Suretest and bootleg grounds

[fyrmnk]

Well, once again glad I invested in my Suretest a few years ago. Had an older home yesterday with "upgraded" electrical service and the handy 3 light tester showed the 3 prong outlets wired correctly.

Sure enough, the Suretest showed false grounds. Pulled a cover and there was the classic neutral terminal connected to the ground terminal. I have a sneaking suspicion this was intentionally done to try to "fool" the inspector. "Contractors" bought the home less than a year ago and "fixed" everything. Many, many other shady repairs done in the home as well. My suspicions were also fueled by the fact that only the outlets easily accessible to test had the bootlegs. Hard ones to get to (under kitchen sink, high up in the garage, etc.) had open grounds without the trouble of connecting the false grounds.

Once again, good reason that all should carry a circuit analyzer in addition to the cheap 3 light in my opinion.

[Jesse]

Good catch.