I recently moved into my condo and I noticed that when they painted the walls the painters went over the outlets so some were filled with paint. I decided to change out the outlets so I went to a hardware store, purchased some standard outlets and watched a bunch of YouTube tutorials.
My first outlet had the ground wire and instead of having 2 black and 2 white wires there was one of each and they were solid, not cut just a solid wire. I went back to the hardware store and they said to just connect it the same way on the new outlet. I went home and did that.
All the outlets run through the same wires. It concerned me though that only one outlet had a ground wire, is that OK? Also I bought the light indicator to let me know everything was connected OK and got the code that it was. Now, 2 days later, with only a lamp connected and on, the circuit breaker went off. I tried turning it back into the on position, but it keeps going off. It won't stay in the on position; what should I do? I am hoping it's only the circuit breaker.
By Carlos from Chicago
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I've never seen an outlet without a ground wire. To be honest it sounds as though the previous owner 'got creative' (used a non-professional to wire the condo) and hoped for the best - Carlos, you've got a very serious wiring problem!
You need to shut down the circuit breaker to those outlets NOW for your safety - frankly this is a terrible, possibly fatal fire waiting to happen.
Get a professional, qualified and insured electrician in ASAP and until properly wired don't even think about using those circuits.
Please update this once you have had your wiring inspected and repaired. It's very likely you can charge this cost back to the person who sold you this condo - they knew those outlets were not up to code, they had to have! Consult an attorney with whatever the electrician tells you.
I agree with the previous poster. I think that it is time to call in a certified electrician before you start an electrical fire. These guys go to school and train with qualified journeymen for their trade.
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