Electrial help..Do you know anything about "grounding"?

Question

The duplex that I live in only has 2 prongs in the outlets and not 3. How long can I work with the adapters? The packages say that they are grounded.

Answer 1

Having a properly grounded outlet is preferable (obviously), but all that is needed for functionality is the hot and neutral that you already have. In addition, many appliances and electronic devices are double insulated and the ground and Neutral are common. The important thing is that you do have a separate ground (ground rods and bonding to water) in your service panel.
All of that to say, you are fine with the adapters. The biggest problem with them is they tend to fall out and/or get in the way of pushing furniture in all the way. If you have a friend who is an electrician or handyman they could change the outlets out for you in a matter of hours at a cost of less then one dollar an outlet (if they are willing to donate the labor).

Answer 2

Those adapters will not do any good if the 3rd prong is not properly connected. The ones with a wire on it are against code. The ones with a tab that the cover plate screw can go on assume the box and therefore the yoke of the receptacle are grounded. If this is not the case, you do not have a ground! You can get a $5 or less receptacle tester with 3 lights that show a correctly wired receptacle. If putting that into your adapter shows correct, then you are fine. If it shows open ground, then you have no ground.

If a device has a 3 prong cord, there is a reason! It is a safety issue. You have a shock hazard if that is not "grounded". And I should also mention, connecting the 3rd prong to the earth in some way is NOT correct and will do no good. If an appliance has "double insulation" that does not need to be grounded, it will not have the 3rd prong. I'll repeat, if there is a 3 prong plug, you need a ground for safety. The next best thing after a properly grounded receptacle is a GFCI. You can get plug-in GFCIs (they are commonly used in construction where GFCI is required). But this is not ideal. A GFCI will usually save your life, but you will get a shock! A misconception is a GFCI prevents shocks. No, it prevents fatal shocks MOST of the time. They can fail, and under some conditions a fatal shock can occur less than the GFCI trip level.

Are you renting? If so, get the landlord to upgrade the outlets.

Also, what packages say "they are grounded". The adapters have no way to say they provide a ground!

Answer 3

If they say its grounded ,I will believe them. Because in some systems the ground part is a metal notch in the middle between the two prongs.so in your socket that you are going to insert in the wall ,you have 2 prongs only but if you look at the socket closely there is a silver part grooved on the plastic head of the socket ,this is the part that slides on the one on the wall.so it is grounded. a different system from the 3 projected prongs that you normally see.

Answer 4

three wire receptacles are double grounded, so the circuit is grounded if there are only two wires. If you are using three prong things, like vacuums, etc., you are better off using an adapter then you are to cut off the large round grounding lug.