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I live in a building that was built in the 1940s that was recently remodeled (all new kitchen, flooring, bedroom carpet, remodeled right before we moved in). I recently discovered that the outlets in the kitchen are properly grounded, but *ALL* of the other outlets in the apartment are not grounded, even though they are are brand new 3 prong outlets.
What I'm assuming happened is that when they replaced the cabinetry in the kitchen, they redid the wiring there because the electrical panel is on the other side of the wall the stove is on (easy access) and everywhere else they just replaced 2 prong outlets with 3 prong ones and didn't correct the wiring as it would have been costly.
My understanding of proper electrical code is that if there is only 2 wires feeding the outlet it needs to be either A) a two prong outlet or B) a GFI that is marked as "not grounded".
Is my understanding of code correct? Does that mean they most likely put in these outlets to make it look like it was up to code but isn't?
EDIT to add: And for my own curiosity, I just flipped off some breakers till I found the one feeding the outlet in the dining room and took the plate off the outlet there, then loosened the outlet mounting screws to pull the outlet about an inch out of the wall and it is definitely 2 wire knob and tube with nothing connected to the green ground screw in the outlet. Assuming the rest of the outlets are like this, that's not proper code, right?
Also: here's a picture of the panel, the outlets in question are on the #9 breakers on the left (though it turned my picture so they're middle bottom, across from 10):
Last edited by eightbitguy; 01-10-2016 at 06:10 AM..
Code or not (that varies everywhere, there is no code for residential homes where I live) none of what you have going on sounds safe. Too much power flowing through the old knob and tube wiring, and if an appliance needs a ground and gets plugged into an ungrounded three prong outlet, well, that's not good.
For clarification, I live in Seattle (proper, not a suburb) so I'm assuming the code here would be at least to the national standard.
Edited to add: I found on the city website where they talk about electric code. They use the national code here with a small book of additions/clarifications specific to the city, but I can't imagine they would specifically allow what's going on in my apt.
Last edited by eightbitguy; 01-10-2016 at 07:23 AM..
Was a permit pulled for the kitchen remodel?
Should one have been pulled?
Was the work inspected by the City?
This is a fairly large apt complex (20 or so buildings, each with 6-8 apts) and they remodeled every apt. There's no way they didn't get permits, but that doesn't mean something hinky happened.
Here is a better picture of the panel and some of the outlet in question. I'm 99% sure that's knob and tube, but I'm not an electrician. There's definitely only 2 wires in there, and there's nothing from the green ground screw on the outlet to the box.
Also: most of the outlets are on the double breaker marked #9, however they only loose power if I flip *both* of the #9 breakers. I know they can share a neutral, but shouldn't some turn off if I flip one and some if I turn off the other? That also seems wonky.
The metal box may "NOT" be grounded...If it isn't -----> a grounded receptacle should "NOT" have been used for an upgrade....
Well, yeah. I was working on the assumption the box was grounded if BX was used.
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I thought when a reno is done, and knob and tube is found, it must be upgraded. 
