Can I tie ground to white in order to pass the test?

Question

I tied a piece of wire on the ground screw and then tied the tip of it to the white wire. The I screw white and black to the outlet. It tested PERFECT (two yellow lights!). That will pass the test for open ground. Is that ok? any consequences? Please comment.

GUYS: white and ground tied together pass the test with a $10 tester. Also, it works well, there is no short. Someone mentioned GFCI. Won't the NEW GFCI called SMART LOCK lock when a real ground is not present????

Answer 1

The white wire is your neutral wire which ultimately goes to ground. The bare wire/ground wire goes directly to the ground normally via a water pipe. If your neutral wire should break beyond the incoming neutral wire to your house the appliance will no longer function because the circuit is no longer connected. Since the ground wire is not tied to ground the current has no where to go and the outlet will no function because there is no ground for the current to go. There is a possibility of getting a shock. The purpose of a ground is to allow the current to go somewhere besides your body. The ground wire should somehow be tied to the cold water pipe. The only way the inspectors can tell if the ground wire is not tied to the ground is to look in the circuit breaker box to see if there is a ground wire in the meter box of if they put a toner on the ground in the meter box and check for a tone at the outlet. No tone means no ground, otherwise, it will probably pass unless you have a knowledgeable inspector.

Answer 2

If the inspector uses the cheap tester it will give an indication of being properly wired. In reality what you have done is not correct. If an inspector suspects such a trick he may decide to open all outlets for closer inspection. Such deceit indicates you're hiding something and could cause more trouble than you want.

If you have an older house which does not include a ground conductor you should not pull this stunt. Install a GFCI type outlet to get better protection. The ground will still be missing, but any unwanted stray currents will trip the outlet. There will be a sticker included with the outlet stating that it is ungrounded. This method will show you are not hiding anything, doing what you can to improve safety, and will pass inspection.

Answer 3

If your house is old it may have metal conduit in it for the wires to run to the boxes u can come off the outlet green screw and ground to the box it self going to the white wire is not the way, it might work but its not correct, your equiptment ground is what u need for a reference to ground if any short or overcurrent that could appear in line with your needs. And if your inspector sees that u have done what you are thinking of doing he might have u open all the boxes and lite fixtures
he has the ahj ( athourity having jurisdiction) he has the final say. If all fails u need to put in a gfci recpt .

Answer 4

By code a proper ground is one wired directly to the fuse box.But with older homes its definitely a problem.some people would also wrap the wire around the metal box to ground it...As for passing i don't know what the inspectors use, as far as if its more in-depth rather than a simple 7.99 one you can pick up at your local hardware store .But if they open up the outlet i don't think they would let it pass.By not properly grounding it can result in electrocution the ground wire is what trips the breaking to cutt of the power.If its by a moist location such as kitchen ,bath ,or basement wouldnt be a bad idea to do it right.They would be more dangerous pron.

Answer 5

It will pass the test because the netural is ground all in theory. But you need watch out because there might be some voltage on the netural "white wire" and if the voltage goes to something that is susposed to be grounded then you blow what ever it is up. just dont hook up the ground you'll be better off that way " not recomended but it will be ok"

Answer 6

You would be better off running a ground wire to a cold water pipe and useing a ground clamp.

Answer 7

do you have a cgfi tester does the cgfi trip when tested ? anyway yes it will pass test don it before

Answer 8

Warren91 has the best answer, don't try and buffalo the inspector, he can make things rough on you.

Answer 9

no becuase you will have a short to ground in your outlet and it wont work once you plug something in. Dont connect your ground to anything except for the grounding screw on your outlet.

Answer 10

yes it will pass.