2006-12-17 06:34:39 · 11 answers · asked by yowlumni_yokut 2 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
Yes you can buy an adaptor. However, damage can occur to 3 prong appliances with a 2 prong adaptor. Cutting off the ground only makes things worse. The best cure, replace the 2 prong receptacles with a 3 prong GFCI receptacles and label with "No Equipment Grounds". That way you dont have to modify your appliance. This will void all warranty and if a fire starts from this appliance/plug-in, your insurance WILL NOT pay for it.
There is a reason appliances come the way they do. You should never modify anything. If you are not well versed with electricity, leave it to the pros!
2006-12-17 07:24:24 · answer #1 · answered by tim r 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Not at all - old wiring had only two wires, the power and neutral, but modern wiring has three, power, neutral and ground. Deleting the ground makes your modern equipment prone to failure during a power surge and increases the likelihood of a fire. The little wire loop at the bottom of the adapter is supposed to ground to the screw in the middle of the receptacle cover, but that only works if it has never been painted over, has no corrosion and you use it in the top outlet and even then you must trust that there is no dirt or corrosion where the screw goes through the receptacle behind the cover or you might not get good contact and make sure it touches the screw and maintains solid contact at all times. In a perfect world, it should work. In the real world, it hardly ever does. If you have old wiring, you probably have metal electrical boxes, which means that you can pretty easily upgrade your receptacles without running new wire by grounding them to the boxes (modern boxes are plastic and you cannot ground to them). Not saying leaving old wire is the greatest thing in the world, and of course a grounding spike is a much better ground than the box, but a ground is always better than no ground and if you can't afford to update the whole house, updating the receptacles is better than nothing. Remember that any damp/wet application requires a GFCI style receptacle, that means kitchen, bathroom, washroom if you have one, outside and though it is not required, I use them in my basement because we get water in there sometimes. Please remember that working with electricity is dangerous. If you don't know what you're doing, call a professional.
2016-03-28 22:16:28 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's not safe, but there is a fix. They sell a plug in adapter so you can plug in the three prongs into a two prong socket. It cost a few dollars, ask in a hardware store. The adapter is fasten to the existing outlet's center plate screw. The plate screw should be contacting the metal outlet box in the wall which should be grounded. If you don't have a ground, and something goes wrong, you will be the ground, electrocuted.
2006-12-17 06:45:48 · answer #3 · answered by Clipper 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i disagree with most of the comments about being unsafe. yes its there for your protection.. agreed. but, who connects the 2 prong adapter screw hole thing. if he only has a 2 prong plug then it wouldn't matter because the box wouldn't be grounded either. on most homes the neutral is connected to the same place as the ground. so wtf cut it off like a million other people that use the adapter..same thing! my thought would be the electric heater its self is more dangerous than removing the ground. and i have owned a few heaters that were only 2-prong cords. what would i do? i would use the adapter (without screwing it to my outlet) if i was freezing an didnt have an adaptor.. you bet i would pull that ground prong out... things just about fall out on their own anyway. aGround wire has nothing to do with overloading a circuit. BTW if your going to check fuse size and amp rating on the heater you forgot to tell him to check the wire size. many times you find that people have changed the breaker/fuse size but not the wire..
2006-12-17 10:02:14 · answer #4 · answered by hometech02 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can buy an adapter at any hardware store that converts
your plug to two prong. You plug your heater into it and then
it plugs into the two wire outlet. If you use it like that while you
are present, just unplug it when you leave. The extra ground is
a safety, in case of a short circuit.
2006-12-17 06:48:13 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
listen to tim. he is telling you the truth. also depending on how old the house/ wires are, the heater could put too heavy of a load on the circuit. check the amps rating on the heater, then if you know the fuse that runs the outlet you want to plug it into, check it. also realize that you have to figure in anything else that runs on that circuit. avoid a fire this winter, get an electrician in and make sure you can run the heater from the outlet you want. good luck. have a safe holidays.
2006-12-17 14:59:04 · answer #6 · answered by car dude 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are convertor plugs that go in the two prong outlet and have a ground hole on the other side.
That however is just cosmetic,a better solution is to change the outlet.
2006-12-17 06:47:18 · answer #7 · answered by domedweller2 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no,no it is very unsafe get a exact piece for it
2006-12-17 06:59:17 · answer #8 · answered by bigmomma3526 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is safe, but not recommended.
2006-12-17 06:37:47 · answer #9 · answered by masince1986 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Only if you want to blow your house up.
2006-12-17 07:01:23 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