switches with two wires

[theasteroidbelt]

a couple of days ago a friend of mine asked me to help him replace some switches and sockets at an old house he purchased a while back. No idea why hw got it but that's not what I'm here for. The switches had only two wires, so no ground. Can i find switches like those around or it will be time to upgrade?

 

[circleofdown]

a couple of days ago a friend of mine asked me to help him replace some switches and sockets at an old house he purchased a while back. No idea why hw got it but that's not what I'm here for. The switches had only two wires, so no ground. Can i find switches like those around or it will be time to upgrade?

Yes, the 2-wire switches are still out there unfortunately and you mentioned it's an old house so that's really likely what they had from the start. You can still buy them but I don't know if there's many around because switches already have ground for safety reasons I suppose and well you can still use the grounded switches but cap off the ground wire. Anyway since it's an old house, do you suppose they would want an upgrade?

 

[Megalodon]

a couple of days ago a friend of mine asked me to help him replace some switches and sockets at an old house he purchased a while back. No idea why hw got it but that's not what I'm here for. The switches had only two wires, so no ground. Can i find switches like those around or it will be time to upgrade?

@circleofdown is correct here. The 2-wire switches are quite common in older homes with ungrounded wiring and it's safe if it's been installed properly. But you should upgrade if you prioritize safety. Update us here.

 

[electr0roy]

a couple of days ago a friend of mine asked me to help him replace some switches and sockets at an old house he purchased a while back. No idea why hw got it but that's not what I'm here for. The switches had only two wires, so no ground. Can i find switches like those around or it will be time to upgrade?

Use Modern Switches. You can use a modern switch that has a ground screw, but simply connect the two existing wires (the "hot" and "switched hot") to the switch's two brass screws.

 

[PGB1]

Hi Theasteroidbelt,

Should you want good safety and not the expense of the-wiring the building, consider installing ground fault interrupter receptacle outlets or ground fault circuit interrupter circuit breakers at the earliest point you can in the circuit. This will protect all downstream devices and the boxes to which they are bonded.

Why?
The grounding terminal on "modern" switches is attached to the yoke by which you mount the device. This can present a hazard:

If the device box isn't grounded and there is no equipment grounding conductor; a "modern" switch with a grounded yoke that experiences a failure (or an energized conductor touches it) it can energize the device box, the face plate and the screws. I work only very little residential (friend & family freebies), but twice in the last year I've encountered found this problem at houses. Both people called me because they touched a switch plate and got shocked.

If the device box into which they will be mounted in is well grounded, then there are no worries about using new switches without an equipment grounding conductor in the box.


Paul