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SysTechGuy · Joined: 08 Feb 2008 Posts: 1 Location: United States

I just moved into an old apartment building and after moving in, it occurred to me to check my outlets to see if they were indeed grounded (even though they have three prongs)

With a circuit tester, all outlets except the kitchen were not grounded. The Building Commisioner for the town I live in emailed me indicating that since the building was so old, they were exempt from having grounded outlets.

I had my landlady get a someone over to ground the outlets (a handman) and he came by and inserted a few wires into my outlets and told me that the receptacles were in fact grounded, but they were just receiving a weak signal.

I am a computer technician by trade and will have two or three computers plugged into a surge protector into the wall. Should I be concerned about anything? Are there questions that I need to ask?

thescruff · Moderator Joined: 03 May 2003 Posts: 4632 Location: Bath

B from Michigan usually logs on regularly, and is the best guy to answer your question.

b · Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 3:01 am Post subject:

I doubt there is a "weak signal"... either the outlets are grounded or they are not. I would want my computer plugged into a grounded outlet with a surge protector. There is a cheap tester that you can pick up at the local do-it-yourself place, ie. lowes, that will tell you if your outlet is grounded. It plugs into the face of the outlet and with the pattern of lights you see on the tester it will indicate grounds or opens. It is very user friendly and as a techie you should have no prob operating. I venture to guess that the reading the handyman got was due to the nuetral being the grounded conductor rather than that the plugs were grounded. Did the handyman take the ground wire he installed back to the electrical panel? All wires going to the circuit should originate from your panel.
B