of important fundimental skills and knowlege. Thanks!

[@norme7102]

Have run into this many times, usually done by a homeowner or a handyman. Most dangerous encounter was a house with bootleg grounds AND reversed polarity. Every grounded appliance with a metal case was hot!

[@seejanedrill]

I forget to mention that scenario....I'm glad you did.

[@MrSleepProductionsInc]

LOL! Had the same situation with a vanity medicine cabinet mirror. Every time the home owner touched the cabinet and faucet/sink at the same time they got the crap shocked out of them! And felt a buzz sometimes when the floor was damp enough like when just getting out of the shower.

[@sparky6086]

Grandmother's house was wired for 'lectricity by Grandad and my uncle just after World War II. They weren't lazy, but they "knew just enough to be dangerous"! After my grandparents passed away, I switched the house to 200 amp service from 60 amp. In the course of doing so, I realized that they'd paid no attention to the polarity of the outlets. It was all random!. They were lucky, that they hadn't burned the house down or electrocuted themselves! I straightened out all the outlets, as I rewired it to code. I've also run across a lot of old houses, where they don't have any Nolox anti corrosion grease on the transitions between copper and aluminum wiring. I imagine, that 80 or more years ago, even though electricians may have known to use Nolox or a similar product,, they likely didn't have a conveinient source for it, so they just used it, if they happened to have it. Those connections get so corroded over time, that the impedance becomes too great and heats up the connection. If you're lucky, they'll just melt completely through without catching the house on fire, leaving an open circuit, but if you're unlucky, the house burns. Anyhow, it's a good idea to inspect and apply or reapply the Nolox grease to any aluminum to copper connections, when you move to a "new to you" house and then every 10 or 15 years (In really old houses, especially in hot climates, the nolox can dry up or drip off connections over time). Aluminum wiring isn't new. Depending on the scarcity or expense of copper during different periods, a lot of old houses had it. Nowadays, néw houses may be wired with copper, but most service entrance wiring & meter bases are aluminum, so they at least need the Nolox on the service entrance connection.

[@redstickham6394]

That is pretty shocking pardon the pun. A friend of mine bought a new construction house so he wouldn't have to fix anything for a long time like he might have to in an older home. He started checking all of his outlets and found out most of them had the polarity reversed! You can never tell.

[@ImALefty08]

Whenever I hear say "you can do this" it really gets me motivated to do DYI projects at home. Thanks, Leah!

[@WELLINGTON20]

Do Yourself It

[@boathemian7694]

I’m an electrician and I appreciate this PSA. Well done! Oh be sure to punch whoever did this to your house.

[@fred1barb]

What a great tip. Not ever seen it done, but there are still a lot of knob and tube circuits in old houses. Something to watch for.

[@PetrosArgy]

Thank you for a great, accessible explanation of why it's so wrong to hook up three prong outlets in an ungrounded system, ESPECIALLY with a bootleg ground. It's one of those things that a lot of customers ask me to do and many of them just don't get how it can be deadly. I don't know how often you come up against this, but if you'd like a tester that can actually detect a bootleg ground, the Amprobe INSP-3 actually takes a resistance reading between the neutral and ground wires at the receptacle (which should be bonded together at the main panel or disconnect) and warns you if the resistance is suspiciously low (indicating a bootleg ground). It's not a cheap tester by any means, but it is one of the best out there for testing receptacles.

[@kdawson020279]

This is excellent information. I work with high voltages as an automation mechanic, but I have 1000 volt insulated gloves and tools, flame resistant coveralls, test equipment, and training. The average homeowner may not realize their wiring has been the victim of this or other bad wiring practices such as putting the switch on the neutral wire until shocks, fires, or worse occur. Thank you for getting this safety information out there! I live in an old house that has been 100% retrofitted properly from knob and tube. Saving money and convenience are pointless if you or someone you love is injured or killed.

[@TheDansana]

All good on the surface, but electricity does not flow to ground. The return path is back to the panel neutral buss which causes an overload and opens the circuit breaker. The bonding of neutral to earth ground is for over voltage conditions caused by forces outside the electrical power system.

[@Mobin92]

It provides a flow to ground for decives that have a metal casing. E.g. if some hot wire on the inside gets loose and touches the metal casing, the grounding shorts that, so it doesn't flow through your body into ground when you touch it.

