How to remove ground pin on power cable

Like most everything, mc is ignorant on electrical wiring.

+1. Or as Mark Twain famously said, “What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so.”

Best regards,
-- Al
 

Erik, thanks. Your last post is generally in line with my observations. (I’m a builder, been 31 years). Everything gets dedicated ground rods now. No waterpipes, no Ufers cast in the foundation, etc. It’s not that a buried line wouldn’t normally be sufficient, it’s that there’s too much potential for it to become rendered ineffective though ongoing plumbing modernization and repairs. It’s happening at my house currently, nearly 70 year old water line feeding the home, big section of it is going away, replaced with PEX.
Jim, thanks as well. I’ve read your answer about six times. I understand what it says (pretty sure), but don’t understand why. Can you offer an explanation. At anywhere beyond the most remedial, I don’t comprehend the interaction of the neutral and the ground, when they’re bonded, when they’re not, etc. I realize this may be a tall order, if so, just say so.
Thanks

miller, as much as I appreciate 99% of your posts, I’m not sure how you defend your position on this. It’s simple. The ground is the only safeguard in the event that any metal item becomes energized due to an equipment defect or failure.
Our house was built in 1952. I can't tell you what the code requirements may have been then. Jim may know. Everything was wired with two-conductor cables, forerunner of romex, I guess. All the boxes, etc, were metal, and they all were connected with a dedicated ground wire, one to the other. I’ve yet to find a fault in any of it, I’ve probably modernized 30% of the home, at this point. There wasn’t a three prong outlet anywhere, (not sure if they existed at the time) so you’re on your own with the toaster, etc, but every box, switch, plug, etc, was grounded. Somebody knew it was important then. It still is.
L.

ieales, I've seen 2 homes that have been struck by lightning, which isn't that common here. One was older, one very new. The lightning certainly made it's way to ground alright, used about a fourth of the home to do so, including even the framing and siding. The ground wire at the panel was sorely outmatched, shall we say. I think the service mast was blown clear out of the wall on the older home, IIRC. Small sample, no idea what "normal" may be.

@builder3
AFAIK, the Earth safety is for when lightning hits the electrical service, meaning the power from the street. The mesh of earthed neutrals in the neighborhood might just carry enough current to limit the damage.

Sadly, modern building codes remove all those nice tall utility poles with their fat earths, leaving my roof the highest object in the neighborhood for a ¼ mile.

If my house gets hit, all bets are off.