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Author Topic: Surge Protection for 2 pronged wall outlets  (Read 253 times)

benali72

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Surge Protection for 2 pronged wall outlets
« on: November 16, 2017, 09:38:50 am »
Thought I'd share something I learned, in case it helps anyone else here...

I have 2 pronged wall outlet plugs in my house. To plug in my computer's surge protector, I just took a 3- to 2- prong conversion plug and plugged the surge protector into that.

Dumb! I didn't realize that without that 3rd prong being connected to ground, my surge protector couldn't do its job. IOW, my computer was not protected from surge at all.

The fix -- I bought a wall outlet testing tool for about $5. Tested the little screw that holds the wall outlet plate in place, and determined that it was properly grounded. Then I popped off the plate, and screwed its screw over the flange on the 3- to 2- conversion plug. Now that plug is connected to ground, and when I plug in my surge protector it is properly grounded.

So now my computer is surge protected.

The Lesson -- If you have 2 pronged wall outlets, make sure your surge protector is able to do its job.
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Richardk

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Re: Surge Protection for 2 pronged wall outlets
« Reply #1 on: December 10, 2017, 07:03:56 pm »
Not so fast. You might still not have the protection that you believe you do.

An older home with 2 prong outlets and a $5 tester are not enough. If you are comfortable with working on outlets, cut the power, take off the cover and remove the outlet to get a good look.

What you are looking for is a bootleg ground. Where the neutral and ground are connected together, giving your tester the illusion of a proper wiring job. This was common in older homes until they understood the value of a "true" ground. This is now illegal and dangerous because a "grounded" case can now become energized if there is a fault.

So take a good look at the outlet and inside the box. Is there an actual ground wire running to the box? If so, then it's easy enough to run a pig-tail to a new grounded outlet and you can get rid of your conversion plug. But if it's the neutral wire that's running to the box then you have a problem in addition to no surge protection.

If you're not sure or not comfortable then call an electrician.
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benali72

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Re: Surge Protection for 2 pronged wall outlets
« Reply #2 on: December 12, 2017, 09:07:13 pm »
RichardK, thanks a ton for your advice. I am pursuing this now. Cheers!
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ilconsiglliere

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Re: Surge Protection for 2 pronged wall outlets
« Reply #3 on: December 16, 2017, 05:58:36 pm »
Quote from: Richardk on December 10, 2017, 07:03:56 pm
Not so fast. You might still not have the protection that you believe you do.

An older home with 2 prong outlets and a $5 tester are not enough. If you are comfortable with working on outlets, cut the power, take off the cover and remove the outlet to get a good look.

What you are looking for is a bootleg ground. Where the neutral and ground are connected together, giving your tester the illusion of a proper wiring job. This was common in older homes until they understood the value of a "true" ground. This is now illegal and dangerous because a "grounded" case can now become energized if there is a fault.

So take a good look at the outlet and inside the box. Is there an actual ground wire running to the box? If so, then it's easy enough to run a pig-tail to a new grounded outlet and you can get rid of your conversion plug. But if it's the neutral wire that's running to the box then you have a problem in addition to no surge protection.

If you're not sure or not comfortable then call an electrician.

Thanks for the tip. Our first house (which we are getting ready to sell) was built in 1905 and is full of 2 prong plugs. I regularly plug in surge protects with the 2-3 prong adapter. So basically its a waste of time what we are doing. Need to do updates which we won't be doing as I want to sell it.
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Richardk

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Re: Surge Protection for 2 pronged wall outlets
« Reply #4 on: December 19, 2017, 05:04:53 pm »
Quote from: ilconsiglliere on December 16, 2017, 05:58:36 pm
Thanks for the tip. Our first house (which we are getting ready to sell) was built in 1905 and is full of 2 prong plugs. I regularly plug in surge protects with the 2-3 prong adapter. So basically its a waste of time what we are doing. Need to do updates which we won't be doing as I want to sell it.

As I understand it, correct, it's a waste of time since there's nowhere for the surge to go.

My home was built in 1922 and when I updated the power, I had the electrician add whole house surge protection. Ha-ha, he had to read up on that and told me he never heard of that. Regardless the house is protected from anything from outside, less a direct lightening strike.

This is better than nothing but if something goes bad inside the house, it can still take out everything plugged in. So it's a good idea to have individual surge protectors on your TV's, stereo, computer, etc., except as you mentioned, that doesn't work for our houses.

I wonder if surges happen so fast that it would trip a GFCI? Thus kind of acting as a surge protector? That's one thing you can upgrade to with old 2-wire houses, but you need to label it No Electrical Ground.
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