Electricity problems

[WiiMAN]

Hi. Let me know I’m asking in the wrong place so I can just delete this and check elsewhere, I’m asking here because I assume electricity that MIGHT be bad has been killing my electronics for awhile now.

 

i have my PC and some other important electronics connected to a surge protector. That surge protector has an indicator light that says Not Grounded and it’s usually on. I grabbed my multimeter and read the following:

 

Note, I’m not too familiar with the electrical terms, so I’m testing them by putting the black wire on the wide outlet slot and the red one on the short one. I also took turns with the U shaped slot

 

black to wide

red to short——-122 volts

 

red to short

black to U slot—120 volts

 

black to wide

red to U slot——1.4 volts

 

Does this mean my ground really is bad? Or is my surge protector going bad or no longer protecting?

[kirashi]

12 minutes ago, WiiMAN said:

Hi. Let me know I’m asking in the wrong place so I can just delete this and check elsewhere, I’m asking here because I assume electricity that MIGHT be bad has been killing my electronics for awhile now.

 

i have my PC and some other important electronics connected to a surge protector. That surge protector has an indicator light that says Not Grounded and it’s usually on. I grabbed my multimeter and read the following:

 

Note, I’m not too familiar with the electrical terms, so I’m testing them by putting the black wire on the wide outlet slot and the red one on the short one. I also took turns with the U shaped slot

 

black to wide

red to short——-122 volts

 

red to short

black to U slot—120 volts

 

black to wide

red to U slot——1.4 volts

 

Does this mean my ground really is bad? Or is my surge protector going bad or no longer protecting?

On a surge protector, this can mean that either a) the ground is bad at that outlet (or inside the surge protector) or b) the surge protector has reached end of life and no longer provides surge protection as the capacitor and resistors inside have worn out. Either way, I don't mess with power, so I'd replace it asap if your household power is unstable.

[WiiMAN]

I forgot to mention (facepalm)

 

The Not Grounded light is usually on but very dim. If some other appliance that uses a lot of power (refrigerator, laundry machine, microwave) are turned on, the Not Grounded light gets a lot brighter. With the washing machine it even flickers at the speed of the machine

 

I know electricians need to eat too but right now I’d like to avoid feeding them if possible