Zapped and p.o.ed

[jck16]

Hey,
I'm not an electrician or a lawyer, but I'm wondering if someone can help me out about what to do.

First of all I live in a rented apartment. I was doing maintenance on my tank and spilled some water on some wires on my hardwood floor. When I stood on the wet floor and touched something that conducted electricity (droplet of saltwater, metal) I would feel a strong current go through me. So I got very very concerned and got a GFCI to install after reading up on the internet.

I go into my 3-prong outlet (after cutting off power) and look in. I had to do a double take because I just found out that my outlet wasn't grounded at all despite having 3 prongs. Now, I admit some of this incident was my fault, but I'm pretty alarmed at realizing how risky working around my tank really is (and I've been running it for a year).

I think it's a building violation to have a nongrounded 3 prong outlet, but I'm just wondering if anyone can confirm this. And if anyone has any advice about what I should tell my landlord, I'd appreciate that too (she sent a noncertified maintenance guy to see if there was a violation today, but he said everything was "fine").

 

[garys reef]

Why are u saying it was ungrounded was it a metal box? Was there a ground wire? Some bx cable use rhe box as a ground

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[jck16]

Metal box, no ground wire. Plus I bought a new surge protector outlet to replace my old one and it's confirming that the outlet isn't grounded.

 

[garys reef]

They sell a plug that plugs into outlet and tells u what is going on i have never used a surge protector to confirm a ground

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[garys reef]

On bx cable the sheathing is the ground

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[jedimaster1138]

NYC requires armored cable. Usually that's BX. (brand name for armored cable that's so common everyone thinks all armored cable is called BX) It's cable inside a metal armored "jacket" that both stops you from putting a nail/hook/drill through the wire once it's all in the wall, and acts as the ground back to the panel box. This is a good thing, assuming it's installed correctly. The BX is connected with a bushing to the metal box - there's your ground back to the panel.

Bottom line - yeah it's probably fine. Don't sweat the internal wiring.

Bigger part of the bottom line - you must ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS use a GFCI receptable (or a breaker for that circuit in the panel, but this is less common) in any installation involving water. Kitchens, bathrooms, or receptacles used for aquariums.

I had a similiar incident happen to me - the GFCI probably saved my life as I had both feet in a quarter inch puddle of water which also contained a live power strip. The water crept into the power strip, caused a ground fault, and tripped the GFCI. If it hadn't been a GFCI... there's no guarantee I'd still be sitting here. With both feet in the water, the current could, in theory, have gone up one leg, across my torso, and down the other, stopping along the way to stop my heart.

Bottom line again - ALWAYS use a GFCI receptacle in applications involving water. Also - it's important to install it correctly. The black wire goes to the brass screw, the white wire goes to the silver (zinc) screw. While you can get away with reverse wiring a regular outlet, part of the time, if you screw up wiring a GFCI, the interrupter circuit probably won't fire when you need it to, and that's a bad thing.

When in doubt - contact a licensed electrician and have him do it for you.

 

[garys reef]

Thats what i was getting to +1

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[jedimaster1138]

Word, you had the right idea Gary, we overlapped with our replies because I tend to ramble on about this topic heh

It worries me how many people aren't using GFCI's around their aquariums. They quite literally save lives. They are as important as in kitchens and bathrooms etc.

BS, Electrical Engineering, Manhattan College, Class of 2000. (ugh i'm old)

 

[jck16]

Please spare me the lecture on GFCIs. I know that I need one. I'm not arguing that point. However, this whole thing arose BECAUSE I was going in to install the GFCI.

It REALLY seems as if my outlet itself isn't grounded. When I took off the outlet, I did not see a BX and there was no grounding wire (there's a screw for it both on the outlet and onto the metal box but nothing is attached to either one). I just see a single white aluminum wire and a black aluminum wire going to and from the outlet. Also, the surge protector indicator light is red for not grounded, and according to the manufacturer's FAQ, that means the outlet is (therefore) not grounded.What I've read is that it's a violation if a 3 pronged outlet is installed on a nongrounded outlet, and that's why I'm very concerned about what I've found out.

 

[garys reef]

Im out

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[trinimaddness]

If i remember corrently from scool BX cable is not a required in all residential homes,it all depends on the size of the house and other factors. there is a device you can buy at home depo that tells you what the outlet is missing..i got one laying around somewhere can send you a pic if you like . If it is really missing ground it should a 2minute job to add the ground or swap out the entire outlet to gfci

 

[jedimaster1138]

If i remember corrently from scool BX cable is not a required in all residential homes,it all depends on the size of the house and other factors. there is a device you can buy at home depo that tells you what the outlet is missing..i got one laying around somewhere can send you a pic if you like . If it is really missing ground it should a 2minute job to add the ground or swap out the entire outlet to gfci

Word. I wouldn't trust the light on a power strip either unless it was some kind of extremely expensive fancy pants one. A specialized tool will likely give you the correct story.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002LZTKIU/?tag=reefs04-20

If I was the OP, I would get one of these. Now install the GFCI receptacle. Power the circuit back up at the panel. Test the GFCI with the button on the receptacle. If it trips, good. Reset it so it's back on. Now plug in the testor. Push the "TEST GFCI" button on the testor. If the receptacle trips, good ,you're likely good to go and have nothing to worry about.

If it doesn't trip, in either case, call a licensed electrician, not a handyman who might not know hot from neutral.

 

[jck16]

I think that the problem is I'm going off the assumption that my outlet isn't grounded. But everyone else is insisting that my outlet has to be. I was researching and confirmed that not all older BX cable has the conducting strip either which could very well be possible in my apartment.

I have a live voltage tester also which reacts differently with the one GFCI outlet I have in the kitchen (like when I touch the GFCI ground outlet with it it barely reacts but when I touch the ground outlets of my aquarium power strip it beeps just like when I touch the hot outlets). The new power strip I have also indicates that the GFCI outlet is grounded. I mean, they're both really inaccurate as you guys have pointed out, so I think I'll get that tester tomorrow to be sure.

 

[jck16]

Got the tester from home depot. Says the hot and neutral are reversed on the outlet in question (which can also be a false reading apparently on ungrounded circuits).

 

[trinimaddness]

Yea i think your ground is the problem.. contact your landlord again and tell him/her there is def something up with your outlet and to send a certified person to look at it..if you like you can buy a gfci recepticle and ask the electrican to swap it out when he/she comes

 

[04 orangemach]

On the outlet brass screw is hot silver screw is neutral . If you look at outlet small opening hot big opening neutral . to see if box is grounded remove outlet plate insert one probe of tester into small opening on outlet and touch the box with the other probe if you have voltage you have a ground . If not insert tester into big opening on outlet and touch box with the other end of probe if you have power wires reversed . If you have no power with either of these test the box is not grounded .

 

[jck16]

Thanks for the replies. I guess I'll have to figure out what to do from here with my landlord because I don't think I want to do anything further without a qualified electrician.