1952

[cwillick1]

doing an inspection on a 1952 built home. i suspect to find two prong wall outlets. My tester is three prong, need advice on testing two prong..

thanks in advance
chad

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

Use your tick tracer. . .

[Blaine Wiley]

Use a grounding adaptor.

[cwillick1]

Thanks Jeff,

Looks like a great new tool to add in my tool kit. When you test with this you either have current or you don't, correct??

[jking2]

If the house is a ranch on basement or crawl space, upgrade would not be difficult or expensive. Otherwise it may be cost prohibitive. You could mention this to your clients and suggest they consult an electrician. You can use a 3 prong adapter to test the outlets. With the pigtail ungrounded, you should get an open ground indication on your tester. Look for outlets with poor blade grip. They should be replaced with new 2 prong outlets, which are still available.

Jim King

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

Originally Posted by cwillick1

Looks like a great new tool to add in my tool kit. When you test with this you either have current or you don't, correct??

That's pretty much it. Some two-prong receptacles have the larger slot, which should be the neutral side. If your tracer has an adjustable sensitivity level, you can easily determine if the wiring is proper (not reversed).

You can use an adapter (as Blaine suggested) on your SureTest to check voltage and a few other things.

[Michael R. Boyett]

Originally Posted by cwillick1

When you test with this you either have current or you don't, correct??

Chad, to be technically correct, you would be confirming 'voltage' not 'current' with the tick tracer.

[Marc D. Shunk]

Two prong receptacles may remain in service, but I'd certainly encourage any home inspector to flag unpolarized receptacles (both slots the same length) with more descriptive and harsher language in the report. These often typically have a "T-slot" design for both prongs. In my opinion, unpolarized receptacles should not be permitted to remain in service.

Any of you guy use receptacle tension testers (such as companies like Daniel Woodhead offer) when you inspect a home with a batch of very old recs? Poor receptacle tension is equally and imminently as hazardous as most other electrical issues you'd normally find.

[Michael Larson]

Originally Posted by Marc D. Shunk

Any of you guy use receptacle tension testers (such as companies like Daniel Woodhead offer) when you inspect a home with a batch of very old recs? Poor receptacle tension is equally and imminently as hazardous as most other electrical issues you'd normally find.

Yes I have a tension tester that does the blades and ground pin. I haven't much occasion to use it however.

[mthomas2]

Tension tester:

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/cat...tension-tester

[Greg Fretwell]

You may want to use the adapter and actually try a few with the center screw connected. You may be surprised and fine out there is a ground present. You can also verify that by seeing what the wiring method is in the panel.