Electrical Question

[Anonymous]

I live in an old house. On one side of the house (the side the tank is in), all of the outlets are the old two pronged outlets. WHat is the best way to deal with this? Is it difficult to convert them, or would a simple adapter be enough?

 

[LFS42]

You should be able to replace the old outlets with new 3-prong

I suggest you invest in GFI outlets.

I'm no expert, but I think the outlets will ground to the condiut surrounding
wires.

 

[Carpentersreef]

Glenn,
You have to have an actual grounded connection already going to the box, otherwise you will have to run one yourself, and then replace the plug with a 3 prong. Do not use an adapter.

Mitch

 

[Anonymous]

How hard is it?

 

[Carpentersreef]

Depends on how old your house is (wiring methods have changed a few times over the years) and how accessible the wiring is.
But compared to what could go wrong if it was hooked up incorrectly (equipment damage and personal safety) and if you're not sure of what you're doing, it's well worth the price of an electrician's service call to give you an estimate.

Mitch

 

[afgoody]

Rover,
I had a similar problem at the last house I rented in Louisiana. It was built in the 20s or 30s and only the kitchen was grounded. This would not be good for my home theater equipment. Anyway, I insisted that the landlord have an electrician convert at least one of the outlets to be grounded.

An electrician will most likely do one of two things. (1) he'll pound a metal pole deep into the ground (hence the term grounding) and tie the breaker box into it or (2) he'll do the same to a cold water pipe. I would guess this wouldn't be too high of a fee...but most definitely worth your time and money...kind of like insurance...you hope you never need it, but you'll regret it if you don't have it when you do need it...

Oh, and it should go without saying that you should have a GFCI outlet for your tank.

Hope this helps and good luck,
-Adam

 

[t gallo]

rover, just because you only have a two prong outlet in wall doesn't mean your house wireing isent grounded.
what you can do is, get a three prong outlet to replace your two prong outlet, remove the two prong outlet from the wall.
what you should have is a hot wire and a neutral wire attached to the plug.
if the house is old it will have bx wire, with a metal jacket around the conducters, that is in a sense your ground, the outer metal caseing wich should be attached the the caseing of the box in your wall wich supports the receptical.
on the new receptical you should have a green screw, what you need to do is attach a wire to the green screw and the other end to the caseing of the box wich will give your receptical a earth groung.
if in dought, get a pro to do it for you . you will be charged anywere from $55.00 dollars an hour to 80.00 dollars an depending on the company.
it should only take a half hour to ground the receptical, unless the circut your working on has no means of grounding, thats another story.

 

[Anonymous]

Rover,

So you own this house?

If so, and if no ground wire (or bx jacket) is available, you should seriously consider having the house re-wired to todays standard. I would.

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

I'm renting for $250/month, while I save for a house. I've had a tank running off of the outlet for a few years, but I was wondering how simple it would be while I'm between tanks. I just lopped the third prong off of the extension cord, and ran it to a ythree pronged surge protector. :twisted:

 

[Anonymous]

if you're not into pulling the box open and looking at it, you could use a 3-2 adapter IF it's one with a wire to hook up the ground.

Take the center screw out of the plate and (make sure it's not painted) screw the center fork to the plate. In most cases, that will ground it.

Then get yourself a tester:

(you can use the $3 cheap one(one without the test button), not the $12 GFCI tester for this)

if both yellow lights light up, you've got a ground. IF only one does, the electrial box isn't grounded. (or there is a broken connection somewhere.

HTH
B