no ground on electrical outlets in my apartment

i'm quite sure this is rather serious:

There are absolutely no grounded outlets in the entire building and no ground wires anywhere. they also won't put any in as it's too pricey. There are a few 3 prong outlets, however, but they are just there, not grounded.

I have an axiom home theatre, a big screen tv and a laptop that I'm quite worried about. What I have done is I have a UPS plugged into the wall, and then a power bar off the UPS. I plug everything into the power bar.

1 - Is that enough protection (UPS then power bar) ?

2 - Would there be a way for me to ground one of these outlets?

3 - What events could cause problems due to the lack of ground? Static? Electrical storms? Spikes and dips in the voltage?

thanks very much for all replies
Ravi

it's kinda odd that your place doesn't have a grounding system. I didn't even think that was up to code anymore. What you probably ought to do is get a GFCI plug like this

and then plug it in between the UPS and the power bar. I'm not that familiar with the specifics in the operation of the UPS so it's should probably go "downstream" of the UPS. Since your building isn't grounded, a mismatch between the incoming and outgoing current means either your equipment is getting zapped or you are. This device will detect it and then trip itself off, stopping all current flow and keep you from riding the lightning.

Now these things are designed for a ground lead but it should still work for you. I'd check with the resident electrician wherever you buy it from.

Ash,

thanks for the suggestion

i have done a quick look up on them online. it seems to be a good idea.

my only question is, since there is an absence of a ground, will it always trip?

WOW!! Nice to know that I'm not the only one with this same problem. The house that I just bought does not have a ground in the living room where my HT will be. Also the outlets are 2 prong so that means that I can either change out the outlets to a 3 prong (no ground of course) or use adapters.

I do have a surge protector, but would the GFCI cord be a good addition to act as a ground?

I use the cheater plugs and actually screw them to the center screw (or outer screws, if necessary) on the important outlets. I thought it was law that they had to provide grounded 3 prongs in the bathrooms at least.

That does not mean that you are grounded.

I beleive the law in Canada is any outlet near water requires GFI plugs.
Not sure about other countries like the US or Quebec. ;-P

kcarlile

i don't think a cheater plug actually grounds anything. it's just meant to reverse polarity.

Well, the power strips that have ground fault lights say that it's OK, and I figure it's better than nothing. (The lights do go on when they're not screwed into the outlets, so...)

I wonder if it will actually protect

does anyone know what happens exactly if you don't have a ground? what can happen to your equipment? what events can cause a negative effect?

basically, without a ground wire in the wall connected to the outlet, if your equipment were to short to the casing there would NOT be a complete path to ground for the electricity. this would result in the casing being as the same voltage as whatever was faulted (ex. a power supply cord shorted to case=120VAC) so if you went to touch it you get painfully tingly. also it could present a fire hazard if something flammable was touching it. now with a grounding wire installed in the plug, the flow path of electricity would be from the fault to the case, through the ground wire in the power cord (the bottom center, round conductor) through the ground wire in the outlet, to the house's common ground, and then literally to the ground. i can come up with a picture when i get home if you'd like, i'm at work now. you know, i'm glad this topic came up. i finally get to use some of my 6 years of electrical experience in the Navy!

Ash
thanks so much, that post completely explained the use of ground to me.

glad to hear it! i wasn't lookin forward to figuring out how to draw the picture in Word!!

That is interesting.....

Perhaps the electrical box IS grounded, but this ground was not connected to the outlet. Have you checked the wiring to see if it does/doesn't have a ground wire?

I might also venture that the electrical box and associated connection to the wall provides enough resistance to "trick" the powerbar into a grounded state.

Sorry, the electrical engineer in my coming out!!!!

In reply to:
I might also venture that the electrical box and associated connection to the wall provides enough resistance to "trick" the powerbar into a grounded state.

the box is probably anchored to a wooden stud or else just in the drywall. either way, i think it'd be too high a resistance for the powerbar to register it as grounded. of course, it could be a steel framed building, in which case the box might be grounded.

Oh, I don't have anywhere near the experience to do that! I just kind of assumed it would work, because all of those things have little wires or screw holes on them. I'm just going to stick my fingers in my ears and go "la la la la it's safe la la la la!"

In reply to:
Oh, I don't have anywhere near the experience to do that! I just kind of assumed it would work...

...but i did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night!!

bigjohn

Wha?

I have TiVo. I know not of what you speak.

Neener neener.

i guess i am 'old school'.. i still watch commercials

bigjohn

bjohn your not old school. my mom is old schoold she did not watch comercials "thats why i have kids" watching tv with my mother was tiring. lol

i remember the days when i was the remote. my dad had this big old curtis mathis TV. it used to sound like the space shuttle powering up when you turned it on.

had the 2 big rotary dials on the upper right hand side. and when you would turn that dial, it would go, "KA-Chunkt, Ka-Chunkt, Ka-Chunkt"...

ah, the memories!!

bigjohn

it started out as a dial but eventually turned into vicegrips or plyers.

if the wire has a metal outer coating and is connected to a metal electrical box in the wall,the metal is the ground-its called bx cable,used mostly in commercial applications and some older houses