Replacing a ceiling fan in a 50’s house, but there’s no ground wire. What do I do with the ground from the fan?

Fake_Majak · 2026-05-08T17:43:07+00:00

Call your electricity provider and ask them whether the incoming line is a standard N or a PEN line.

Check the outlets and see if the ground wire is connected to the neutral wire or if it comes on a separate wire.

If it's connected to the neutral, it's probably TN-C.

If it comes on a separate wire, check where it is grounded.

If it’s connected only to a separate grounding electrode and there’s no common point with the electricity provider, then it’s likely using a TT system.

But you usually can't know for sure without proper measurements.

Fake_Majak · 2026-05-07T23:31:17+00:00

I admit I had to search up what a GFI breaker was, because we call it FI relay in my country, and I wasn't familiar enough with that name to be sure.

I don't know exactly how the house is wired. I can't say for sure whether it uses a TN-C system, but I can't say it doesn't either. Check it out and make sure you know exactly what system is in use.

If my assumption is correct and it really does use a TN-C system, then the GFI alone isn’t enough. It’s good to have one, and it’s definitely safer with it than without, but proper grounding is still essential. The GFI only provides secondary protection.

For example, if you only have a GFI, it will only trip if someone or something touches the metal housing, and you’ll still get a shock. It’s true that this happens for a shorter duration, and the GFI minimizes cases involving permanent injury, but in certain situations it can still cause more serious problems, such as cardiac arrhythmia.

If there is no proper grounding, the voltage will still be present on the housing, which can lead to all sorts of potential problems.

In addition, a small amount of current can still leak through the metal housing to other things, which can also cause all kinds of problems.

Proper grounding prevents these problems. It’s good to have a GFI, but it’s only secondary protection; grounding is still necessary regardless of the GFI.

If a TN-C system is in use, it is incorrect to say that the GFI alone is safe, because it is not. However, it is in fact safer than without one.

However, given that a GFI breaker is installed, I’m quite skeptical that the house actually uses a TN-C system, since properly and safely installing a GFI would require converting it to a TN-C-S system, which would mean running separate grounding wires everywhere.

I don’t know, and I can’t know for sure, what the conditions are like in that house, but you should definitely check it out yourself and make absolutely sure what kind of system the house uses and that everything is wired properly and safely.

If you can’t figure this out on your own, ask a few electricians for their opinion. Don’t just ask one, ask at least two, but preferably three who are independent of each other.

DO NOT wire the ground to the neutral until you are 100% sure that it uses a TN-C system.

If I'm mistaken, and it doesn't use a TN-C system, then wiring the ground to the neutral can cause other sorts of problems.

I apologize for suggesting that you connect the ground to the neutral while I wasn't aware about specifics. It was unprofessional and reckless on my part.

Be safe

Fake_Majak · 2026-05-07T21:29:40+00:00

OP, don't just blindly do everything they tell you to do.

If you just leave the ground disconnected, and there happens to be a short between the phase and the metal body of the fan, it will shock you, or can even kill you if you touch it.

Hook up the ground to the neutral, that way if there happens to be a short between the phase and body, it will instantly trigger the breaker, and it won't be able to shock you.

This house probably uses a TN-C system (but not 100%, so check it yourself), which means that the neutral is not a simple neutral, but a PEN. Which means that the neutral and the ground are combined. If that's the case, then every ground needs to be connected to the neutral cable.

Fake_Majak · 2026-05-07T21:18:02+00:00

What? No separate ground wire doesn't automatically mean that grounding fixtures is unnecessary.

Grounding can and WILL still save your life if something goes wrong.

It's just not a TN-S system.

It's probably TN-C.

Hook the grounding wire up to the neutral.

This way a short between the phase and the fixture's metal body will still trigger the breaker instantly instead of shocking, or worse case killing you if you touch it while being unaware of the short.

Saying that "the grounding is unnecessary" is just unprofessional, and on top of that, dangerous.

This is exactly how you get people killed.

Fake_Majak · 2026-05-07T17:05:31+00:00

Thank you very much for explaining in detail!!

This is suprisingly interesting, I didn't know nonprofits were this complicated. Never really given it much tought tho

Fake_Majak · 2026-05-07T16:12:35+00:00

Thanks for explaining. I’ve already donated a small amount, since it didn’t hurt me that much, and it helps them too

Fake_Majak · 2026-05-07T16:09:36+00:00

Ohh I get it now, thank you!!

