power strips and ground plugs

[backstept]

what happens when you remove the ground tine from a power strip so it can fit into an ungrounded outlet?
my mom's house is old and doesn't have many grounded plugs so power strips are necessary but they use the three prong style instead of the two prong outlet
I cut off the ground prong on my power strip and I hope I didn't just do something really stupid

 

[jefferiestubes8]

grounded plugs and old outlets vs. power conditioning

what happens when you remove the ground tine from a power strip so it can fit into an ungrounded outlet?

It is able to be plugged into an older outlet and works.

It is a safety hazard though since by removing the ground there is a higher chance for electrocution.

Hopefully the old outlet is wired correctly.

Not recommended but we do it occasionally. We mostly use a 'ground lifter' which allows a 3-prong plug to be plugged into a 2-prong wall jack.
We call them 3-to-2 adapters.

If you want to get serious about electronic things being plugged into the wall use a "line conditioner" instead of a power strip.
Not only does it offer surge protection it gets rid of RF and noise in the power line.



rackmount with 2 lights:
Furman PL-8C Power Conditioner
$179.95 retail price
http://www.samash.com/webapp/wcs/st...8C Power Conditioner_-1_10052_10002_-49956479


powerstrip-like footprint:
Furman PST-8 Power Station PST-8
$115. retail price
http://www.furmansound.com/product.php?div=02&id=PST-8

I am not affiliated with these companies in anyway.

 

[Hofner]

What I've done is get an adapter which adapts from three to two prong although I'm not sure THAT'S totally safe.

My house is an old one with mostly ungrounded outlets except there was one grounded one in the living room where my TV and stereo are. I'm a musician so I have another room dedicated to the music with amplifiers, mixing boards, musical keyboards, plus this 'pooter here. I was using the adapters but it's recommended, especially with valuable equipment like mine, to ground the outlets so I gritted my teeth and paid 400 bucks to ground all the outlets in that room.

Well, my equipment should be safer.

Robert

 

[Jadzia]

In england, a lot of electronics doesn't have a ground (earth) line. Most low power appliances such as video recorders or clocks or lamps don't have one.

However, metal casing - if used - is usually grounded.

Any inductive load or high current appliance will have a ground line, like kettles and toasters and power tools, because these do create high voltage sparks when power is switched, and high voltage sparks can jump a few centimeters distance and do real harm if there isn't a grounded shield to prevent that.

So I strongly advise against using inductive or high current appliances with an ungrounded power source.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

On the adaptor there is a small green piece coming out the bottom with a hole in it. While plugged in, a screw can be put through this hole in place of the one used to hold the wall plate on. This will go to ground assuming the electrical box the outlet is in (and the conduit system) is in fact grounded.

There are plug in testers that will tell you one way or another.

If your conduit system is grounded, you can also just replace any 2 prong outlet with a 3 prong one. This would give a better connection to the ground anyway. And an extra connection (the adaptor) will cause resistance and might overheat if used with any high amp draw devices.

An easier way to tell is looking for a ground rod outside the house with a wire leading to your fuse/breaker box.