Utterly Confused

Tearing out a wall cabinet uncovered a hole in the wall which I think I can install an outlet on.  The problem is that the ground wires are to short to pull out far enough to attach to the outlet.



However, the box in the wall is metal, so there should still be an path to the ground from the outlet right?  Or is there something special about the green screw on the outlet which makes that the only safe spot to attach the ground to?



box I uncovered:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-v...s538/photo.jpg



fuzzy picture of the inside of the box showing the ground being attached to metal box:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-B...303_154810.jpg



The outlet I want to install... (although I dont know how to pick the right outlet based on the limited info on the wiring I have, so any help with that would also be appreciated):

http://www.homedepot.com/Electrical-...&storeId=10051
      

We just got a used hot tub.  It ran fine where we purchased it but since we got it home, it has not run.  We installed a new breaker for the hot tub and an GFCI outlet outside.  The hot tub inself has a GFCI installed on it.  If we plug it into the GFCI outlet it runs for a few seconds and either trips the circuit inside or the hot tub.  Is it necessary to have a GFCI outlet outisde if the hot tub has one?  We are thinking that this may be our problem..redundancy.  Can we install a regular outlet outside instead of the GFCI outlet?  When we plug it into a regular outlet it runs.  We want to make sure that this is safe before proceeding.
      

I recently purchased the Meco 9359 electric BBQ since I cannot have gas or charcoal grills in my condo. The instructions recommend plugging into an outlet with at least 15 amps. The grill itself has a 1500 watt rating. The outlet on my deck (15 amps) is shared with the 2nd bedroom, the bathroom and one outlet in the kitchen. Out of all these recipticles, the one in the kitchen is the only one with something plugged into it (an emergency flashlight that lights up when the power goes out). The



My father, God love him, sometimes cries Armageddon when things aren't 100% perfect in his eyes and is recommending that I return the grill. Is there an inherit danger using this grill in the outdoor outlet based on what I've listed? The outside outlet is not GFCI, would replacing it with one help?
      

OK, I'm an electrical dummy ...



I have finished basement w/a bathroom. We have an ejector pump off the bathroom that has been plugged into an outlet w/gfi since I've owned the house (10 years). There is also a booster fan for my electric dryer plugged into the outlet (has been the same for 10 years).  The only thing that has ever tripped up that outlet is using a hair buzzer in another outlet within the bathroom (but once you hit the reset its fine).

   

  This morning I realize the ejector pump was not sucking down the water from the drains. I looked at the outlet and realized it needed to be reset. When I reset it, the pump would run for a few seconds and the outlet would trip up again. Tried this a few times. Thought maybe it was an issue w/the outlet altogether. Neighbor suggested maybe it was an issue with the pump. Went thru various scenarios and bottom line is when I plug the pump into other outlets it works totally fine and once I do that and reset the outlet it was on, the booster fan works fine and the outlet does not trip. So, basically this outlet is tripping when the pump is on it but the pump is not tripping other outlets and the outlet works fine as long as the pump is not on it.

   

  What could be causing this? Why would an outlet that housed the two things on it all of a sudden continue to trip when the pump is on it but the pump is fine on its own in another outlet and the outlet is fine on its own w/o the pump?
      

I recently switched over from AT&T phone/cable/Internet service to Cablevision. 



The problem with both services is the coax cable coming through a hole in the wall from outside and then a phone line from their modem stapled to the floor board and tied into the phone outlet inside.  Then there's my phone lines, the coax cable to the TV... It's a disgusting mess.



I'd like to install a combination phone line and cable outlet in the wall and get rid of as much loose wiring as possible.  The phone line would come through the same area as the cable and I'd wire it on the other end to the main box outside the house.



I have no experience with this so my question is can I take the phone line from the Cablevision modem and simply plug it into the outlet and get all the phones in the house to work or does it have to be hard wired or piggybacked inside the outlet?
      

I am thinking of purchasing a WineKoolr used but after looking at the manual online it states that it must be plugged into a "Dedicated separately fused, grounded, 15 amp 100-120v line." The price I can get this at is awesome, but I live in apartment and am not sure, but think I only have 1 dedicated line at all, for the fridge. The previous owners said they just had it plugged into a normal outlet fine, but I want to know if it is a serious issue to do this? I really want a nice cooler for my beer cellar since I have no actual basement, so I am really hoping I can make this work in my home. Thanks for any help!





