Do-it-yourself grounding of washing machines in a bathroom, apartment, private house

When buying and installing a washing machine, few of the owners think about safety. A person removes the shipping bolts, connects the hoses and plugs the equipment into an ungrounded socket. This approach is dangerous.

Connecting without a ground negatively affects the life of the equipment and the safety of the people who use it.

What are the features of installing a washing machine in a bathroom, in a private house, in a country house or in Khrushchev? How to connect household appliances with your own hands? How to get out of a situation where grounding is not provided in the house? These and other questions will be discussed below.

Why ground a washing machine, what are the risks?

There is a stereotype in society that only old household appliances that have served for 5 years or more are dangerous. This is wrong. Machines that have recently been brought from the store and installed without observing safety rules can be shocked.

At first, a slight tingling is felt when touching the typewriter, and after a while (if nothing is done) – a strong discharge.

Electricians assure that all electrical appliances are subject to grounding. To a greater extent, this applies to devices that are used in the bathroom due to the high level of humidity. There are many sockets and appliances in this room, which creates potential risks for residents.

Grounding is required for two reasons:

• If the equipment is not grounded, voltage may appear on the metal elements of the washing machine, and a person will be exposed to 110 volts. Despite the small size, this potential is enough to kill.
• Many models of washing machines that work without grounding fail faster.

The presence of grounding guarantees safety for the user. If the insulation deteriorates and the wire breaks down in the supply circuit (inside the washing machine), the voltage enters the grounded circuit. As a result, a short circuit current flows in the network and the circuit breaker at the input turns off the power.

In the absence of grounding and a person getting under voltage, the machine may not work. As a result, a dangerous current flows through the body.

Grounding methods

Let’s highlight the main options for how to ground a washing machine in a bathroom or other room.

• Connecting the housing to sewerage, water supply or batteries.
• The output of a personal outlet, for which a ground wire is connected from the drive shield.
• Creation of a system that equalizes the potentials of equipment in the apartment.
• Switching on at the RCD input.
• Making your own ground loop. The latter option is suitable for cases where a person lives in a private house.

Many people make the mistake of choosing the first option. Theoretically, he is working, but his own salvation may result in the following consequences:

• In the event of a breakdown on the case and poor grounding of the elements, the potential is on the plumbing system or battery. As a result, people (residents of other apartments) who at this moment touch the metal part may suffer.
• This method of grounding accelerates the process of destruction of the metal. As a result, the pipe is damaged faster, and the risk of flooding neighbors and your apartment is high.

In addition, the PUE and PTE prohibit this method of grounding, so it should be abandoned.

The best way is to connect a separate outlet to which a grounded wire is connected from the drive shield. The option is suitable for cases where a ground loop is provided in the house (in some multi-storey buildings of the old building it is not).

The difficulty is not to confuse the working zero and the “ground”. If you make a mistake and put the wire on the phase, a short circuit current will flow in the circuit. The result is a shutdown of the power supply in the entrance (for one phase). In addition, there is a high risk of getting burned.

Another way is to connect an additional wire to a grounded metal bar, which is grounded and passes through all floors, and then “tightly” connect the wire to the washing machine body.

The downside of the option is that you have to violate the integrity of the equipment casing, and the appearance of household appliances deteriorates.

The solution with the potential equation involves the following steps. Cases of metal appliances in an apartment (house) are interconnected by current-carrying elements (wires). There is a uniform distribution of potential.

If the phase hits the ground, the potential will follow the path of minimum resistance and will not go through the human body. There is nothing complicated in the implementation of the scheme, so it is easy to do it yourself.

If there is no grounding in a private house or apartment and a conductor with two wires is laid, you should choose an alternative option – put an RCD or difavtomat at the entrance to the apartment.

These devices react to leakage currents and turn off the power. Installing the devices has already helped save thousands of lives from electric shock.

The operation of the device is based on comparing the current at the input and output. When the parameter is changed above the set value, the device is triggered.

But it is worth considering that in old apartments, where the wiring has not changed for a long time, a large leak and false tripping of the RCD is possible. To avoid this, it is worth replacing or revising (replacing) the wiring. Today, the RCD option is most in demand due to ease of installation, reliability and compliance with safety requirements.

If the goal is to ground the washing machine, other equipment and the house itself, you need to make a separate circuit, then connect the conductor to it and lead it to the shield.

To create a contour, it is required to dig a ditch in the shape of a triangle with equal sides, having a length of 3 meters and a depth of 50 cm or more. When preparing the pit, keep in mind that one sharp corner should “look” at the house.

At the vertices of the triangle, metal pins with a length of 3 meters or more are hammered, after which they are scalded by welding using a metal strip. The contour is ready.

Next, a ditch is dug under the cable, which is connected to a new circuit and brought to the common shield of the house. From above, the structure is covered with earth.

