ungrounded outlets

[SHADY16]

so my room is ungrounded and atm i have my pc plugged into a UPS which has surge protection built in. i'm just wondering if this could damage my pc in any way because at this present time since i don't own the house i have no way to get my room grounded or even get a electrician here to even diagnose why my room isn't grounded. i have 3 prong outlets and to the eye everything looks good. reason i got alerted to this was the UPS building site wiring fault light was lit up and i used a tester to verify that no outlet in my room is grounded. i live in a basement and literally only my room and the bath room are the only outlets ungrounded everything else grounded but only way i would be able to use a different outlet would be an extension cord and i have read those are unsafe to use with a ups. probably been using my pc for a around a year before realizing this and everything has been fine so far . 

[TukangUsapEmenq]

Well, afaik, not having ground simply made the PC gets 'zippy' to touch. I've been living for all of those years and I (sadly) never have my computer grounded, like, ever, simply because shitload amount of contractor/house developer here won't think that as a necessities. Yes, that bad. Worst thing happen to me is I got a little zap from the PC case, thankfully.

 

To be honest, I don't know if that grounding problem actually caused some computer PSU that I had (including a decent XFX brand one) died for no reason (like, all of the sudden, dead). so perhaps others could explain about this either?

 

Fortunately I never have any other component that went die. Even my ancient Pentium 4 computer still rocks now.

 

26 minutes ago, SHADY16 said:

use a different outlet would be an extension cord and i have read those are unsafe to use

Well, considering your specs, I wouldn't put that amount of load onto a extension cable on long-term case either though.

[191x7]

A UPS should not be used on outlets without grounding. Grounding is essential for the operation of the UPS.

 

You can use your PC without GND on the outlets, but it can be life threatening if some voltage gets on the case.

Every device that has a grouning power cord has it for a reason, usually it's for safety.

 

Also, is there an electric water heater (boiler) in that bathroom? It is essential to have that grounded. People loose lives because of such sh.

[Vishera]

33 minutes ago, SHADY16 said:

so my room is ungrounded

Bad bad bad and dangerous.

7 minutes ago, TukangUsapEmenq said:

Well, afaik, not having ground simply made the PC gets 'zippy' to touch. I've been living for all of those years and I (sadly) never have my computer grounded, like, ever, simply because shitload amount of contractor/house developer here won't think that as a necessities. Yes, that bad. Worst thing happen to me is I got a little zap from the PC case, thankfully.

Tankfully?! - It shouldn't happen at all.

 

The wiring in your houses doesn't meet safety standards,

And i assume that finding a real certified electrician who won't compromise safety is a serious challenge where you live.

 

If you have money and manage to find an real certified electrician that won't compromise on safety - Have him ground the house and check the wiring,breakers,etc.

If you don't have money for it or you can't find someone like that then there is not much that you can do...

[SHADY16]

8 minutes ago, Vishera said:

Bad bad bad and dangerous.

Tankfully?! - It shouldn't happen at all.

 

The wiring in your houses doesn't meet safety standards,

And i assume that finding a real certified electrician who won't compromise safety is a serious challenge where you live.

 

If you have money and manage to find an real certified electrician that won't compromise on safety - Have him ground the house and check the wiring,breakers,etc.

If you don't have money for it or you can't find someone like that then there is not much that you can do...

and it is literally just my room and the bathroom the rest of the house and basement is grounded and i can't afford a electrician atm. 

25 minutes ago, TukangUsapEmenq said:

Well, afaik, not having ground simply made the PC gets 'zippy' to touch. I've been living for all of those years and I (sadly) never have my computer grounded, like, ever, simply because shitload amount of contractor/house developer here won't think that as a necessities. Yes, that bad. Worst thing happen to me is I got a little zap from the PC case, thankfully.

 

To be honest, I don't know if that grounding problem actually caused some computer PSU that I had (including a decent XFX brand one) died for no reason (like, all of the sudden, dead). so perhaps others could explain about this either?

 

Fortunately I never have any other component that went die. Even my ancient Pentium 4 computer still rocks now.

 

Well, considering your specs, I wouldn't put that amount of load onto a extension cable on long-term case either though.

my pc case has never shocked me at all thankfully

[SHADY16]

23 minutes ago, 191x7 said:

A UPS should not be used on outlets without grounding. Grounding is essential for the operation of the UPS.

 

You can use your PC without GND on the outlets, but it can be life threatening if some voltage gets on the case.

Every device that has a grouning power cord has it for a reason, usually it's for safety.

 

Also, is there an electric water heater (boiler) in that bathroom? It is essential to have that grounded. People loose lives because of such sh.

ive been using it for a year or more and has worked fine even took over when we had a power outage. and our electric water heater is in a different room that is grounded.  

[191x7]

3 minutes ago, SHADY16 said:

ive been using it for a year or more and has worked fine even took over when we had a power outage. and our electric water heater is in a different room that is grounded.  

Yes, power outage, but what about a power spike, a power surge?

