6

I live in an apartment that has essentially no 3-prong electrical outlets. I need to plug in a modest amount of computer equipment (which has a mix of 2- and 3-prong plugs), and I want to plug this equipment into surge protectors. Physically, I can accomplish this using cheap 3- to 2-prong adapters, but is that safe?

In part, my question is, what happens when a surge protector does its thing? One plausible scenario is that it dumps the excess energy into the ground conductor, which seems like it could pose a much worse problem than damaged equipment if that ground is poor or nonexistent.

This is in Colorado if that matters.

These questions seem related but don't directly answer the surge protector safety question:

Improve this question
3
  • 2
    Have you checked to see if the electrical box is grounded? If so, you can likely replace the receptacle with a three pronged self-grounding one.
    – Edwin
    Dec 21, 2013 at 18:35
  • When I lived in a rental house with only ungrounded outlets, I used a 2 prong adapter and an "online" UPS to protect some expensive computer equipment (I had over $5K of equipment). An online (or double conversion) UPS converts AC to DC then back to AC to power the equipment, so any surge should be absorbed by the UPS rather than the computers. This protected the equipment, but not me since there was no ground. Ungrounded outlets were within code when the house was built, so the landlord had no responsibility to provided grounded outlets under our local laws.
    – Johnny
    Dec 21, 2013 at 21:14
  • A gfci pigtail plugged into your 3 prong adapter then plug the surge arrestor into the gfci should give you the same protection as if a gfci receptacle were to be in the wall for that outlet.
    – user24125
    Sep 23, 2014 at 19:03

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
6

According to howstuffworks.com the most common type of surge protectors contain a metal oxide varistor or a gas discharge arrestor that utilizes the grounding wire to divert extra current.

However, as others have commented, the neutral wire is usually also used in conjunction with the ground, and therefore, you should get some, but not full protection when bypassing the 3rd prong.

That said, it's never considered safe to use bypass the 3rd prong (even with 2 to 3 prong adapters) and it is likely your insurance / the manufactures insurance will not cover damages caused as a result of such use.

Improve this answer
4
  • The use of a MOV for over voltage spikes is traditionally done from ungrounded to grounded (hot to neutral). Purposely shunting to the safety (equipment ground) is not correct. I agree that adapters have dubious use with 3 wire devices.
    – HerrBag
    Dec 21, 2013 at 22:47
  • @HerrBag: I was quite concerned by the howstuff works article, as I've always felt a little uncertain that the 3rd prong is really truly grounded, and was a bit unsettled to see that surge protection was working that way. Can you find an alternate source or even a picture of the circuitry that show neutral being used instead?
    – virtualxtc
    Dec 21, 2013 at 22:59
  • 2
    Mind you, you may not know what sort you have - but most better surge protectors conduct on overvoltage between any two of the three lines (ie, they use 3 MOVs or SOVs in a triangle configuration) not a "hot to ground" only configuration. I've gone to whole house protection with an SOV lightning arrestor plus a surge capacitor at the main panel.
    – Ecnerwal
    Dec 21, 2013 at 23:10
  • 2
    @virtualxtc From Tripp Lite: "Includes full normal mode (H-N) and common mode (N-G / H-G) line surge suppression" from their tripplite.com/en/products/model.cfm?txtModelID=97. As Ecnerwal mentions, all three modes are protected. You would have some protection from a 2 wire connection, but warranty and ultimately, safety would argue for 3 wire.
    – HerrBag
    Dec 22, 2013 at 0:14
0

A good option is a "whole house" surge protector, which is very easy to install (See a guide I wrote at http://guides.obviously.com/Whole-House-Surge-Protectors/1482 ).

It won't add a third prong to your plugs, but at modest cost for your landlord will protect his house (e.g. protect his sump pump, dishwasher, light bulbs, etc.). That's what you tell him. And it will protect your computers.

As for the point of use strips: it's true most will have three protection devices arranged in a triangle. But keep in mind neutral and ground are connected together at the panel anyway. From a surge point of view the 2-prong is not all that bad.

But point of use protection is not enough anyway, not in areas that actually have lightning. An "online" UPS can be a good substitute. But the best protection is to have both a whole house unit and point of use protection.

Note: you have very little to worry about with computer equipment and the third prong ground: I rip the 3rd prong off most laptop supplies for example, as I know it goes essentially nowhere.

Improve this answer
1
  • 1
    Your link is broken.
    – user4302
    Feb 17, 2016 at 21:19
0

The common 2 to 3 prong adapter has a screw tab, usually colored green. This is meant to go under the cover plate screw.

Why? There was a narrow period of time where a grounded wire was used, but outlets were still 2 prong. Thus it's possible the center screw on the outlet actually is grounded. If so the best thing is to install grounded plugs, but since you're renting, you can just use the 2 to 3 prong adapter.

Improve this answer
1
  • @Bryce If that bare copper wire is still there and is continuous back to the ground bus in the service panel, it should be fine to connect it to the ground terminal on your 3-prong outlets.
    – Craig Tullis
    Dec 8, 2014 at 0:45

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.