Electrical Wiring Question

[MNBobcat]

Something like this would have been easier http://tinyurl.com/kpdk8q2 ......Mike

I would have needed 5 of them if I hadn't run a new wire. Now I can get by with just 1.

 

[MNBobcat]

If steel conduit or EMT, I like the conduit as a ground idea.

That was a good idea but I used gray pvc. Still a good idea though should I or someone else run into a problem down the road and had used metal conduit.

 

[kcflhrc]

Just remember, ground is ground the world around. Burying a hot wire without any kind of protection is a really, really, bad idea. You would have been better off using your green wire for hot at the outlet all the time then drive a ground rod for the ground on the outlet. The lights should be grounded also if metallic. Color of wire is unimportant if identified correctly with phase tape.

 

[SPIKER]

Just remember, ground is ground the world around. ...

I think the quote should be "Ground is NOT Ground the world around," Design News - Sherlock Ohms - Ground Is Not Ground the World Around

Reason being if you are holding a wire that is grounded at one end and you are holding the other end & standing on the ground any induced voltage will turn into current when it flows thru YOU on one end and into the ground on the other end. The potential from point to point, earth material/moisture content ALL make a difference how well current can be conducted.

Another example is drive a Ground Rod into wet clay/marsh and 2nd into a dry rocky/sandy hill & apply voltage to end of the wires attached to them. A LOT of current flows into the wet clay/marsh and very little into the dry rock/sand, which shows ground is not ground the world around.

I have seen these issues in my past on multiple cases, missing, dry, loop faults in ground rods

Mark

 

[CobyRupert]

Just remember, ground is ground the world around. Burying a hot wire without any kind of protection is a really, really, bad idea. You would have been better off using your green wire for hot at the outlet all the time then drive a ground rod for the ground on the outlet. The lights should be grounded also if metallic. Color of wire is unimportant if identified correctly with phase tape.

I don't agree with this:
1. How does running a green wire with the single hot provide protection? If the insulation on the hot wire fails, how would the short circuit current get into the INSULATED green wire you are suggesting?
2. How does a ground rod at the outlet get fault current back to its source ( the neutral of the utility transformer) without relying on the earth as a conductor? Which is not something you should rely on.

 

[kcflhrc]

He said he ran a black, white and green. I would much rather have used the green for the unswitched hot he needed for the outlet and ran the ground under the landscape fabric instead of a hot. What if his wife is digging on her knees planting a flower and she hits that hot wire with her hand held digger? Not a good thing. He would have also had to install a GFCI outlet outside in a weatherproof housing.

 

[CobyRupert]

Ok, ok, point taken.
But it's bad options all around. If wife cuts ground wire when she's on her knees, she won't get a shock then and nobody will know, but later when the outlet goes bad and the breaker doesn't trip because there's no ground, yer in the same boat.
But my scenario has more "maybes" than yours , so you win.
How about a wireless switch downstream of the outlet for the fixtures, keep it 2 wire & gnd?

85v~250V 110V 220V 230V 4CH RF Wireless Remote Control Relay Switch Security System Garage Doors, Rolling Gate Electric Doors-in Remote Controls from Electronics on Aliexpress.com

 

[teejk]

If steel conduit or EMT, I like the conduit as a ground idea.

I'm not a "sparky" so I can't claim that it would work in an outdoor environment but I did that when I wired my shop. All components have to be metal and all switches/outlets/fixtures have to be grounded to the metal box via a pigtail/green screw (Menards sells them in a bulk pack)...funny in that I always used Romex with ground and never noticed that threaded hump on the back of a metal box until I went the EMT route. It let me sneak one more wire into the 3/4" emt since I didn't need to run a dedicated ground wire. I think the NEC is due for an update soon and curious to see whether this will change. My biggest concern would be outdoor stuff. While I swear at the current code requirements (in particular those ugly plastic "bubble covers" in lieu of the old spring loaded plates with waterproof gaskets), I guess better safe than sorry in some cases.

 

[nc redneck]

Any chance you could deal with a light switch at outlet location ? Also 5 lights could be a lot for a 15 or 20 amp circuit depending on type and amperage draw. I would not use the ground. You may want to sell the place one day. Remote or photo eye may be your best option.

 

[JPRambo]

There is no correct way to rewire this circuit for a hot and a switch wire. NEC 250.119 says the green will be ground not anything else.
A breaker trips because of overload not because the fault current goes back to its source.
And those ugly bubble covers are made for the use of a cord that is never unplugged and are in wet areas (outdoor outlet covers are for the occasional use of that outlet).