electricalgroundinglightingswitch
I just bought a GE Z-Wave dimmer and the I went to install it I noticed that the previous switch did not have a ground wire attached to it. The new switch says that it requires a ground switch (and obviously I want to install the switch safely). Is there anything I can do to properly ground it?
The loop in the black wire is normal when electricians are running a hot wire from device to device. It saves them time and is really safer since it involves fewer wire nuts.
The orange wire is the wire that is going to the light. The power enters the switch where the black wire is looped over the screw, and exits to the light through the orange wire.
Yes, attach the green wire to the green screw. But, you need to wire the blacks from the switch differently. One switch black is for the incoming power, and the other is for the exiting power. So, one needs to be connected to the same black that is connected to the old switch; and one needs to be connected to the orange.
I would, with the power off at the circuit breaker panel, and after testing to make sure the black at the switch is not hot, cut the existing black to form two separate wires and strip the ends appropriately. Then I would connect one of the black wires from the new switch to these two wires with a wire nut. After that, connect the other black for the new switch to the orange with a wire nut. That should do it, and your dimmer should now work. Good luck, and be careful!
PS: I personally use a Fluke 1AC-A1-II Volt-Alert AC Non-Contact Voltage Tester to verify or locate hot wires and love it. You might want to check it out for the future. Its inexpensive too. Note: I have no personal connection to Fluke; I just think good products like this are worth spreading the word about.
That wiring is AC cable, modern AC cable. I can clearly see the bonding strip that makes the sheathing a grounding conductor. So since a grounding means exists you must use it.
With switches, simply screwing them to a grounded metallic box grounds them, as opposed to a receptacle which would need to be a self-grounding type. So technically, just installing the switch would be adequate, but since there is a ground wire from the dimmer I would connect it to the box.
Best Answer
Pigtail the ground to the box
It looks like the original installer did a pretty sloppy job of installing the cables (the damaged "redhead" insulating bushing top left is evidence of that"). That aside, the BX armor should be grounded, so by extension, the box should be grounded via the armor.
This means that you should connect the ground screw on the switch to a 10-32 machine screw threaded into one of the holes in the back of the box using a bare or green #14 wire pigtail. Your average big-box store will carry pre-made-up ground pigtails that you can just screw into the back of the box then attach to the ground screw on the switch, or you can make your own with a 10-32 machine screw and a length of 14AWG wire that's been shucked of its insulation by looping one end of the wire around the screw.