A question for any electricians

[kissmybASS01]

Hey guys!!!!

Can a computer (with a surge protector) be safely plugged into an outlet that my tester says has an "open ground"?

When I bought my first home, the inspector found some (not all) outlets were upgraded to be fully grounded. I'm wanting to plug my gf's PC into an outlet that has an open ground.


Can this be done, or do I need to wait until the outlet is upgraded?

Thanks in advance

[line6man]

You should be fine in the short term.

Many people break the ground tabs off of things so that they can plug into an old fashion un-grounded outlet, or those 2 conductor extention cords.

If something should go wrong though, it's obviously a good idea to have a ground there to return the current to earth.

[kissmybASS01]

Originally Posted by line6man

You should be fine in the short term.

Many people break the ground tabs off of things so that they can plug into an old fashion un-grounded outlet, or those 2 conductor extention cords.

If something should go wrong though, it's obviously a good idea to have a ground there to return the current to earth.

Thanks line6man!

As I stated, it will be plugged into a surge protector...but good to know I can get it up and running right away!

[MJ5150]

I'd wait if it were me.

-Mike

[westom]

Originally Posted by kissmybASS01

As I stated, it will be plugged into a surge protector...

Computers have layers of protection. One of those layers is the safety ground. Eliminating that protection layer is like disabling the rear brakes on you car. After all, front brakes do almost all the stopping anyway. Everything still works fine, until ....

One problem created by a missing safety ground is unacceptable voltage difference between that computer and other peripherals (ie printer, monitor). Normally those interfaces also have protection layers that make voltage differences irrelevant. So you may decide to test that protection. Operate the computer without a safety ground. In almost every case (well over 99% of the time), no problem.

Even better, power everything from the same non-surge protector power strip.

That missing safety ground eliminates a human safety function. Code says to replace the wall receptacle with a GFCI. And attach the sticker that says safety ground is missing. Then the computer has human safety. How often does the circuit breaker trip to save your life? That puts the risk into perspective.

[Phalex]

Ground is your friend. It's the one leg of any electrical system that will never try to kill you. If a piece of equipment has a three prong plug, I would consider ground to be important.