WHAT IS A TWO PRONG OUTLET?
These outlets are all over the Seattle area. Older homes built before about 1960 had outlets with only two openings for a hot wire (black) and a neutral wire (white). These type of outlets have no ground wire (bare copper or green). Over time evidence showed that this exposed homeowners to possible shock hazards and about 1969 outlets known as three-pronged (with a ground wire) began to be installed.
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH UN-GROUNDED OUTLETS?
The number one problem with ungrounded outlets is possible shock hazard. The whole point of ground wire is to make sure the circuit breaker trips and prevents shock (hurts) or electrocution (fatal). With no ground wire, items plugged into two wire receptacles can become hazardous. When a short circuit occurs in an appliance with no ground wire the metal parts can become energized……but what makes the situation deadly is that the circuit breaker won’t trip in this case. Instead the metal parts of the appliance become a booby-trap waiting for the next person to make contact and complete the path to ground.
ARE MY COMPUTERS OKAY WITH UNGROUNDED OUTLETS?
If you leave a bar of soap under a faucet with a drip and come back in a day you won’t notice much, but if you come back in a week there will be a hole through the middle. This is what can happen over time with sensitive electronics that are fed dirty power from two-prong outlets. The ground wires is a drain for electrical interference and “dirty power”. Ungrounded systems force all the dirty power to pass right into your sensitive, computers, TV’s and anything with a circuit board. This may not cause noticeable problems right away, but can lead to premature failure over time.
ARE MY SURGE PROTECTORS OKAY WITH UNGROUNDED OUTLETS?
Surge protectors operate by draining large excess voltages to ground. In fact, most surge protector manufacturers will not honor their product warranty to protect items in your home if you are plugged into ungrounded two-prong outlets. Under normal circumstances these devices can be real life savers, but if no ground wire is present then they simply cannot perform their job.
WHAT IS THE RIGHT WAY TO FIX THE PROBLEM?
The best way to eliminate the problems completely is to re-wire the circuit with new modern Romex or NM house wire that has a ground. The down side to this solution is that is can be costly. But he bottom line is that this really is the only way to completely and totally solve the problem.
WHAT IS AN INEXPENSIVE “fix” FOR THE PROBLEM?
Another alternative to re-wiring a circuit is to install GFCI’s instead. While this doesn’t solve all the problems it is a NEC (National Electrical Code) approved method of installing three pronged outlets in place of two-prong outlets. This will provide protection for people in the home, on the other hand it will not help computers or surge arrestors.