[@TrashPanda5150]

My youngest son is 15, he is a sophomore in high school. At his home school he is actually in a woods class and he busses over to another school for trades classes. He started last year in a general trades class at the other school and decided to concentrate on electrician this year. Just tonight I showed him only the start of this video and he shook his head in disgust at the "hack" you point out. I asked him if he knew what it was called. He has not heard the term "bootleg ground" before. But he knew that this was bad. I asked him WHY it was bad, and he explained to me why just like you did! I'm pretty proud of this kid! :)

[@h.wagner]

Thank you for this!! It is hair-raising. And, it makes me think back almost 30 years to when we were looking for a rural house to live in. One we looked at had some obvious smoke deposit above an outlet in the living room, and when I checked the breaker panel, the breaker was taped over with a "Do not reset" written on it. Since that whole area was post and tube wiring in the old homes, I gotta wonder whether this was that hack, having come THIS close to burning the place down. (We didn't buy the place).

[@fredbosco6104]

Leah is absolutely fantastic. TY Leah for sharing all of your maintenance knowledge.

[@RockyLikesPews]

Reminds me of the outlets in my freshman college dorm room. My buddies and I had an electric guitar plugged up into a vintage amp with a two prong plug and another one plugged into a modern amp with a ground. We were both jamming together and wanted to switch guitars. The moment we both grabbed the other's, we both got shocked as the extra current traveled from the old amp, through our strings and straight to the ground on my buddies amp.

[@seejanedrill]

😳

[@stevenshea990]

I love nothing more than trying out vintage Fender amps at music stores, but playing them is always an adventure: either a killer tone you can't find anywhere else, or a nice zap through your arm. I imagine many out there today have amateurish 3 prong conversions that leave some risk of shock. Judging by the fact that I'm still around means it was likely from a low-power section of the amp ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@e1casper]

Love your videos Leah !! I work at a big box home improvement store always recommend your videos to people your clear way of explaining things is awesome

[@lincolnworsham1085]

In a previous apartment, the land lord did this but also screwed up the polarity, I brushed the edge of a mettle power strip agents the fridge and it burn a giant hole in the side of the fridge.

[@honeybadgerisme]

😱🤭

[@TheTheo58]

Excellent presentation Jane, the bootleg ground is just a disaster waiting to happen. My parents home build in 1946 using sheathed 2 and 3 conductor cables none of them had a ground wire. Our major appliances (range and clothes dryer were wired with 6-3 and 10-3 BX cable, thus having the bounding strip,back to the main panel. When I undertook updating the garage to a workshop I installed new wiring into to the existing wiring (EMT and BX cable were the new run) I ran a grounding wire clamped to a cold water line at the 1st junction box. Back then EMT was permitted as a ground between the boxes, however I did use grounding pigtails w/screws to the boxes and outlets. Wherever segments of flex conduit was used an additional ground wire was run in between the boxes. The 1st outlet was GFCF protected along with the rest downstream, terminating with the weatherproof outlet in the back yard. Same procedure was done with lighting, ceiling outlets in the darkroom wiring EMT and Romex for the switches as the wiring was concealed.

[@stephenjordan7647]

Hey Jane, Aways a pleasure watching you videos.

[@ashtentheplatypus]

When I was young, my mom got our house remodeled. The contractor did the electrical this way with the excuse that our house was too old and didn't have any ground wiring. She still defends him to this day. I did switch out some of the outlets with a GFCI outlets in the hopes it would potentially mitigate some of the risks, but I'm not handy or knowledgeable enough to thread ground wiring through the house.

[@jefftitterington7600]

I've had electricians work in my house plus I've looked at the wiring myself (cleaned above a suspended ceiling), so I know the wiring is three-strand. I'll keep this in mind if I buy an older house - thank you!

[@markchidester6239]

Or you could test the metal box in the wall to see if it is bonded to ground. If it is, run a jumper to the box then to the ground screw. Most older homes will have this as they used BX (an armored cable) as a wiring method. This is an approved grounding method. Some of the better quality receptacles have a wire around the mounting screws that bond the mounting strap to the screw to the mounting strap creating a ground. I don't know if this is still an acceptable grounding method, but it was at one point in time. Metal electrical boxes have, for a very long time, been required to be grounded. This being the case, the best bet is to run a jumper from the box to the ground screw on the receptical.

