Connecting the grounded outlet - basic rules

When connecting electrical wiring, the main task that faces the owner is to protect the apartment or house from a short circuit, which is why the question arises as to how to connect a grounded outlet?

A small number of household appliances using electricity in a private house have for a long time been the reason that the grounding was either not used at all or the ground wire was tipped over metal pipes or buried in the ground along with the metal peg.

These so-called "grandfather" methods of grounding did not actually perform their functions properly, but this was not noticeable.

When used in a house, such as an electric iron, a refrigerator, a TV set and a computer, the lack of properly grounded ground was not noticeable and the question of why a grounding in the outlet in the house needed was not even raised.

The difference between a house with a ground and a house without ground was not felt.

Now modern private houses are equipped with everything necessary for comfortable living.

Simultaneous use of a washing machine, an electric kettle and a boiler for heating water gives a tremendous load to the wiring.

Modern household appliances that are present in any private house have high power, their normal operation requires the presence of grounding at the outlet.

In order to connect it, you must ground the electrical circuit of the house. Consider how this is done.

How to organize grounding?

Under the grounding loop of a private house we mean a system of metal rods dug in the ground.

Metal is an excellent conductor of electricity, and the conductor system that provides the grounding of a private house must have the shape of an equilateral triangle with a side length of 1.5-2 m.

The ideal material for the ground loop is steel, however,for the price.

Metal corners made of stainless metal are completely acceptable, which are joined together by welding.

To the corners of this triangle we attach electrodes, dig a triangular pit more than half a meter deep and lower this structure into it.

It is most convenient to place the pit close to the electrical shield and must always be provided with warning signs.

In a private house above the dug out grounding contours it is possible to place quickly erected decorative flowerbed.

The absence of trees and shrubs on it eliminates the need to dig deep pits, and, therefore, the ground loop is securely closed from external access.

We connect the trench to the pit and the wall of the house where the shield is located. To the edge of the metal contour we weld the bolt, fix the wire on it with a section of six squares and now it must be connected to the shield.

The circuit can be checked for operation by a tester, or in its absence by a simple method using a 100W bulb.

If the wiring and installation in a private house is already there, then you can connect the lamp with one wire to the phase, and the other - to the circuit.

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If there is light, then estimate its brightness - normal bright light indicates that the system is working correctly, blinking or dim light indicates problems in the circuit, and a complete lack of lighting from the bulb will indicate a serious error that you need to correctredo everything, including the circuit itself.

If you have any doubts, then in order to check the circuit, you can invite electricians. It is advisable to check after laying the wiring, but before closing it with finishing materials.

Types of grounded receptacles and preparatory work

The sockets may be internal( inserted in the recesses in the wall) or external( protruding above the wall surface), but the main difference is that the grounding element will first turn on when the current is applied and then the current lead.

Externally, they are distinguished by the presence of a third contact.

In the post-Soviet space, the most common is the European socket, which has two thick pins and a grounding output in the form of a bracket or plate.

The wiring in the house can be open( visible, going to the outlet and the switch in a special box) or closed( inside the walls).

In a wooden house, only an open type wiring is allowed, respectively, only external outlets are used.

Usually in the apartment in the new building has already been grounded and everything that needs to be done to make installation of sockets with grounding, it's to distribute the wires correctly.

In the apartment of the old house building, it is impossible to install sockets with grounding because the grounding loop is not provided in them.

The initial situation for the beginning of work on the installation of a socket with grounding is the end of the finishing works and the electrical outlets that have been removed at the place of attachment.

The wiring for grounding is always three-core, the wires are different in color: the yellow-green wire is ground, the blue is zero, and the phase wire can be any color, most often it is brown.

When in your apartment two-wire wire is connected to the places of the future fastening of the sockets, and you want to install sockets with grounding, you need to clarify in the organization serving the house whether there is a grounding wire.

In the private house building under construction, when laying electrical wiring, the owner himself provides grounding equipment.

If you need to connect internal sockets in an apartment or any other room, additional preparatory work is required.

Naturally, the electricity supply in the apartment must be turned off at the same time. First, we'll install the juniper.

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They are designed to install a socket with grounding and are for gypsum board walls and for concrete walls.

To install the jar in the plasterboard wall, drill a hole of 6.8 cm in diameter under a single outlet and a rectangular hole for a double, insert the insert into it and fix it with screws.

The chimneys in the concrete wall are fixed with alabaster. Pull out the wires, and now you can connect a grounded outlet.

Connect a socket with grounding

Consider how to connect a grounded outlet in an apartment or in a private house building.

To make the installation, we will need:

• screwdriver slot;
• screwdriver-voltage indicator;
• knife for stripping wires;
• Phillips screwdriver in the diameter of the fixing bolts;
• pliers.

Although the room is de-energized, the entire electrician tool must have an insulating rubber layer in the places where the hands touch it.

If there is no insulation on the tools, it is perfectly permissible to make rubber attachments yourself. We remind you that all work on electricity is done only when the current is cut off.

For installation, we need to remove the wiring from the junket and make sure that there are three. We will clean all three wires that come out of the junket by 1-1.5 cm.

Remove the cover from the base, insert it into the jar and fix the fixing bolts. Now we need to connect the wiring to the terminals.

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First connect the "ground", then "zero" and only then the remaining "phase".After completing the installation, lay the wiring so that they do not interfere with the fixation and tighten the bolts.

In the apartment sometimes there is a need to connect a double socket. There is no particular difference in the connection, the lead wire, if it is one, needs to be divided into two parts by terminals.

Otherwise, we connect the same way.

When the wiring is open, we will carry out the installation in this order: we will indicate the location of the outlet, then from the junction box we draw a three-wire wire.

Having installed the base with the help of self-tapping screws, we can make the ends of the wire into it. There are no special differences between internal and external sockets.

When the installation is complete, you can put on and fix the outer cover.

The work of the ground loop has already been checked, and after the completion of all work it is necessary to check the operation of the electric point.

Open wiring is much more convenient for beginners than internal - it is almost impossible to make mistakes with the location of electrical points, if an error is made, it is very easy to replace all the wiring that comes from the outside of the wall and is closed by a plastic box.

However, due to the fact that the plastic box significantly spoils the design, open wiring is used in the apartment extremely rarely.

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Making installation of sockets with grounding yourself in your house building or in an apartment is completely easy with a minimum set of tools and initial skills for handling electricity.

The theoretical part is usually understandable.

If you have any doubts about the practical part, or if you start the work, you see that the desired result does not work, then you should contact a professional electrician.