|
|
Post by benitosuave on Jul 27, 2007 23:59:29 GMT -5
In a couple weeks I am moving into another house that is from the 70's I think, and the plugs do not have three prongs, only two, meaning that there is no ground. The renter told me I can just use those little converters, just that seems like it would be noisy and tremendously unsafe to plug an amp into a converter.
Would a surge protector help? Any other ideas? I'm going to go crazy if I can't play at home.
|
|
|
|
Post by UnklMickey on Jul 29, 2007 23:48:45 GMT -5
It's not all that unsafe, unless something fails inside the amp (or anything you have plugged into an ungrounded system that has metal you can touch on the outside). Then it could be fatal. It will likely be plagued with hum even without a failure, as well. You could connect a wire to a real ground and run it to the area where you will be using your amp. If you use an adapter that has a short green wire coming out of it, connect the ground wire to that. It would be safe and reduce the hum, but very unsightly.
Cheers,
Unk
|
|
|
|
Post by benitosuave on Aug 8, 2007 20:16:07 GMT -5
thank you!
should i just attach the green wire to a big piece of metal that touches the floor?
|
|
|
|
Post by ChrisK on Aug 8, 2007 20:57:10 GMT -5
NOTE: Words in capital letters are clues....
NO, I thought that you stated:
Many two prong electrical outlet sockets have the SAFETY GROUND conductor (ABSOLUTELY connected to the 8 foot long copper plated rod driven into the earth at the power entry point to your dwelling) connected to the CONDUCTIVE METAL outlet box.
When you use the two prong to three prong converter, you MUST connect the short green SAFETY GROUND wire to the faceplate cover screw (between the two outlets). This is not meant to be (under the auspices of the NATIONAL ELECTRIC CODE) a permanent connection.
If the CONDUCTIVE METAL outlet box does not have this SAFETY GROUND connection, using an adapter will enable you to plug in three prong cords, but without any SAFETY GROUND.
Not unless there is a good SAFETY GROUND to conduct the surges away.
All of this presumes that you live in the U.S. I don't know the national electrical safety codes of other countries.
I'm kind of surprised that one can rent out property without an electrical safety inspection for code compliance. After all, there are some fairly good reasons WHY the entire country has required three prong outlets (with that there SAFETY GROUND connection) in new construction and code compliance applications for many years. (And SAFETY GROUND Fault Interrupters in wet areas.)
My house was built in the late 50's. I've replaced the outlets with the three prong SAFETY GROUND ones. Fortunately, all of the CONDUCTIVE METAL outlet box did have this earthed SAFETY GROUND connection from the breaker panel.
I would discuss these UNSAFE conditions of the property with the landlord. If this is unsuccessful, I would contact your local governing inspection entity and report the condition.
They may or may not care. A licensed electrician can tell you for sure, but then they're also interested in selling you something.....
You can buy an outlet tester at many home improvement or Radio Shack stores which will test a three prong outlet (and a properly connected two prong outler with the three prong adapter) for SAFETY.
This IS NOT low voltage, IT CAN KILL YOU.
SAFETY IS! The life that you save just might be your own.
|
|
|
|
Post by benitosuave on Aug 10, 2007 20:49:31 GMT -5
thanks for the info.
I have a fancy surge protector that turns on a LED when it is grounded so I'll use this as a tester.
|
|
