Hi, I’ve tried searching this but can’t find an exact answer to my question. I’m trying to attach the grounding wire for my new refrigerator in Japan. There’s the screw, and the little plate behind it. I can get the wire behind the plate, but can’t seem to get it exactly hooked around the screw. Does it just need to be touching the screw a little bit or does it need to be fully hooked around it? I can’t see behind the plate so I don’t know how well “hooked” it is, and I’m not even 100% sure if it’s touching the screw. I tried putting it around the screw in front of the plate, but it won’t fit; the screw won’t come out enough to let me slip the wire behind it.
Also, when I was searching for an answer, I saw that Leopalace apartments made a guide, but it doesn’t mention making a hook with the wire (unless it says it in Japanese and I can’t understand it), they just kinda shoved the wire in there. There’s also another example on that page of them sticking the wire into one of the little holes, but I don’t know if I should do that since I have the screw option.
I am absolutely terrified of fires so I really want to make sure I do it right! Thank you
[photo of my outlet](https://imgur.com/gallery/LnIJl4t)
8 comments
You need to unscrew it, get the cable behind and touching it, before screwing it back tight. This ensures that the ground wire won’t come loose.
As long as it’s firmly clamped under the screw it’s fine.
And it has nothing to do with fire, it’s to prevent electrical shock if there’s a short circuit inside the refrigerator.
The screw is just there to clap it all together, put it under the place and tighten the screw 👍🏽
If you hook the wire round the screw, it helps to have the hook curving in the same direction the screw turns when tightening. That’ll help pull the wire in when you turn the screw. The other way round, tightening the screw can push the wire out.
It’s not a grounding wire, it’s a safety earth connection.
Some earth wires are terminated with a spade lug, others arrive with just the bare wire stripped of insulation at the end.
First off, it’s just a safety, and there is no practical risk of fire or electrocution etc. by not having it connected or connected improperly – (it is safer to have one than not, but the risk is vanishingly small). Our house was built in the 1990s and has no earth installed, its all 2-wire, so of course none of the appliances are earthed.
If you want to make a neat, nice job of it, you unscrew the ground connection and remove the screw and the little plate. You wrap the copper wire around the stem of the screw, and you screw it back in so that the copper wire is firmly sandwiched between the plate and the metal base.
As long as the ground wire is making a good electrical connection with the ground you won’t get electrocuted if something goes wrong with the refrigerator.
When you loosen the screw, the brass coloured plate under should be free, put the wire under that and it will clamp it down securely when you tighten the screw.
Bend the end of the wire around the metal shaft of your screwdriver to make a small upside-down U at the end. Unscrew the screw a bit and hook the end of the wire around it with the lead of the wire coming back to you on the left side of that U-shape. This ensures that the clockwise motion of tightening the screw will pull the hooked wire shape into itself instead of pushing it away, potentially escaping from under the screw head as you tighten it.
Or whatever. It’s just a ground wire. Your fridge will still work even if it’s not connected to anything.