6
\$\begingroup\$

I just finished building a project in my house to automate two plugs I installed on the top of my table, but due to laziness I left the ground connections outside the junction box like in the image:

enter image description here

For the purpose of the image I left the junction box open as you can see, but that's of course closed during normal circumstances.

My question is if I should spend time on routing my grounds to the junction box, or if it is OK to just leave it like this.

In case you need this extra info: I live in Europe and our standard is 220 V at 50 Hz.

\$\endgroup\$
3
  • 2
    \$\begingroup\$ You forgot to mention the exposed live and neutral wires (only the inner insulation remains) going into the lower smart switch... \$\endgroup\$ Aug 13, 2022 at 17:12
  • \$\begingroup\$ Have you wired neutral together with earth wire? Dangling wires is not safe if they can get loose accidentally. \$\endgroup\$
    – Justme
    Aug 13, 2022 at 17:50
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Justme just the perspective from the camera. Don't worry I'm not that dumb hahah \$\endgroup\$
    – DeadSec
    Sep 3, 2022 at 19:11

4 Answers 4

16
\$\begingroup\$

So, a small child is playing underneath your table and manages to disconnect one of the earth wires to your newly fitted appliance outlets. Can anybody be aware that this has happened?

Not very likely so, you have now lost the 1st-line of defence against faulty appliances and, if an appliance (later-on) develops a live to chassis fault, you will have a dangerous situation that may be remedied by GCFIs or RCBs on your main electrical box. Do you want to take that risk: -

enter image description here

Note the red highlighted words from THE RCD HANDBOOK, BEAMA GUIDE TO THE SELECTION AND APPLICATION OF RESIDUAL CURRENT DEVICES 4RCDs5. You lose earth and your first line of defence against electric shock is lost. So, you need to protect your earth wires from unintentional dislodgement.

\$\endgroup\$
1
  • \$\begingroup\$ This is a really good response. Thanks for the help, Ill definitely work work it out and safely guard the cables. \$\endgroup\$
    – DeadSec
    Aug 13, 2022 at 17:25
4
\$\begingroup\$

There are several unsafe practices in the image:

  • It is hard to tell from the image, but it appears the ground wire going into the junction box may be wired together with the neutral wires. This is extremely dangerous if the mains supply comes through a plug that could be reversed. Even if permanently wired it is not permitted and hampers GFCI protection.
  • Lack of strain relief / pull protection on all cables. Even just a zip-tie would be an improvement.
  • Single-insulated phase & neutral wires going to Sonoff boxes. They are quite vulnerable to damage, and only have one thin insulation layer on them.

The ground wire connector is also vulnerable to damage due to lack of strain relief.

\$\endgroup\$
5
  • \$\begingroup\$ The first point, I just double checked and it indeed looks like it but everything is in theire own place, just that the ground connector is on top of the neutral connector \$\endgroup\$
    – DeadSec
    Aug 24, 2022 at 18:04
  • \$\begingroup\$ The second point, yup thats true and Ill add some zip ties. \$\endgroup\$
    – DeadSec
    Aug 24, 2022 at 18:06
  • \$\begingroup\$ For the third point, what would you recommend? I never had a problem and I have a bunch of them in that setting. Since they are not movable objects I never had a problem with wires coming off. \$\endgroup\$
    – DeadSec
    Aug 24, 2022 at 18:07
  • \$\begingroup\$ @DeadSec For third point, I would recommend installing the cables so that the outer insulation is clamped by the cable retainer that is usually built into the box. I agree that the unavailability of ground connection is problematic and must wonder whether the Sonoff boxes are really approved for the use you have. I would probably just put all of it in a big electrical box which protects the cables from anyone touching them. \$\endgroup\$
    – jpa
    Aug 25, 2022 at 5:05
  • \$\begingroup\$ Something like this could work and be wired with single-insulated wires inside the box, which should be easier: dreamgreenhouse.com/projects/control/sonoff/box2.jpg \$\endgroup\$
    – jpa
    Aug 25, 2022 at 5:18
2
\$\begingroup\$

Should be okay. After all, ground is meant to be connected to things like exposed metal enclosures on equipment. Even ESD wrist straps plug into ground.

Certainly it is more vulnerable to modification from someone tampering with it so if that was a concern then it shouldn't be done. But otherwise I don't see an issue.

\$\endgroup\$
0
2
\$\begingroup\$

You should fix it.

I admit that protective earth wires are usually safe to touch. But in my opinion, there's a big problem with this installation, which is that (no offense!) it looks like sloppy work.

In general, best practice is to do things in such a way that safe things look safe and hazardous things look hazardous. If you have something that looks safe, but is actually hazardous, that's an obvious problem. But if you have something looks hazardous, but is actually safe, that's also a problem, because now you have to keep track of which of the hazardous-looking things in your environment really are hazardous, and which ones are safe. That's a bad situation to be in.

The rule "if there's a wire connector outside of a junction box, then it's a potential hazard that needs to be fixed" is a good rule to follow. So follow it.

\$\endgroup\$

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.