No grounded outlets/building wiring faults

[Guest]

So, this isn't strictly a PC-troubleshooting question, but I couldn't think of anywhere else to post it. 

 

My problem is that I'm renting a basement suite in a really old house, and none of the outlets in my house are grounded, which I'm aware of because my surge protector power strip has a little LED that comes on when that is the case, or when there's a "building wiring fault", and I'm worried about some of my stuff. A couple monitors that I have (and unfortunately, that includes my favourite one) don't power on regardless of what outlet they're plugged into, surge protected or not, regardless of if basically nothing else in the house is plugged in. I've also had my laptop fail to charge randomly, and give me low battery warnings out of nowhere, then randomly it'll start charging again. I've also had my laptop randomly blue screen with some kind of power delivery errors. Both of these problems occur while the laptop is plugged into the surge protected power bar. Obviously I'm not an electrician and can't really go about fixing this problem directly myself, and my landlord has informed me that he is aware they aren't grounded and doesn't think it's an issue so he won't do anything about it. Is there anything I can do about this? Would a small UPS for my laptop and monitor(s) fix the problem? Or would the UPS itself not work/charge properly? I really (probably clearly) know very little about building wiring. Keep in mind, if there's a potential fix that costs a lot of money, it's not an option, as I'm exceedingly broke. 

[BubblyCharizard]

@R176 IIRC grounded outlets are code in most parts if not all of Canada 

 

It is the landlord's responsibility to provide you with the appropriate ground in the electrical 

 

you might find a decent UPS that could work, but if you have a grounding problem, then I'd say that should be fixed well in advance of any other work being done to the house

 

 

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, BubblyCharizard said:

@R176 IIRC grounded outlets are code in most parts if not all of Canada 

 

It is the landlord's responsibility to provide you with the appropriate ground in the electrical 

 

you might find a decent UPS that could work, but if you have a grounding problem, then I'd say that should be fixed well in advance of any other work being done to the house

 

 

I talked to my landlord about it, and he doesn't seem to think it's a problem. Something along the lines of "Oh well nobody else has mentioned anything about the outlets before". I guess I can give him a call later today and see if I can convince him to do anything about it, but I'm not hopeful. He's not the greatest landlord. 

[SCHISCHKA]

try using your water tap as ground

[BubblyCharizard]

3 minutes ago, R176 said:

He's not the greatest landlord. 

you might need to ask the local tenant board for advice

[Guest]

Just now, SCHISCHKA said:

try using your water tap as ground

that literally means nothing to me, as I'd have no idea how/where to do that. 
Not to mention I'd probably electrocute myself and die because I'm an idiot. 

[SCHISCHKA]

1 minute ago, R176 said:

that literally means nothing to me, as I'd have no idea how/where to do that. 
Not to mention I'd probably electrocute myself and die because I'm an idiot. 

do you have a kitchen or bathroom down there?

[Guest]

Just now, SCHISCHKA said:

do you have a kitchen or bathroom down there?

both, yeah. 

[SCHISCHKA]

3 minutes ago, R176 said:

both, yeah. 

ok look in the bathroom are there plugs near a water source.

is your kitchen have a stainless surface?

im looking for a surface that should be connected to the building's earth.

If it is wired correctly you should be able to use this to correct your problem.

Any metal surface near a power point & water should be connected to earth.

[Guest]

Just now, SCHISCHKA said:

ok look in the bathroom are there plugs near a water source.

is your kitchen have a stainless surface?

im looking for a surface that should be connected to the building's earth.

If it is wired correctly you should be able to use this to correct your problem.

Any metal surface near a power point should be connected to earth.

Okay I don't understand how that existing would fix any of my problems. 

[tom_w141]

7 minutes ago, R176 said:

Okay I don't understand how that existing would fix any of my problems. 

You'll be able to use your devices in the shower duh!

 

EDIT: On topic I think he is just trying to confirm that you have an earth at all. If not then that's super illegal. Source: am also engineer.

[Dujith]

Not being grounded should not be an issue if the rest of the electrical system is in order.

Of course its preferabel to be grounded, but many computers and electronics are in an ungrounded socket without problems.

 

Depending on when the building was build, your landlord would not have to have any grounded sockets besides certain area's. So complaining about that would not do alot. For example; grounded sockets started to be mandatory in the whole house by 2000. Anything build before that would not have.

 

Anyway, back to the problem. This might well be a real electrical problem, which might be caused by the surge protectors.

Depending on the model they will most likely use the ground for the protection, and it being "floating" that might cause the problems.

 

In doubt get an electrician to check the electrical wiring

 

 

[SCHISCHKA]

35 minutes ago, R176 said:

none of the outlets in my house are grounded

i have seen this in 50+ year old houses. in the past any cowboy could build a house and plumbers performed the work of electricians.

1 minute ago, R176 said:

Okay I don't understand how that existing would fix any of my problems. 

because you are renting and you have a bathroom + kitchen I assume that everything added is up to modern code except your power points that may have existed before the renovation.

 

So I want you to look for a green or yellow/green wire around the bathroom or kitchen, around wet areas, around stainless and brass fittings that would indicate these metal items are earthed. If these are then we have a solution. One way to test is to take a multimeter; test one end on the power point and then test each end on the metal surfaces of your bathroom/kitchen. if your bathroom/kitchen is up to code you should see your mains V between the live terminal of your power point and the metal surface.

 

[Dujith]

1 minute ago, tom_w141 said:

If not then that's super illegal. Source am also engineer.

Depends on when the electrical system was made. It SHOULD however have a earth / ground at the beginning of the system.

[tom_w141]

2 minutes ago, Dujith said:

Not being grounded should not be an issue if the rest of the electrical system is in order.

Of course its preferabel to be grounded, but many computers and electronics are in an ungrounded socket without problems.

 

Depending on when the building was build, your landlord would not have to have any grounded sockets besides certain area's. So complaining about that would not do alot. For example; grounded sockets started to be mandatory in the whole house by 2000. Anything build before that would not have.

 

Anyway, back to the problem. This might well be a real electrical problem, which might be caused by the surge protectors.

Depending on the model they will most likely use the ground for the protection, and it being "floating" that might cause the problems.

 

In doubt get an electrician to check the electrical wiring

 

 

I was just about to say this actually  a lack of Earth won't stop a device working. I use a supply build to be intentionally floating at work.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, tom_w141 said:

I was just about to say this actually  a lack of Earth won't stop a device working.

then what's with the problems I've been having? Is there another electrical problem other than lack of ground/earth?

[Dujith]

21 minutes ago, R176 said:

then what's with the problems I've been having? Is there another electrical problem other than lack of ground/earth?

Start by ditching the powersurge protectors. And test from that.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Dujith said:

Start by ditching the powersurge protectors. And test from that.

same thing without them, should have mentioned. 

[Dujith]

Best thing would be to install an net analyzer and let it run for a week to see if something wonkey is up with your electrical system.

But that would cost ya. Might have to talk to the landlord again. Other then that you need instruments to come to any conclusion.

 

My advise: befriend an electrician, we are a lonely breed and will be your friend if you give us a beer