[@wendyc.5769]

Thanks Miss Jane! I have a funny feeling that the information you shared is going to come in handy very soon. Much love 💕

[@dnh31tlg10]

Thanks for keeping us safe Leah!

[@kasualskeptik2584]

Correction: The grounding rod is there for lightening and has nothing to do with grounding an appliance. The Ground conductor on a wall plug is a safety return path to the fuse-box, in the event the HOT or NEUTRAL wire should touch the chassis of an appliance (which itself is connected directly to the GROUND conductor). So, should the HOT or NEUTRAL touch the appliance chassis, it will become "live" and touching it could kill you. Having a dedicate GROUND connected to the chassis will ensure the circuit break will "blow" within milliseconds, before you have the chance to touch the chassis and get killed.

[@integr8er66]

If the appliance shorts out and you have a bootleg ground it will STILL blow the breaker.

[@leopold7562]

That’s true nowadays, but in the past, before trip switches and consumer units, the ground (or Earth, as we call it here) was actually connected to the earth and was used to pull any current causing an appliance to be live in order to make it safe(r) to touch. With a bit of luck, the current surge would blow the fuse, but it’s not guaranteed. Like you say, today it’s used mainly to cause a current surge to trip a circuit, but more commonly to be used in the RCD to trip the entire board

[@regisnyder]

This video is frightening to those living in very old apartment complexes/buildings. Property management companies are always trying to save a buck; but hearing about this “hack” it really concerns me. Who knows how many fires were started due to saving a buck.

[@DyscoJen]

I have an 1890 Victorian. The original wiring was installed sometime in the late 20's from what I can tell. And then was remodeled again in the 40's and 90's. Whoever upgraded the wiring in the 90's was an absolute hack! Let's put it this way....their use of the bootleg ground wasn't their only egregious mistakes. Thanks for another great video!

[@dansanger5340]

I had a house that was mostly upgraded to modern wiring, but for some reason they left some of the circuits as knob and tube, but connected to a modern box. I ripped the knob and tube out as soon as I could and replaced it with modern grounded wiring. It's true that they don't make stuff like they used to, but in this case what they used to make was dangerous crap.

[@mr.g937]

Personally not a fan of referencing ground rods, or the earth at all, when explaining the ground wire. Ground rods make a negligible difference in safety. The primary reason a ground wire makes an installation safe is being bonded to the neutral at the panel, as current travels to the source, not to ground.

[@honeybadgerisme]

The first time I saw a grounding rod--tied to an old plumbing drain from the roof--the owner--who was also a "professional" like actually had a "green" contracting company--he showed it to me with pride and explained it's purpose...I should have had paid attention to my gut. He also put a rubber cap (not sealed at all) over the whole house drain--yes, the sewer one--instead of fix the now uphill and cracked, filled with tree roots drain to the city line...O the joys of renting that house...So many unlisted!

[@hectorvaldez2504]

True. All current leaving the source will find its way back to the source one way or the other. The normal way is through the neutral. However, If there is a ground fault short it’ll go back through the ground wire and guess what; If there is no ground wire and you touch it; the current will use your body to find its way back to the source and in most cases your breaker will never trip. Thats why there is a ground wire and its bonded at the box. The ground wire is To trip your breaker if there is a short. Ground rods are to protect your house from a lightning if it should hit. Nothing else.

[@magnumbull]

Wow!! I've never come across that and I'm shocked that people do that. Your videos are great. They are straight-forward and have just enough information for DIYers as well as important reminders for professionals. BRAVO!! Keep them coming!

[@pcken9067]

Perfect timing Leah, thank you. My spouse is learning to do some minor things with our outlets and this is crucial information.

[@Mobin92]

If you have fire insurance... that's gonna be void if you change something on the electrical system yourself.

[@novathewomanking9675]

Now this makes sense! This is a excellent video of awareness. I grew up in a old house, I never had any 3 prong outlets in my room. My dad made us use a breaker / extension for each outlet. Dad wasn't a electrician by trade or studied in the profession , but looking back, I summized that our whole family was in a dangerous situation. Thank goodness there were no mishaps.

