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Grounding wires all leaving box

884 Views 8 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  sdRick
I have a strange situation going on in my bathroom device box where I want to install a GFCI. The house was built in '71. The box has 1 outlet and a double switch. One side for the light and one for the fan. Turns out there are 5 3-wire conduits coming in there. I believe that:

  • 1 is power directly from the circuit breaker.
  • 1 is leaving to go to the fan
  • 1 is leaving to go to the light
  • 1 is going to an attic light and then onto a bed light
  • 1 is going to kitchen lights

So it's way to crowded in there. I then decided to put a junction box in the attic for the power,attic,and kitchen lights, then just one power down to the bathroom. However upon further inspection i don't know what is going on with the grounds. Each of the 5 grounds that enter the box immediately do a u-turn and go back up and I think to the left. 1 ground comes back in and was hooked to the outlet. The double switch did not have a ground, i changed that.

I am now skeptical about removing the lines and putting the junction in the attic because of the weird grounding situation. But I can't fit a GFCI in the current overloaded box so I think I need to do it.

Does anyone have any thoughts on what might be going on with the grounds?

Thank you
Rick
1 - 4 of 9 Posts
You got it, I'll try to take one tonight.
Thanks for the input.
I understand what you are explaining. Would it make a difference if the device box is not metal? Would you still assume the same 'back wrap' method?
thanks again.
You were right guys. The grounds were terminated outside the box. The grounds weren't connected to anything on the box or the wall just crimped together outside the box. I needed to replace the old box anyway so I tore it apart piece by piece to get at all the wires without having to cut any of them. It was an old fiberglass kind of box so it tore apart pretty easily.
Thanks for your help.
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