*Someone asked me on another forum what breakers I have for where I want to install it, and its in my second bedroom.  The breaker for those outlets is a 15A.  They also said that it probably says that in the manual to cover themselves legally but I should likely be just fine.





**

Well I turned off the breakers until I found which was for the outlets in the spare room.  As far as I can tell, the only things on this circuit are the spare bedroom outlets (not the lights), and 1 outlet in the hallway.  Nothing is plugged into any of these and its a 20A circuit.
      

I only have one outlet in my living room and I need another one for sure. What are some ways I can do this?  There is not another outlet on the other side of the wall, we had a electrician come add a light with switch and he said something about closing off a line behind the switch box.  Is it possible to re-open that line? We also have a attic which I was told at homedepot is easy to do if you have another outlet in the next room you don't use. Any help is greatly appreciated!!
      

I replaced an existing light switch with a switch/outlet combo.  The outlet works and switch operates light only, all appears to be working.



I plugged in a 660W device into the outlet and the light starts to flicker when the device is on, when the device is off, light stops flickering.



If I move the 660W device to an existing outlet in the same room, light does not flicker.



I don't think it should be a load issue but couldn't figure out why else the light flickers.
      

Hey everyone - question about home wiring that was done when the house  was built about 20 years ago (which putting it delicately...is very  shoddy at best).  I'd like to think of myself as fairly knowledgeable in  basic home wiring...but this one has me baffled and I really hope  someone can help.



I am redoing a screened-in porch at the back of our house.  There is  currently a working outlet, and single-pole switch that turns on an  outside bug zapper, and a wire running coming into a second  switch...then leading into nothing in the ceiling (presumably for a  future ceiling fan / light install that was never completed).  I gutted  the entire porch and using one of those audible voltage testers,  discovered the wire than ran into the second switch / ceiling box did  NOT work. 



Not thinking much about it, I tried figuring out how the first switch  (to that outdoor bug zapper) was wired.  Most of the wiring for that  switch and the outlet I mentioned is behind the plywood sheathing of the  house...so it's near impossible to figure out where it goes.  Initially  it LOOKED like the power from the circuit panel came into the outlet  first...and then went out to the bug zapper switch.  (Why did I think  this?  The outlet had a B/W wire coming into it...and another B/W going  out back into the wall somewhere.  Tracing that wire along the basement  foundation best I could...it looked like it went right into the bug  zapper switch).  So wanting to completely eliminate the bug zapper  switch, I disconnected all of the wires that were connected to the  outlet to figure out which set was leading to it.



Here's where I got confused.  When I did this and re-tested voltage at  the outlet, one set of wires was live...and the other set was dead.  And  that makes perfect sense.  Yet the bug zapper switch STILL worked.  OK -  so my conclusion: the power for this bug zapper switch isn't coming  from the outlet.  No problem.  But just because I was near it, I decided  to also check that 2nd switch / ceiling wire combo...and what do you know - it was LIVE!



I got super excited it was working but then super baffled because I  didn't do anything to that ceiling wire at all.  In fact - all I did was  DISconnect 2 sets of wires at a nearby outlet. 



Confused but happy, I was ready to pack it in for the evening and  re-connected the incoming / outgoing wires back to the power outlet.   Flipped the circuit breaker on.  No issues.  BUT - now all of a sudden  the 2nd switch / ceiling wire that magically started working was NO  longer working - just like it hadn't been since I started this whole  process. 



Logic is telling me it's obviously got something to do with the outlet  wiring...since that's the only thing I messed with.  But why would the  ceiling wire all of a sudden become LIVE when the wires going into the  outlet were all disconnected?  It's certainly a first for me.  Can anyone help me figure this mystery out?  Thanks gang!
      

I have a 4 prong 220v outlet in my garage and would like to convert it to a 3 prong outlet for my welder and compressor.



Do I just put a wire nut on the neutral and tuck it back in the box?  Then install the new 3 prong outlet using the two hots and ground?



Thanks.