Outlet in distress?

[micky]

A friend bought one of these

And it has an LED that glows red when, it says, l the house wiring (in that circuit) is wrong.

So my friend is concerned.

I haven't been over there, they dont' want me and I don't want to go, until the virus is over.

The house is about 50 years old and hasn't burned down yet.

If this were your house, would you be worried.

I'm going to tell him about this outlet tester, only $6, which gives one of 5 specific reasons why the outlet could be bad.

how I word it depends on your answers.

I used to have one of these but I think someone I lent it to n eve

[Ed Pawlowski]

Have they tried other circuits? Could be one has a bad ground or a receptacle has reversed polarity.

[rbowman]

Not particularly. The outlet probably doesn't have a solid ground on the third prong and your friend might even be using an adapter. I think it was '62 when three prong outlets became code on new construction. Sometimes the outlet box is grounded, sometimes not.

We've come full circle. Many double insulated appliances only have two prong plugs. A surge arrester would be happier with a solid ground.

[micky]

Good question. I don't know. He kept talking about the APC gizmo he was using and details about it and it confused me until he got off the phone. I thought he was saying all the receptacles were bad, but he didn't say he'd tested any others.

[Dean Hoffman]

Did the wiremen actually use wire with a ground? Fifty years would put it back to 1970. Nebraska didn't establish the Nebraska State Electrical Division until 1969. Another law passed in 1975 set the rules for licensing and inspection. I think there was licensing and inspection before that but have no idea how stringently it was enforced.

[trader_4]

Not sure that these must have a ground, though it certainly would greatly help with the surge protection. They can still be of benefit by clamping the voltage differences between lines.

What does the instruction sheet say about what the lights indicate?

[gfretwell]

The NEC started requiring a grounded receptacles in the 60s and Romex with the 16ga ground wire has been around since the early 50s but they only grounded the box. That is why the adapter with the pigtail to the plate screw worked. The plate screw is connected to the yoke that screws to the box.