[@snipegrzywa]

Missed your chance to say "This is Leah, saying DON'T you do this!" Great information!

[@seejanedrill]

Funny thing is...I did record that ending. It seemed odd to leave that ending in since I was explaining how to fix the problem if you found one.

[@bestherc1951]

As always thank you very much! I am an old lady that likes to tinker with things around the house and though I am terrified of electricity I have done little things nothing like you of course, but I always say knowledge is power.

[@themichhiker2104]

Neutral and ground wires are all conected at the main panel. So in your example if there is a fault in an appliance it should still trip the breaker. Not many people realize there is always 120 v potential between a proper ground wire and the hot wire.

[@jfbeam]

If there's an over-current situation, yes, it will still trip. The problem is with the appliance being able to use ground as a normal current carrying conductor. If the neutral is disconnected somewhere, the normally non-current-carrying grounded parts of the appliance will now be energized to line voltage.

[@spam4869]

I'm an electrician and she is correct. If there is a break in the neutral between the outlet and the switchboard. The current path will go in to the appliance on the hot wire, out on the appliance neutral, through The bootleg ground then back through the appliance ground wire to the metal casing of the appliance. This is very dangerous because the appliance will become live with the load current as well.

[@themichhiker2104]

@@spam4869 right, but she does not say if the neutral is broken in the applilance or in the branch circuit. Wouldn't that matter?

[@themichhiker2104]

@@jfbeam right, but she does not say if the neutral is broken in the applilance or in the branch circuit. Wouldn't that matter?

[@JarrettWilliams99]

Not really. If the neutral breaks off inside the appliance, and the hot touches a metal housing, then the appliance will seem off but the whole shell could be energized

[@erg0centric]

This is why tools used to be and sometimes still are double insulated, including kitchen appliances. On a side note, in the 1950s romex did not have a ground conductor. I had to pull it all out of my old building.

[@wallbanger6248]

Best explanation I’ve ever seen on this topic, well done.

[@seejanedrill]

Thank you

[@illestofdemall13]

@@seejanedrill Hi, your videos are great but I must tell you that you are incorrect (as millions of other people probably are) about the power returning to ground via ground rods, in turn protecting personnel. What trips the circuit breaker is the low-impedance path back to source, creating a very high amperage which will trip the circuit breaker. This path back to source is possible since the ground wires and neutral wires are bonded together at the service. If the hot wire short circuits to neutral, it will create a large amperage and trip the breaker, but if it faults to ground or a metal junction box or piece of equipment, it still needs to get back to the source in order to trip the breaker. This is why we must bond all metal parts together and also bond the ground wires to them. Grounding rods have nothing to do with the breaker tripping. Look up Mike Holt and his videos, especially on grounding and bonding.

[@jman0870]

@@illestofdemall13 what? So you’re advocating for grounds and neutrals not being separated? How is she wrong? The answer is she isn’t wrong. You’re wrong. If the neutral fails and the receptacle is grounded through the box, studs, whatever, then every piece of metal in the house is 110% energized and WILL take the path of least resistance. Perhaps YOU need to take an actual class on electrical theory and understand how it works. I used textbooks by Mike Holt for my education and I can assure you that he will agree with me and her and disagree with you.

[@illestofdemall13]

@@jman0870 You obviously didn't understand me. I never said to leave the bootleg ground. You need to read and comprehend before you condemn. I said ground rods aren't what save the person. Grounds need to be bonded and all metal parts need to be bonded together. Neutrals and grounds are only to be bonded together at the service. I have Mike Holt's book on electrical theory and electricity takes all paths, not only the path of least resistance. READ AND COMPREHEND before you comment.

[@jman0870]

@@illestofdemall13 everything she said agrees with what you just said which means you disagreed with nothing? Is reading comprehension not your thing? How can you disagree with something you agree with?

[@davidvasquez9533]

Leah I remember coming across your videos awhile back and always liked how you make videos about everything, even when I'm getting to watch one and think this one is obvious then you turn it into a lesson and I learn something. Thanks Leah!

[@youknowme8578]

Don't forget to hit that thump's up for Leigh, I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's the best KZbin channel out there!