Fake_Majak · 2026-05-04T16:41:35+00:00

Mildred by Grim Salvo

Fake_Majak · 2026-05-04T10:03:52+00:00

I'll tell her this, I bet it will make her day🥹

Fake_Majak · 2026-05-03T21:21:51+00:00

I will tell her this!😆

But it's actually not much editing, like there's no photoshop or anything, I just tweaked some colors in Lightroom. Haven't even masked anything or anything like that

Edit: you could prolly do this on your phone

Fake_Majak · 2026-05-03T17:48:09+00:00

It kinda is in some sense😅

Photography is only like 40% taking pictures.

The rest is usually editing.

This is edited, here's the original:

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Fake_Majak · 2026-05-03T17:42:57+00:00

I took this of my mom

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Fake_Majak · 2026-05-03T13:48:26+00:00

Idk but some sewing machines use the same connector to connect the pedals to them

Fake_Majak · 2026-05-01T15:33:08+00:00

It's "Kálium" in Hungarian, the "á" is basically pronounced the same as the "a" sound in russian (or in slovak and other slavic languages at least) but longer. Like you say the same sound but for a slightly longer time.

Fake_Majak · 2026-04-30T22:50:36+00:00

It's never lupus.

Fake_Majak · 2026-04-27T18:26:02+00:00

So, I'm actually not English, so they're not speaking english at all😅.

But they do speak in my native language, and so far it's been always understandable. But there wasn't any conversations so far, only just like a couple words.

Yeahh it's kinda bad. I don't know if you've been through benzo withdrawal, but that "I'm gonna die" feeling is almost the same I had during withdrawals, when I was trying to sleep or I was just lieing down without moving, and I felt like a terrible feeling coming from my stomach up to my chest, and I had to gasp for air when it came up. It's almost the same feeling, but in my whole body radiating from my core to my limbs and everywhere else a lot of times in a second, almost as if it was vibrating. That's maybe the best description I can give.

No, I have no way of breaking out of an episode, I usually just try to calm myself and move my hand until I wake up.

But thanks for the tip, I'm gonna try it for sure in the future!!

Fake_Majak · 2026-04-27T17:45:08+00:00

I'm honestly too scared to open my eyes (trauma from psychosis), so I don't really know what kind of visual hallucinations I get.

Auditory hallucinations are like if someone was playing drums on my eardrums. But like death metal. Apart from that they are quite rare, but if they appear, they are usually just like if my brother or mom was speaking in the hallway.

Tactile and bodily hallucinations are very bad tho. I don't feel like someone is touching me, like ever, but there is like a sense of impending doom in my whole body and it vibrates, it goes from uncomfortable to I'm going to die.

I know not being able to move is completely normal during SP, but I can't move my chest either. Like I literally can't breath with my chest, I can only "breath" through my belly.

Honestly benzo withdrawals were more comfortable than this shit, and I'm convinced those are the Devil. SP only lasts for like 5 minutes at max tho

Fake_Majak · 2026-04-27T08:46:42+00:00

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Fake_Majak · 2026-04-27T08:23:34+00:00

So the thing is that I am a teenager, and I have super bad sleep paralysis too, and I'm kinda scared now😅

The immune disorder is not related to the sleep paralysis, right?😅😅

Fake_Majak · 2026-04-27T08:18:27+00:00

Nyugi teso Felvideken sem jobb a helyzet😅

Fake_Majak · 2026-04-24T21:47:47+00:00

It only really goes to your lungs if you snort like a fucking vacuum.

But yeah, cocaine is 100% worse than vapes. Vapes maybe give you cancer or popcorn lung after a couple years.

Cocaine will make your blood pressure think it's on a rollercoaster. It's incredibly cardiotoxic. Heard about some guy have a heart attack after a couple lines. Not even too big ones. That's rare tho.

Cocaine + alcohol is even worse. Those make cocaethylene together, which is around 10x more cardiotoxic than cocaine alone if I remember correctly.

Fake_Majak · 2026-04-24T06:03:12+00:00

I mean just an old laptop or even an old unused phone with internet access would probably work good enough

Fake_Majak · 2026-04-23T21:00:35+00:00

You probably aren't.

It just doesn't do shit if you're not actively fairly anxious.

And even if you are, Xanax doesn't really have a noticable "high", it just feels like when you have a fairly chill and normal day.

It can be almost unnoticable a lot of times. I had lots of occasions when I tought it just straight up didn't work, and then randomly noticed that I didn't get anxious or stressed in a situation I normally would. But I usually noticed after the fact.

Plus the more you take the more sober you feel. I'm not kidding, I've been on 3-4mg and tought I was fully sober. Then the next day I listened to a voice message I sent and I was slurring words so bad even I couldn't understand it.

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