# decora upgrade



## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

It depends on the budget. :laughing: What I have done in situations like this is leave the original grounding wire intact, but I run a pigtail from the box to the device. Using a self grounded device would serve the same purpose, obviously.


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## 3DDesign (Oct 25, 2014)

We just did an entire house, built in 1959. We removed the ground from the clamp and used a Buccannon to add one long ground wire. We wrapped it around a ground screw and continued to the device.


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## JCather (Feb 13, 2013)

*don't over do it.*



joebeadg said:


> Hello people. Wondering how other people would go about this. replacing devices in a hse built in the sixties with that smaller gr. wire in the RX, 16ga I guess, and its wrapped around the RX clamp screw in those tiny metal boxes they used to use back then. Now, my thinking is undo it, use a greeny, gr. clip the box and gr. wire to the new rec. Then I think, who else would do this, just leave the grounds as they are and use a self grounding rec. and be done faster. What do you guys do with this old crap?


On older wiring, it's usually best to disturb as little as possible. I'd use self grounding devices and leave the ground wire alone. The other is to leave the ground wire alone and attach another ground wire to the back of the box.


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## dielectricunion (Nov 29, 2012)

joebeadg said:


> Hello people. Wondering how other people would go about this. replacing devices in a hse built in the sixties with that smaller gr. wire in the RX, 16ga I guess, and its wrapped around the RX clamp screw in those tiny metal boxes they used to use back then. Now, my thinking is undo it, use a greeny, gr. clip the box and gr. wire to the new rec. Then I think, who else would do this, just leave the grounds as they are and use a self grounding rec. and be done faster. What do you guys do with this old crap?


whats "RX"?


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## electricguy (Mar 22, 2007)

dielectricunion said:


> whats "RX"?


Romex


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## mdnitedrftr (Aug 21, 2013)

http://www.amazon.com/Gardner-Bender-GGP-1461-Grounding-Captured/dp/B00ATODNS8

Thats what we do.


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## wcord (Jan 23, 2011)

mdnitedrftr said:


> http://www.amazon.com/Gardner-Bender-GGP-1461-Grounding-Captured/dp/B00ATODNS8
> 
> Thats what we do.


You PAY for that?


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## joebeadg (Oct 7, 2008)

ome to think of it, since the gr. wire is so small, maybe we shouldn't be using it to gr. anything! Maybe gfi the circuit and use 3wire recs. with no gr.


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

So what do you guys do with old small gr romex and old bakelite boxes?

Hookup and keep your fingers crossed?


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## Dennis Alwon (May 9, 2009)

macmikeman said:


> So what do you guys do with old small gr romex and old bakelite boxes?
> 
> Hookup and keep your fingers crossed?


It is no different then what they are doing. A #12 pigtail to the box means nothing if the equipment grounding conductor is #16 so you may as well just hook it to the receptacle


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## IEC (Sep 20, 2015)

wcord said:


> You PAY for that?


My city requires them. Ground screws, pass through green nuts and clips are not permitted. Please don't ask me why, as I stopped scratching my head over it a long time ago. They are a pain in the butt. I prefer looping the ground to the screw and then bringing it out to meet the other grounds. Had to redo an entire vet's office I built when the inspector gave me a no-go because of it and said he wanted manufactured grounding pigtails.


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

IEC said:


> My city requires them. Ground screws, pass through green nuts and clips are not permitted. Please don't ask me why, as I stopped scratching my head over it a long time ago. They are a pain in the butt. I prefer looping the ground to the screw and then bringing it out to meet the other grounds. Had to redo an entire vet's office I built when the inspector gave me a no-go because of it and said he wanted manufactured grounding pigtails.


That is something I would fight. At least in a house with a bunch of 14.


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## IEC (Sep 20, 2015)

sbrn33 said:


> That is something I would fight. At least in a house with a bunch of 14.


It was a vet's office - commercial. 

I have no idea how they could possibly enforce a pigtail requirement with Romex. I don't use 14 in houses, though, except for the smokie HR. Everything else is 20a. It's blue box city here, so only the fan fixture/dining, etc boxes are steel. 

Funny thing is, that vet's office was another contractor's job before I took it over when they were fired. All their cans had MC flopping everywhere above the drop ceiling and no support anywhere. I ran independent seismic wires by the cans and batwinged it all and the inspector commented on my cleanup and said it wasn't necessary, that he'd already passed the above-ceiling. But he failed my walls for ground screws instead of pigtails :blink:


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