# Neutral to Ground shows continuity



## joed (Mar 13, 2005)

The ground and the neutral are connect together at the main panel. Continuity between them should be present. If it was open then you would have a problem.


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## bob98 (Nov 2, 2011)

Thanks. I guess, this is an exception to all the receptacles in the house. All others show no connection between Neutral and ground. 
So, back goes on the power.
(then, how to figure out a way to ground the rest of the house.)


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## Jim Port (Sep 21, 2007)

The panel ground has nothing to do with the ground prong on the receptacles.


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## bob98 (Nov 2, 2011)

but when checked for connectivity at the receptacle, the Neutral and ground should show that they are connected, right? 
And yes, the panel ground is different from the wiring ground.


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## brric (Mar 5, 2010)

More than likely someone has changed most or all of the two wire receps to three wire throughout the house.


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## bob98 (Nov 2, 2011)

yes, obviously, someone did that. And I just assumed when I bought the house--3 slot receptacle, meant grounded wiring. Was I ever wrong, but too late. However, my last question, needs confirmation--it is correct then, at this particular outlet, which does have 3 conductor cable coming in, to see continuity between the Neutral and the ground.


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## Know A Little (Sep 29, 2013)

Jim Port said:


> The panel ground has nothing to do with the ground prong on the receptacles.


What?

The ground at the panel should be at the same potential (assuming no shorts to ground) as all the other grounds in a residence.

The panel ground has everything to do with the ground on a receptacle.


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## brric (Mar 5, 2010)

Know A Little said:


> What?
> 
> The ground at the panel should be at the same potential (assuming no shorts to ground) as all the other grounds in a residence.
> 
> The panel ground has everything to do with the ground on a receptacle.


The grounded conductor and the grounding conductor are connected to the same place in service entrance panel which are in turn connected to the grounded conductor from the meter.


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## brric (Mar 5, 2010)

bob98 said:


> yes, obviously, someone did that. And I just assumed when I bought the house--3 slot receptacle, meant grounded wiring. Was I ever wrong, but too late. However, my last question, needs confirmation--it is correct then, at this particular outlet, which does have 3 conductor cable coming in, to see continuity between the Neutral and the ground.


Yes, provided they are both connected at the panel.


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## bob98 (Nov 2, 2011)

Thank you. --- I found that this receptacle is the only thing on its breaker going to the new, grounded panel. It threw me off, seeing continuity between the ground and the Neutral, since all other receptacles in the house have none. So, I am good to go, to restore power. I feel better. thanks, everyone.


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## Know A Little (Sep 29, 2013)

brric said:


> The grounded conductor and the grounding conductor are connected to the same place in service entrance panel which are in turn connected to the grounded conductor from the meter.


No crap, read what he posted about the ground at the panel and the ground at the receptacle.


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## Know A Little (Sep 29, 2013)

bob98 said:


> I'll try again: this house has no equipment grounded outlets, at least that is what I thought. When I check the outlets, there is no continuity between anything.
> 
> I had an electrician replace the old panel with a new one, including installing an earth ground. But since the house wiring is two conductor, it is only good for when new wiring or upgrading.
> 
> ...


Someone must have added a 2-wire with ground for this "3-pronged" receptacle. There should be continuity between the neutral and ground at the receptacle.


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## Jim Port (Sep 21, 2007)

Know A Little said:


> What?
> 
> The ground at the panel should be at the same potential (assuming no shorts to ground) as all the other grounds in a residence.
> 
> The panel ground has everything to do with the ground on a receptacle.


The GEC has nothing to do with the EGC on a receptacle


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## Know A Little (Sep 29, 2013)

Jim Port said:


> The GEC has nothing to do with the EGC on a receptacle


THe grounding SYSTEM is comprised of the GEC and EGC, panel ground bar, and at the panel the neutral/grounded conductor are all common at the panel and had better have the same ground potential through the residence, except under fault conditions.

That a system can operate without a GEC has nothing to do with this discussion and was NOT MENTIONED, by me, the OP or the person that responded to my first post in this thread.

What you posted



> The panel ground has nothing to do with the ground prong on the receptacles.


And that is FLAT WRONG


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## k_buz (Mar 22, 2012)

Know A Little said:


> And that is FLAT WRONG


The only thing they have in common is that they are connected in the panel. The purpose of the ground at the receptacle is to provide a fault path. 

