Hi guys,

So I just put a deposit down on a new apartment in Boston. It is a fairly older house and the one thing that worries me is that none of the outlets have a ground. My question to you guys is do you know if this might be a code violation in the state of MA. I would like them all changed out b/c all of my electronics take three prong plugs. Is that a big task to do? Any ideas would be great thanks.

Eric

 

If it's an old house in MA, it may be the old tube and knob wiring. I'm pretty sure it's not a violation to have it, but they MUST be changed when any renovation occurs. Performing renovations and not updating tube and knob is a violation.. At least that's what Channel 7 told me about a year ago..

 

Upgrading the wiring is a big job so I wouldn't expect them to do anything about it if you ask. About the only thing you can do is get those 2 prong to 3 prong adapters and really ground the adapter to a pipe or somethinng similar.

 

I just finished upgrading the wiring in my home and as doopstr says it is a big job.

NEC Code allows for the placement of GFCI-type receptacles for replacement of 2 prong outlets. for example

But... It the result is not truly grounded and some electrical devices are not to be used in ungrounded GFCI's. I think computer power supplies are in this category.

 

Thanks guys for the responses. My concern is that I have a home theater and i have multiple computers with and tons of electroncs. So is my best bet to just get those little three prong to two prong adaptors? How does this affect my electronics. I don't want to damage them?

 

If you get those adaptors, make sure you ground it to something. Or else it's just a waste of time IMO. I've had to use them in one of the apartment I lived in and I did not had any problems in the 2 years I was there.

 

My house is from the 50s so every outlet is that way and I have to use the adapters. I have a computer room with 7 pcs/servers and an aquarium with no less than 50 different electrical connections. Most of the computer stuff is on UPS power and some of the aquarium stuff is too, but I've never had any problems for 10+ years with electrical stuff.

 

I would definitely get a good UPS for protection on any high end electronic devices. I'm in an old building and my APC UPS gives me a ground error, but still works perfect. Get something like this and hook everything up to it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16842107114

 

I'm in an older building as well (for now) and a UPS is a MUST!

 

You need to be careful with UPS systems. They are designed to work with PCs that don't have pure sign-wave requirements. Most of the stuff around your house won't have this requirement but stuff such as stereo equipment does. If you need a pure sign-wave you need to stepup to a higher end ups such as the APC Smart UPS. The lower end APC stuff doesn't produce a pure sign-wave. It's also not a good idea to run anything that uses a large motor with a UPS (such as a vacuum)

If your UPS has a ground error light on, your equipment is not grounded.

 

So, what's a decent UPS for the computer, stereo and TV? I'm thinking about getting one.