Got a GE combination fridge!

[gus]

HI FOLKS, It happens the same many years ago with a fifties Norge fridge. I called a technician in fridges, and he tied an electric cable, in green colour, and fitted it to a new plug which was earthed, like the electric socket in the wall. That worked indeed. Years later there was a short circuit with a transfo from 110 to 220 volts, the Norge was made in USA, of course, and here we have 220 volt current. And all the fridge was energized with a pole of 220 volt, so I moved the fridge and when I replaced it, it refused to start, and then I discovered the short and see sparks on the screw where the cable was attached. That saved my life! After that I ALWAYS attach a green cable where there´s no earth. ONE MAIN ITEM the wall receptacle MUST BE PROPERLY EARTHED. That´s my cent! Take care with electricity. Good luck. Gus

 

[rp2813]

Jeannine, the running of a wire to the outlet cover plate screw should be an easy fix.  I've seen some situations where a spade has been placed on each end of the wire for easy fastening, but that's not absolutely necessary.

 

As has been stated above, this is a common practice.  Think about those adapters that allow a two-bladed outlet to accommodate a three-prong plug.  They almost always have a tab on the top with a hole in it for the cover plate screw.

 

[circlew]

As Gus mentioned, the box the receptacle is located in must be grounded (earthed as he calls it). Otherwise, a ground wire from the appliance attached to the screw holding the cover plate will not be effective. If it's in an older house wired with NM cable without a ground (or knob & tube), the box is not grounded. If the box is wired with NM with ground, MC cable, or metal conduit, then a ground should be available. Also, if the receptacle is the ungrounded type and not in firm contact with the metal box, the screw holding the cover plate on may not be grounded.

A good ground should be verified with a tester such as a VOM or test lamp, even if the receptacle is the grounding type. Sometimes people install a 3 wire grounding type receptacle on a circuit that doesn't have any equipment grounding conductor. This,of course, is in violation of the NEC.

 

[mattl]

The ground wire and the neutral wire are connected to exactly the same point in the fuse/breaker box -- ie. same potential.  The center screw as well as the frame of the outlet are all connected to the neutral terminal on the plug in a two prong outlet.  If the outlet is wired properly the screw will serve as ground.  the issue I believe is inserting the plug in the correct position.

 

[spacepig]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

The house was completely rewired in the mid 2000's, so the plugs are grounded. At the time, only plugs near the sink had to be GFCI, so the plug for the fridge is just a regular one. Now that we have a solution for grounding it without a complete rewire, we'll replace the drain hose on the back this weekend (it was severely dry rotted) and let it run for a couple of days before bringing it inside.

There's one more thing--it had a fiber board backing over the motor with some insulation that came off when shipped. Does the insulation literally sit right on top of the motor??