If you have a megohmmeter, it is worth checking that the resistance of the structure does not exceed 4 ohms. If this is not possible, you can call the isolation staff to check this setting.

READ MORE RELATED: How to make grounding in a private house.

What to consider?

When grounding a washing machine in a bathroom, private house, country house, Khrushchev or other place, consider the following:

• It is forbidden to use water pipes as “ground”. What is the reason for this requirement, discussed above. It is worth adding that many people replace metal pipes with plastic structures, so the metal pipes in your apartment (house) will be separated from the “ground”. Incorrect connection in violation of the PUE and PTE often leads to accidents.
• It is forbidden to use heating pipes (the reasons are the same).
• If neutral conductors are connected, it is recommended to ground again.
• The socket not only must be grounded, but also withstand current up to 16A.

Color of ground conductors

In order to ground the washing machine without errors, you should know the requirements for the colors of the grounding conductors. On sale you can find wires of various options, which is made for convenience and safety.

When arranging wiring, as a rule, the following wires are used:

• Red – phase;
• Blue – “zero”;
• Yellow-green – “earth”.

In practice, colorless or white conductors are used. In the latter case, the ground wire is located in the central part.

With this approach, it is difficult to make a mistake, because when connecting, you need to connect wires taking into account the color – red to red, blue to blue. As for the yellow-green “ground” wire, it needs to be “landed” on the ground terminal.

We ground the washing machine in the apartment

The method of connecting a washing machine in an apartment of a multi-storey building depends on the year of construction of the object. If the house was built recently and belongs to the category of new buildings, finding a grounded tavern in the shield will not be a problem.

Moreover, many houses are built taking into account the plant “land” in each apartment, and the wires are laid with three cores.

On household appliances (washing machine, microwave oven and other equipment) there is a wire with three cores, so safety is guaranteed.

If the building was erected before 1990, it is worth carefully examining the shield for the presence of a grounding busbar.

There are two ways to ground the washing machine – do the work yourself or use the services of an electrician.

When connecting independently, the algorithm of actions is as follows:

Next, it remains to put the outlet and connect it. This requires a socket, an indicator screwdriver, pliers, a cable with three cores, a knife and a socket with a grounding terminal. If the considered complex of works seems complicated, it is worth entrusting the work to the master.

READ MORE: How to install an outlet in the bathroom.

In a private house

Connecting the grounding of a washing machine in a private house differs little from the algorithm discussed above. The earth wire is also led from the main shield.

The difference is that there is no grounding in the entrance, and you have to do it yourself. Previously, the installation process was briefly considered, but we will give detailed instructions:

• Find three pipes made of metal, having a length of one and a half to three meters. When choosing a length, keep in mind that it should not be less than the depth to which the ground freezes in winter.
• Using a sledgehammer, make a sharp point at the bottom of the pipe and drill holes 0,5-1 cm here.
• Dig a hole to a depth of 50-60 cm, then drive the pipes into the ground at a distance of one to one and a half meters. 100-150 mm of pipe should remain above the surface.
• Find three metal plates (rebar can be used) 100-150 cm long, then weld them to the edges of the pipes above the surface.
• Weld the “ground” wire to the armature, which will go to the place where the meter is installed. The laying method is selected taking into account local conditions.
• Connect the ground wire to the PE bus, and then branch the ground wires to lighting and sockets.

For reliability, the ground wire is bolted to the back of the machine (such a bolt is already provided by the manufacturer).

How to ground a washing machine in Khrushchev – a house where there is no grounding?

In houses of an old building, there may not be any grounding at all. More precisely, there is no bus for connecting grounding in the access panel. There is also no way to find “land” when living on the fifth floor.

In such a situation, it is worth protecting yourself from a voltage breakdown on the casing of the washing machine by equalizing the potentials. The principle is the following.

If household appliances are in the bathroom, if 2 conductive objects touch at the same time, the current will flow through the human body.

The essence of potential equalization is that metal cases are combined with each other. As a result, if you touch a tap or a washing machine, the current will not go through a person.

To reduce the level of risk, it is worth putting an RCD and a circuit breaker at the entrance to the apartment. In this case, when the insulation is broken, a short circuit will occur, and the machine will turn off the power.

In addition, the bathroom should have a socket with a high degree of protection against moisture. If this is not available, you should choose a different place for the washing machine.

When installing electrical wiring, it is worth using solid wires. If docking is required, the installation takes place in a box, and the bare wires are carefully insulated.

To simplify the task of grounding, many lead the wire from the body bolt to the sewer pipe or radiator. This is prohibited for the reasons discussed above.

Grounding the washing machine is an important stage in the installation of this household appliance. Without such work, the service life of the equipment is reduced, and there is also a risk of contact with the voltage of relatives and friends.

By spending a few hours and a couple of thousand rubles, you will eliminate the risks and ensure the long-term operation of the equipment.