This lightswitch has no ground.

SiLentTRheaD · Sep 19, 2020

Hello Forum members,

Pardon if this is a newbie question, but today I was replacing a light switch at home, and notice it does not have a ground. I put everything back how it was as I'm not sure where to go from here.
I'm attaching pictures of the current light switch, and the new light switch.

My experience: I'm a home DYI, and I've done more complex things like installed outdoor GFCI outlets, and I'm familiar with using a multimeter, but this has me stumped.

Any advice is greatly appreciated and I will do it at my own discretion and with the power off.
Thank you greatly.

Dustydazzler · Sep 19, 2020

Looks like that box was cut out using a chain saw...

as for the ground (earth) wire , it could have been snipped off tight at the cable , which sometimes happens over hear if the electricia is being lazy and can’t be bothered to terminate on the ground terminal...

Dartlec · Sep 19, 2020

Needs someone conversant with US practices, but is there a metal electrical box buried somewhere in the wall there? If so the earth could be present to that, and no pigtail has been brought forward to the switch? I believe I've seen that done on the occasional US video I've watched out of interest...

Megawatt · Sep 20, 2020

SiLentTRheaD said:
Hello Forum members,

Pardon if this is a newbie question, but today I was replacing a light switch at home, and notice it does not have a ground. I put everything back how it was as I'm not sure where to go from here.
I'm attaching pictures of the current light switch, and the new light switch.

My experience: I'm a home DYI, and I've done more complex things like installed outdoor GFCI outlets, and I'm familiar with using a multimeter, but this has me stumped.

Any advice is greatly appreciated and I will do it at my own discretion and with the power off.
Thank you greatly.

Older houses was wired without grounds