How to tell if an outlet is grounded

How to tell if an outlet is grounded. Power is provided from the transformer to your house or office. It is supplied with the help of wires. But just connecting the wires for a normal civilian might be dangerous.

So to perform this task a little safer. There is a medium installed between the wires and the device.

The medium connects the wires from the transformer and the plug of the device. This medium is called or is known as an outlet. It provides a little safer base for users and is easier.

It can be even safer if it is grounded. But what if we do not know that the outlet we think is grounded or not grounded? That will be pretty unsafe for us. So in this article, we will learn to know if the outlet is grounded or not.

How to tell if an outlet is grounded

how to tell if an outlet is grounded

You can know if the outlet that you are using is grounded or not in a simple way. You just need to insert or put a probe of the tester into the small slot. The probe should be inserted in the U-shaped slot.

If the tester lights up, that shows your switch or outlet is grounded. If the tester doesn’t show any sign, that means you are using an unsafe and ungrounded outlet.

There are other ways to tell or check the ground unit of the outlet. These are as follows:

Multimeter

A multimeter is a widely used tool by electricians and electronics engineers. It has multiple functions, as you can tell by its name.

Requirements

You just need a screwdriver and a working multimeter. A multimeter meter can be purchased from the store or any electronic shop.

Selecting the outlet

After you have gotten a multimeter, you need to select the outlet you want to test. Most of them have a plastic cover for them.

So you need to unscrew the plastic cover with the help of a screwdriver and remove the cover of the selected board. Place the cover and the screws in a safe spot so you can use them later.

Checking voltage

Checking the current is an essential step. As you have already selected the outlet, you just need to set the multimeter. Turn it to voltage and put one of the probes in a live power slot while the other is in the neutral slot.

Check the reading on the display of the multimeter if it matches the local voltage. That indicates the presence of current in it.

Final step

The last step is checking the ground itself. In this step, we check if the product is actually grounded or not.

  • First, after you have confirmed the presence of the current, you need to remove the probes.
  • Then again, place one probe in the live port.
  • And place the probe you had in the neutral port on the metal box or plate.
  • Make sure the probes are connected or attached correctly.
  • Check the reading on the screen.
  • If the voltage you are seeing is not equal to the voltage you saw before, that means your switch is not grounded.
  • If the voltage is equal, then your board is ground. You can close the board back.

Voltmeter

voltmeter

The working of a voltmeter is easy as well. It was actually used a lot. But a multimeter, because of its function, has taken its place. The steps of it are the same as that of a multimeter. There are two probes on it as well.

One probe for living and the other for neutral. You just need to insert the probes in one port each. One with the current and one with no current.

Then test the current on the meter. It can be either digital as well as analog. Just wait for the voltage to be displayed.

After the voltage, you can check the ground in the same way as the multimeter above. The steps are written on the topic of a multimeter. Just follow them, and you can achieve your results.

Conclusion

The safety of ourselves and the lives of our loved ones is very important. And the ground is one of the ways for safety. It might be a small step, but it can matter as well.

So, test if your circuits have ground and if not, then get them grounded.

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