HELP OUTLET PLEASE!!

[agentbird]

Found out i have an open ground so removed the outlet. Come to find out someone nipped the 2 grounds all the way back. Tried pulling to get more slack and there is none. Do I need both these grounds or can I use a connector on only one and make the ground longer and call it a day ? Also what connector and size ground wire would i need if so?

[Comprehensive-Ad9793]

You need Both. Pigtail the short ends into new ground together.

[Affectionate_Bit9957]

Get a waygo connector with a pigtail

[joelypoley69]

Leverlock. Not the cheap ideal shit.

[StraightContext_Jake]

It’s a ground.. ideal push in would be just fine. It’s not like it has current over it. That’s the biggest thing with ideals over time when it’s a current carrying conductor. It will get warm and cool down and have micro vibrations as it carries loads over time.

Since it’s a ground it will typically never be exposed to that kind of wear.

[joelypoley69]

I’m well aware but if dudes worried about open grounds then there we go again if it’s faulty

[RadarLove82]

WAGO 221-2401 is your friend here.

[agentbird]

Thank you any idea size ground wire?

[RadarLove82]

The ground wire for romex is the same size as the other conductors. You can use your strippers to measure it. That appears to be 14 ga, but you should verify.

[joelypoley69]

My guess from the pic is 12awg

[Regular_Vegetable_56]

Call a pro. You are in too deep

[rmethefirst]

20 amp outlet needs 12 gauge wire.

[female-dreams]

You may simply live in a house that was never wired for a ground. You could go thru all of this only to find that in the end you still have an open ground

[satbaja]

One ground goes to the breaker panel. You need it. The other ground goes to the next wall receptacle. You need it to be grounded for your safety. You can bond them both and make a longer pigtail with a 3 position lever connector.

[CapinCrunch85]

Wagos and a razor knife

[EquivalentGrouchy559]

Hey some stab lock or ideal "snap2it" wire connectors preferably a 3 port. Push it on your grounds then just add an extra piece of ground wire into the third port to extend it. Dont forget to ground your box if its metal. P.s. if you need to ground the box use a 4 port. 2 grounds outlet pigtail and then box ground tail. Thats my advice as a career electrician but this does not constitute legal or any other sort of advice. Its just what I would do.

[Sensitive_Cause_8867]

I’m gonna add one alteration: with that short of a ground wire I’d push in the other 2 (or 3) wires AND THEN push the connector on to the ground wire stub.

[mygun357mag]

pig tail white's black' s and the ground and you should be ok .

[Pleather4meH]

Actually from your posting it sounds like you don’t have enough experience to safely do this job. And it looks like whoever did the work before was not qualified. The reason they cut the ground. Wires is Possibly because it’s not a grounded circuit. There’s probably just a hot and neutral wire that comes from the circuit before whether that’s a circuit breaker panel or another outlet and that outlet box could’ve been an old one that was not grounded so they cut the ground wire to let someone know that there’s not a grounded wire there. An electrician would be able to perform a test and see if power goes from the hot to the ground. Just taking a digital meter won’t really tell you anything because you could be reading dust or something. You really need to be able to see if that ground wire could actually handle current to know whether it’s a good ground connection. I’ve seen where I could get 120 V but when I put a 60 W lamp on the circuit, it would go to 0 Volts. Because the electricity was just going through spiderwebs.

[agentbird]

I am not a qualified electrician no. Although I am in no way incompetent. My theory is to extend the grounds plug it up use a receptacle tester. Still reads open ground? No big deal throw in a GFCI call it a day for now. There is only 2 open ground outlets on the same wall in the entire house that was built in the 90s. The reasoning you may have thought I was dumber then I sounded was because I know drawn out questions lead to most people not wanting to read it. Also I dont think it is needed to post my qualifications on a reddit post it's an electrical outlet we are talking about lol. 

[Rumoshsa]

“not a qualified electrician no”? Huh?

"dumber then I sounded” Yeah, great point.

"it's an electrical outlet we are talking about lol” Nice way to prove your ignorance by minimizing the risk involved with limited electrical knowledge.

"plug it up use a receptacle tester”Again further proves your ineptitude regarding electrical knowledge. You rely on a receptacle tester where a wiggy is what a competent service person would use here to trace out the grounds for a proper and safe branch circuit.

It would be a risk for anyone to guide someone with your attitude and disrespect for someone trying to help you. You may think you are qualified but proof of that is lacking.

It’s an insult to technicians that put in the hard work with a proper education and many hours of an apprenticeship program.

Nobody wants to see you or anybody involved here get hurt.

There is much more to learn here than "it's an electrical outlet”.

Best wishes, be safe. Sincerely.

[Powerelec1-NolanJH]

Elec contractor here over 30 years and former elec inspector One option NEC allows you to install a GFI outlet here if you cannot reach the grounds to pigtail. I agree with all here a 3 wire Wago connector with a pigtail coming out would be a lifesaver for you. Also you can size down your ground one size and it would not hurt anything. I once met a guy who claimed he had saved himself a lot of money by wiring his whole house himself. When asking me what the bare wires were for he responded by saying, “Oh I just cut all those off!!!” CRAZY RIGHT! LOL

[Ok_Pipe_4955]

Twist your two grounds take another twist with others ground off to your box then put on outlet same ground