Safety options for a non-grounded home?

[xtan]

Hi!

My house is not grounded, just like almost all of the houses where I live. So all my outlets are just two prong outlets.

 

My current setup includes an extension cord that claims to have surge protection plugged directly into the wall outlet (Philippines 220V 60Hz), and plugged into it are the system unit (550W PSU), monitor, and 2.1 speakers, sometimes I also plug other things into it like stand fans and phone chargers.

 

What are the best options that I can do immediately to improve my and my components' safety? I will have the house properly grounded in the future but it might take some time.

I was planning on buying a good quality surge protector to replace my extension cord, I know the surge protection won't really work on a two prong outlet but I thought that at least the materials used inside would be better. However, I read that using it on a two prong outlet would actually cause more harm than good. I also thought of buying a UPS, but I read that it might actually be bad for the PSU if they're not "compatible", also, I don't really need its main functionality, I only want to improve overall safety.

 

Just wanna ask for advice and suggestions, thanks!

[kb5zue]

Having lived in the Philippines back in the '70's (75-78, Clark, Commando Escort), you could always drive a six-foot copper rod outside your window and attach a copper wire to it.  Then run that wire into your room thru a window and connect it to any electrical devices that you want to ground.  It's a bit awkward but it works.

[Jimkirk363]

I'd ground the house immediately out of fear.

[Roswell]

1 minute ago, Jimkirk363 said:

I'd ground the house immediately out of fear.

Fear of what?

[TomvanWijnen]

3 minutes ago, Jimkirk363 said:

I'd ground the house immediately out of fear.

Fear for what? My house also only has grounded outlets in the kitchen, bathroom, and where the washer and dryer are located. The rest of the house is just regular two prong outlets. I have never had any issues, and see no reason to rip open the entire walls and pay someone ludicrous amounts of money (no offence to them) just to ground all outlets. And most of what you plug in doesn't even have a ground in the plug itself, so the grounding then serves no point at all.

[xtan]

Yeah, and while I realize that I'd have to eventually ground the house, it's not really something that can be implemented immediately / right now.

 

In the meantime, I've been thinking whether I should buy a high quality power strip or a high quality surge protector to at least replace the one I'm using right now. I'm not sure which would be better.

[iKingRPG]

I mean one option is always to get a long wire and run it outside.. although probably not the perfect solution, should work.

[Bombastinator]

1 hour ago, Vitamanic said:

Fear of what?

Electrocution and computers not working.

Spoiler

There are two problems I know of with non grounded stuff.  One is cutting cables, the other is with alternating current it’s not positive and negative it’s positive and ground. Electricity will find ground. It’s really good at it.  Sometimes us squishy bags of mostly water make better ground than anything else’s it can find.  When that happens ZAP!  That’s electrics ignoring the particular issues of electronics.  With electronics it can be different. I remember being told a story of a knife switch bolted to a mainframe case landed “magic” and “no magic” the knife switch had only one lead. When the switch was thrown the computer worked.  When it was pulled it didn’t.  The trick was it was grounding to the case.  I personally wouldn’t want to run a 500w PSU on a non grounded outlet.   Grounding is pretty easy though.

 Another old trick which might not work in the Philippines because tropical country is run a wire to a metal pipe.  Hot water radiators were preferred. Anything metal sunk in the ground enough works. This includes water pipes if they’re steel and not plastic or concrete.  It’s not considered reliable in the US anymore because a lot of steel pipes have been replaced with plastic.  Even one repair with plastic makes the whole thing useless.

[Roswell]

42 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Electrocution and computers not working.

  Hide contents

There are two problems I know of with non grounded stuff.  One is cutting cables, the other is with alternating current it’s not positive and negative it’s positive and ground. Electricity will find ground. It’s really good at it.  Sometimes us squishy bags of mostly water make better ground than anything else’s it can find.  When that happens ZAP!  That’s electrics ignoring the particular issues of electronics.  With electronics it can be different. I remember being told a story of a knife switch bolted to a mainframe case landed “magic” and “no magic” the knife switch had only one lead. When the switch was thrown the computer worked.  When it was pulled it didn’t.  The trick was it was grounding to the case.  I personally wouldn’t want to run a 500w PSU on a non grounded outlet.   Grounding is pretty easy though.

 Another old trick which might not work in the Philippines because tropical country is run a wire to a metal pipe.  Hot water radiators were preferred. Anything metal sunk in the ground enough works. This includes water pipes if they’re steel and not plastic or concrete.  It’s not considered reliable in the US anymore because a lot of steel pipes have been replaced with plastic.  Even one repair with plastic makes the whole thing useless.

Ungrounded outlets likely outnumber grounded ones on the US east coast. Every house built in the 70s or earlier is ungrounded for the most part unless an owner paid to rewire the house. They’re nothing to be afraid of...

[kb5zue]

4 hours ago, TomvanWijnen said:

Fear for what? My house also only has grounded outlets in the kitchen, bathroom, and where the washer and dryer are located. The rest of the house is just regular two prong outlets. I have never had any issues, and see no reason to rip open the entire walls and pay someone ludicrous amounts of money (no offence to them) just to ground all outlets. And most of what you plug in doesn't even have a ground in the plug itself, so the grounding then serves no point at all.

Obviously you have never lived in the Philippines.

[TomvanWijnen]

6 hours ago, kb5zue said:

Obviously you have never lived in the Philippines.

I have indeed never lived in the Philippines. Perhaps the weather there or the electricity or something else make it necessary there, but here, I've never really seen the point.

[Bombastinator]

9 hours ago, Vitamanic said:

Ungrounded outlets likely outnumber grounded ones on the US east coast. Every house built in the 70s or earlier is ungrounded for the most part unless an owner paid to rewire the house. They’re nothing to be afraid of...

They outnumber grounded outlets in most older homes.  Even I’ve got a few.  The thing is the unified electrical code is a document written in blood.  It doesn’t change unless someone dies.  Ungrounded outlets are against code therefore someone died.  Considering the mess required to solve the issue probably a lot of someones.

Edited September 9, 2020 by Bombastinator