house was built in '84 and yes the ground lines go to neutral[:@]

I'm slowly updating the electrical of the house. I have a few outlets with non functional grounds, puttin in GFI's and seeing what it would take to get my Den on one circuit. currently it has 5 different circuits[:'(]

 

hey, at least it copper!!!!

gfi's only work if they have a ground you know!

tell ya what, you fly me out, pay for a huge BBQ FEAST and Ill take care of the den

fyi: any outside receptacles must now have the "in use" covers. they are about $12 at hom-ee dee-pot .

for the unschooled, they allow for a cord to be plugged in while encased inside a weather resistant cover.

see: http://www.taymac.com/taymac/multimac.html

 

never did see the panels....the old breakers...umm..umm...not westinghouse..like em....the panels you had to turn side ways to keep the breakers from fallin out...crouse hinds..no...the other brand.....old name....westinghouse bought em????......federaly pacifico (federal pacific), and zinsco were brutal units [:@]

 

it's copper all through the house. . .no aluminum here

the GFI's I have have this fancy indicatior if a ground is not present. . .I'm also useing one of them testers you plug in that can also test the GFI as well. . .for what the indicators wirth I dunno, but it was a contractor pack at Lowes.

 

glad to hear about the CU !!!

dont get me started on Lowes [:'(]

the indicator is to let you know it is functioning properly...not tripped that is...

 

I'm not exactly sure what it is that I'm looking at so bear with me.

In the first and second pic I think I see a piece of PVC with a wire feeding into it that is only partially burried in the ground and is laying against the side of a concrete slab, is that correct?

The top pic looks like an extension cord (that has been repaired once ) is wrapped around PVC and goes into a conduit elbow I guess as a feed for whatever that gray box is. Correct?

The top pic, is that white box an outside receptical? It looks like the back end of an INSIDE receptacle.

On the bottom pic, are you tappping out of the gray box and now running electric to a new outside box?

 

the reason I go to lows is I can find stuff there and the people that work there are quick to come around to see if you need any help. . .last time I was at home depot the drill bits I was looking for were in the plumbing isle, the PVC cement I needed was in the lumber yard, and the 2x4's were in tool world. . . . . . . .plus the people there have an IDGAS attitude.

 

I agree Drew

I go to Lowes as much as possible. It's a cleaner more organized place to go. Home Depot tends to be a bit understaffed and un-organized. I understand both are supposed to be "working warehouses" however for some reason Home Depot constantly has forklifts running around with this " mass confusion" type of thing going on, whereas Lowes must stock their stuff after hours because I don't think I've ever seen a forklift running there.

 

I see them running in the lumber yard. . .however the one I go to they stock everything else in the back unlike HD which stocks things overhead

 

Yep, Drew, you have a bad ground. On older houses, we sometimes have to drive addtional ground rods around the transformer pole or form a grid even. Check the neutral connections inside your breaker and then look at the service connections to your house and see if the neutral (bare wire, dugghh) is frayed or the connection weak.