If there was no water bond or ground rods connected to the service, nothing would change and the ground at a receptacle would still be useful since the service neutral is what actually provides the fault path.

Now, if you unbond the ground and neutral, there is a very high probability that the resistance of that ground will not be great enough to trip a breaker.


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## Know A Little (Sep 29, 2013)

k_buz said:


> The only thing they have in common is that they are connected in the panel. The purpose of the ground at the receptacle is to provide a fault path.
> 
> If there was no water bond or ground rods connected to the service, nothing would change and the ground at a receptacle would still be useful since the service neutral is what actually provides the fault path.
> 
> Now, if you unbond the ground and neutral, there is a very high probability that the resistance of that ground will not be great enough to trip a breaker.


And you agree with this?



> The panel ground has nothing to do with the ground prong on the receptacles.


K, are they or are they not at the same potential? Flat out that was my response nothing more nothing less. 

I know about grounding I make my living among other things doing testing ground systems and and investigating ground issues.


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## Jim Port (Sep 21, 2007)

Then you should be able to see that what I posted was not wrong.


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## k_buz (Mar 22, 2012)

Technically, yes I do. The term "ground" is misleading to the layman IMO. The functionality of the ground on a receptacle has nothing to do with the service being "grounded".


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## bob98 (Nov 2, 2011)

I turned the power on. My little three light tester gives two yellow lights, which indicates the wiring is "correct." I just realized the receptacle I installed is a 15 amp. But the new breakers are 20. Oops. I guess I have to change out the receptacle.
I trust that the electrician hooked up the earth ground to the panel correctly, so the ground wire is a true return to earth and the Neutral goes to the neutral bus.


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## Jim Port (Sep 21, 2007)

If the receptacle is a duplex you do not need to change it to a T-slot 20 amp device.


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## bob98 (Nov 2, 2011)

Thanks for that info. --will save me some cut fingers!


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## TLHjr (Feb 7, 2021)

Just to try to make it clear to everyone: Most modern houses have Romex style wiring that have 2 "conductors" and a "ground" within a single outer insulated sheathing. For regular 120v applications like receptacles, the two conductors are generally sheathed in black and white insulation, the black wire being "hot" and the white being "neutral". Generally the ground wire is uninsulated. If insulated, the ground wire would normally be green. On a receptacle the neutral wire is connected to the silver screw on the back, which is connected to the wider slot on the front where you plug things in. The hot wire is connected to a gold/bronze or black colored screw which goes to the narrow slot, while the ground generally goes to a green screw that ultimately connects to the round hole on the front of the receptacle.

If you trace these back to the "Breaker Box" or "Load Center" the black "hot" wire will be connect to a breaker, the white "neutral" to a buss bar with multiple connectors on it.... so the neutrals of all the wires end up being connected to this bar. The ground wire is connected to a DIFFERENT buss bar than the neutral. If there is only one panel in the house or if the panel is the MAIN panel from which subsidiary breaker boxes are fed, the ground and neutral are BONDED.. meaning even though the two bars are separate, there will be a special strap electrically connecting the two. At subsidiary boxes the ground and neutral must be separate they CANNOT BE BONDED, or the electric safety mechanisms may not work correctly.

The upshot of all of this is that the ground and neutral are bonded at the main breaker box. This would mean that ANY receptacle should have continuity between ground and neutral, even if they go through a subsidiary breaker box where they are unconnected because ultimately you can trace the circuit all the way back to the main panel where they ARE connected.


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## Jim Port (Sep 21, 2007)

Another. Zombie.


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## quatsch (Feb 4, 2021)

bob98 said:


> there is continuity between the ground and the Neutral. *Is this correct?*


It can be.
If the #14 copper Romex back to the panel is 50' long, then there should be 0.25 ohm resistance (50' one way and 50' back) between the round hole and the long slot.
Less than this means the neutral & ground are strapped together.

Apparently NEC terms are used to clarify meanings for electricians but have the opposite effect for laypersons.


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## quatsch (Feb 4, 2021)

My last post is off by a few decimal points, sorry! I don't know how to edit my posts.

You can measure neutral to ground resistance but you need a 10A load, a voltmeter, and an extension cord.


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