[SHADY16]

4 minutes ago, 191x7 said:

Yes, power outage, but what about a power spike, a power surge?

Not sure if I've had any of those but don't the power usually spike when power is restored? And would the ups save the PC at least? I also have a PS5 plugged into a surge protector which has been fine as well

[191x7]

3 minutes ago, SHADY16 said:

Not sure if I've had any of those but don't the power usually spike when power is restored? And would the ups save the PC at least? I also have a PS5 plugged into a surge protector which has been fine as well

On a larger power surge (like a lighting strike nearby), the UPS would probably cause a fire. It's using active surge protection, probably active voltage regulation (AVR), not pasive protection like regular surge protected power strips.

[TetraSky]

A lot of old (and stupid) "contractors" thinks the ground is useless because they grew up in a time where it wasn't required yet and they never took a single classes on electricity. My uncle is the same, unlicensed guy who can work on electrical stuff (illegally) without much problem since he has some basic knowledge, but thinks the ground is pointless and basically rolled his eyes when I told him he forgot to wire it up on an outlet. They think the neutral does the "same job" because it's wired for that in the panel. Except it's not. At all. Not for electronics in metal cases. That will protect the panel, not your electronics or yourself from getting shocked.

 

A three prong outlet without ground is a code violation and could get your landlord in trouble.

All I could recommend, is that If you have water line pipes or baseboard heater in the room, you could DIY a grounding solution for this one outlet. Not ideal, but better than not having one at all.

 

[SHADY16]

8 minutes ago, 191x7 said:

On a larger power surge (like a lighting strike nearby), the UPS would probably cause a fire. It's using active surge protection, probably active voltage regulation (AVR), not pasive protection like regular surge protected power strips.

I've had plenty of lightning nearby and nothing has happened yet. Even with ground though I doubt it would protect against a direct strike

[SHADY16]

1 minute ago, TetraSky said:

A lot of old (and stupid) "contractors" thinks the ground is useless because they grew up in a time where it wasn't required yet and they never took a single classes on electricity. My uncle is the same, unlicensed guy who can work on electrical stuff without much problem since he has some basic knowledge, but thinks the ground is pointless and basically rolled his eyes when I told him he forgot to wire it up on an outlet. They think the neutral does the "same job". Except it's not. At all. Not for electronics in metal cases.

 

A three prong outlet without ground is a code violation and could get your landlord in trouble.

All I could recommend, is that If you have water line pipes or baseboard heater in the room, you could DIY a grounding solution for this one outlet. Not ideal, but better than not having one at all.

 

I live with my dad actually and he's aware of the issue but doesn't want to do anything with it

[Somerandomtechyboi]

Lmao here in indo most rooms are ungrounded but usually the bathroom is grounded, no issues to be reported here, lightning does get close but it doesnt do crap most of the time other than be annoying and jumpscaring the sht out of you

 

Yep even run my bench while theres a thunderstorm and no problems there either, no wonder why most contractors think its pointless, but other than the bench i dont seem to have anything else that needs ground since i dont run water heaters and sht so im not affected

[191x7]

1 hour ago, SHADY16 said:

I've had plenty of lightning nearby and nothing has happened yet. Even with ground though I doubt it would protect against a direct strike

If it can't lead the excess voltage off the battery will explode and cause a fire, the entire house can burn down. It's not about protecting, it's about the device causing serious damage and potential loss of life.

[TukangUsapEmenq]

15 hours ago, Vishera said:

The wiring in your houses doesn't meet safety standards,

And i assume that finding a real certified electrician who won't compromise safety is a serious challenge where you live.

 

If you have money and manage to find an real certified electrician that won't compromise on safety - Have him ground the house and check the wiring,breakers,etc.

If you don't have money for it or you can't find someone like that then there is not much that you can do...

Well aware of that, could do it myself tbh (electrical engineer undergrad here), but it's not my house, and don't have the money either. I would ground my own room later on if I can.

 

It's not about certified electrician or such (well we got enough here I think), but more like house builder here simply got cheap mofo and 'as long as it works'. I'll be honest, you would cringe if you actually visit my country here regarding how safety is simply.... Kind-of disgraced, in houses here.

 

I'm definitely getting grounding on my own house I own though.

 

14 hours ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

Lmao here in indo most rooms are ungrounded but usually the bathroom is grounded, no issues to be reported here, lightning does get close but it doesnt do crap most of the time other than be annoying and jumpscaring the sht out of you

 

Yep even run my bench while theres a thunderstorm and no problems there either, no wonder why most contractors think its pointless, but other than the bench i dont seem to have anything else that needs ground since i dont run water heaters and sht so im not affected

Man, you're even lucky to have your bathroom grounded. My grandpa place got a water heater on his place, got the RCD on it, pre-cabled.

 

Plugged onto this.

 

Spoiler

Cringe all you want lol, but they wouldn't listen to me anyway (I'm being younger and shit), despite I'm a EE.