Does a metal outlet box need to be grounded?
The only requirement is that the application is grounded. Metal-sheathed wiring depends on bonding with the metal electrical box for grounding. Using metal-sheathed wiring with plastic electrical boxes, without taking other grounding measures, severs that ground and is highly dangerous.Click to see full answer. Thereof, how can you tell if a metal box is grounded?Voltage…
The only requirement is that the application is grounded. Metal-sheathed wiring depends on bonding with the metal electrical box for grounding. Using metal-sheathed wiring with plastic electrical boxes, without taking other grounding measures, severs that ground and is highly dangerous.Click to see full answer. Thereof, how can you tell if a metal box is grounded?Voltage measured between the hot terminal and the ground hole is a good indicator that the outlet and its electrical box are grounded. If you are dealing with a two-prong outlet, you can test for a ground at the cover plate screw before taking any steps to look inside the box.Secondly, what happens if you do not connect the ground wire? The appliance will operate normally without the ground wire because it is not a part of the conducting path which supplies electricity to the appliance. In the absence of the ground wire, shock hazard conditions will often not cause the breaker to trip unless the circuit has a ground fault interrupter in it. Similarly, should I use metal or plastic electrical boxes? The advantage of plastic boxes is comparatively minor even for non-metallic sheathed cable — you can avoid making one ground connection and they sometimes cost a little less. On the other hand, plastic boxes are more vulnerable to impacts. For exposed or shop wiring, metal boxes are probably better.Where does the ground wire go in a plastic box?Because they are plastic, there is no need to attach a ground wire to it. Since it is made of a non-conductive material, switches and outlets cannot short out if they touch the side of the box. Plastic boxes usually come with tapped screw holes for easy attachment of switches and outlets.
