Hi guys, I'm replacing some lights. I have an old house and I've only got 2 wires in my fan box in the ceiling, a hot and a nuetral, no ground. How do I ground my fan? Do I twist the neutral and ground together like in a stove outlet? Obviously black to black.
NO, do not twist Neut & grn together, never, ever!!!! How old is the house?? Are you sure there is not a ground connected to a screw in the box?? If there are only two wires, you can't connect a ground, that is allowed in old wiring. Since it is a ceiling fan, not having a ground is not essential, for other things like appliances, that is another story.
If you have a metal jacket on your 2 wire the jacket is the ground and just attach the ground wire to a screw on the box. If its a two wire cable with a cloth jacket than there is no ground.
If the fan is wired with BX cable (as is usually the case in an old house) it is probably grounded through the cable's metal jacket. Take a tester and put one probe on the hot and the other on the metal box of the fan. If it's grounded, the tester will show it.
In my house, around 50% of the time the ground is actually there. It was just cut flush with the sheathing by the previous "electrician". Look carefully where the two wires exit any sheathing - use a flashlight and look really closely.
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