[@Diva9000x]

You know what Leah, this is the first time that anyone explain an electrical circuit and I understood. Because of your videos, I've replaced a porch light & kitchen light. I know black is hot, white is neutral & bare copper is ground but I didn't know how the electricity traveled or a circuit worked. Thank you so much!

[@b.powell3480]

I remember having to run a separate ground wire to the water line and a ground rod for a house that had tube and knob wiring, this made the outlets safe until the wiring was upgraded.

[@MrLWFred]

thats a legal and safe alternative to a complete wiring upgradw and doesnt cost that much to do. where i live they also require the gas line at the water heater to also be grounded.

[@foureyedchick]

Dear Leah, great video. Bootleg grounding is horrible! I suggest carrying around those old neon test lights. Attach one end of the neon test light to black (hot) and the other to the metal box the outlet is in. It should glow. If it doesn't, the metal box is ungrounded. The neon bulb should glow from black (hot) to white (neutral). The neon bulb should NOT glow from neutral to ground. The outlet's hot terminal is the smaller slot with the brass (dark yellow) screw and the outlet's neutral terminal is the larger slot with the silver colored screw. The ground is the green screw on the outlet. It is OK to connect the green screw to the metal box IF AND ONLY IF the box is grounded. Otherwise, the Romex or BX cable needs to be replaced, or the metal pipe needs to be grounded at the fuse/circuit breaker box. If all of that is too much trouble, then a 2-prong (rather than 3-prong) outlet should be installed. But even THAT can cause problems. Some dummy will come along, and use an adapter to plug their 3-prong appliance into the 2-prong outlet, and connect the grounding terminal to the outlet center-screw, ASSUMING it is ground. "assume" means making an a** of u and me.

[@Rexx_Wolf64]

I still have knob and tube wiring. But, the panel is grounded, literally. I can see them. But, my receptacles don't have any bootleg grounds. I'm going to be replacing every one of them with GFCI receptacles. Definitely less expensive than having the whole house rewired.

[@TechHowden]

You don’t have to replace every outlet on a circuit with a GFCI only the first one (generally located closest to the breaker box) and assuming you wire it correctly it will protect all other outlets on that circuit then the others can just be replaced with standard three prong outlets but you have to put a sticker on them that says no equipment ground

[@markwoten6679]

Never heard of it. I had a home that was built in 1964. It was an ungrounded home with the two plugs. Being ex military with a lot of knowledge in both mechanical and electrical, I required the home. It had a 100 amp service with 22 breakers. New panel was 200 amp 40 breakers capacity. Nice!!! I feel much safer!!!

[@JackKirbyFan]

I never heard of such a thing and never saw one. At my recent house they - CUT - the ground wires in all the outlets. That was new to me. Seriously why would you do that - EVER!

[@honeybadgerisme]

they were going to pull and steal the wires we were looking at houses for sale a few years ago and any that were not lived in--had some, if not all the wires pulled out

[@oritrond]

when my wife and I bought our house and we decided to "Update" the wiring, we found a few of these. I was very upset with the previous owners. We decided to just go the safe route and have an electrician come and check out everything. Got the wiring updated and all safe again. was told we had a "bootleg ground" but never explained what it was to us. now I know. Thank you. Love your videos!

[@MikeStavola]

When I bought my house, the workshop, carport, and the exterior lighting had mixed up neutral and ground lines. The dingus stoner that wired up the panel just put some neutrals into the ground bus, and some grounds into the neutral bus. I had to completely redo all the wiring, which was no big deal. And yes, when I pulled everything apart, I found that he ran a metal plate between the one neutral bus's mounts and the body of the panel. So half of the circuits read as normal on the outlet tester.

[@HBSuccess]

A bonded neutral/ground bars in a panel is perfectly safe and legal (and is actually required at the first disconnect) as long as it’s not a subfeed panel. Any distribution panel more than 6’ away from the main disconnect has to have the ground bar and neutral bars UNbonded.

[@MikeStavola]

@@HBSuccess it was a subfeed panel.

[@affliction1979]

Keep doing the good work, Leah. Your videos are definitely a must watch for DIYers, novice and veteran alike. Kudos!