I went to open up my outlet to see if it has a metal box. The previous owner wired in 3 prong outlets. I look and there is no ground which i suspected. But they also have 2 neutral electrical tape "spliced" into one neutral and same for hot. When i pulled out the outlet thr neutral snapped off, so i put electrical tape on the broken ends and put in child protectors until its fixed. Is it ok that hot is still connected as long as its not used? Not sure what to do with this now. Originally i just wanted to add ground to the metal box and maybe switch to gfi to help protect electronics. But what a mess.
Update: its 3 and 3 not 2 and 2 spliced into single wires. Wires are old copper with fabric. What can i use to properly connect all these? I should also note these old outlets hook into circuit breaker not fuse box but i have yet to see a grounded outlet.
Best Answer
Good news: it's fine as-is.
Bad news: Taped connections are fine IF they are either crimped or soldered. 3 wires just twisted together and taped are not ok.
More bad news: A metal box means nothing. A grounded outlet requires a ground wire. If you have a ground wire running to the box you don't need a metal box (plastic is fine). If you don't have a ground wire then you don't get grounded outlets until you run one there.
Even more bad news: This probably isn't the only surprise the previous owner left you.