Also your cord is sticking out much further than it normally would be. Luckily all the electrical boxes in my house are grounded all outlets in the kitchen were upgraded. I have a few areas where I still use the adapters but I always screw it in.
I am a firm believer in having the 3rd prong. My grandmother told me a story when I was a kid about a woman who was running a blender with one hand and reached over to shut off the sink and got shock so hard that it shattered her ankle.
I'M installing 4' LED linkable ceiling lights in my workshop. I bought two different models of lights and discovered when I began the install that one of the models has a 3 pin configuration and the other a 2 pin. When connecting them, I can fit the 3 pin plug into the 2 pin receptical with the ground pin not plugged in to anything. This is probably not to code so I'm wondering if there is a specially designed adaptor to make the setup safe and to code?
Now I realize why they put GFCI in my kitchen...Most of my plugs have been updated on the main floor, but not on the second...time for some upgrades! Thanks for the info!!
Armorlite Metal-Clad Cable, Is use in multifamily buildings so is all grounded back to the panel and that was used in some or must older homes in the NY area.
Now the thing is and my question, and also corresponding with an electrician, that if you upgrade to a gfci. But your system has absolutely no ground, that gfci is useless. Is that correct? I saw one guy and he installed the gfci upstream on house, but I’m not sure if the panel box was already grounded or not.
No that is not correct, the purpose of a GFCI is to provide protection whether or not there is a ground. They work by monitoring the amount of current coming out of and returned back to the outlet. If there's even a slight difference it will cut the power within a few milliseconds. They essentially provide a way to add similar protection to old houses without having to rewire the entire system which is much more costly.
Like in the beginning of this clip I am perfectly content with just plugging InTo the wall my adapter and screwing the little green tab in between the cover plate and its screw..Thx 4 the tip!
I've been using those dinky little 3 prong to 2 prong adapters my whole life and had nothing go wrong..I also have no clue if my house has grounded 2 prong plugs but I definitely don't ground the adapters, never knew about this
I use them, too, but I do ground them...even if I didn't know it was helping until I recently moved my surge protector to a newer outlet in another room and saw that the adapter and prong on both had severe signs of damage. Now, I'm freaking out about how to get the other outlets grounded - the ones I couldn't afford the electrician to do since he was charging per outlet and the $$ was adding up quickly.
An easy way to check if your outlet is grounded to the panel is to use a receptacle tester, they're cheap, and then check it. You'll need to use the little screw on the adapter and plug the tester into the adapter.
Guess what? I am the guy that properly grounded my 2-prong outlet ADU to use my 2 prong outlets that came in my tiny house from China… now you know somebody.
Some wiring methods include a cable containing a grounding conductor -- either as a separate conductor inside the cable or a metal sheath that is bonded to ground at the service panel, or even a non-metallic sheath around which someone (in the 1950s) may have wrapped an "extra" grounding wire connected to the service panel. Otherwise, assume no ground and install a GFCI breaker or receptacle.
I agree with everything said except the grounded metal box being rare, it is more common in some regions and more rare in others and depends on regional codes at the time of construction. Just think of the guy that wires or rewires the house up correctly for 3 wire but finds the store is out of stock on 3 prong or uses the old ones. He plans to fix them later when he has more time. There are a lot of Frankenstein wiring jobs out there. Assumptions when dealing with electricity kills or injures, always check twice. It maybe forty years before, a mistake in wiring causes harm or death. I have known 4 people in my life who died from electrocution. Two were electricians with more than 20 years experience each, never knew if it was their mistake or somebody else's. The quality of work of electricians and people varies a great deal. I remember an inspector stopping and looking every little thing over on a job, the guy that did the work ask did I do some wrong? No, it is perfect, the best I have ever seen a work of art. How long did it take? Some answer. Inspector - Dam perfect and fast too.
i just bought a house built in 1965 and several bedrooms have the 2 prong outlets only and the home inspector told me they were grounded and it would be ok to use the adapter. that said, i'd rather just spend the money to replace the outlet than to buy adapters for temporary use.
I have an older home with upgraded 3-prong outlets in part of the house, but not in the other half, including in our master bedroom. I've used 3-prong converters for as long as I can remember without incident. What is the danger of using them if the house has not had a complete electrical upgrade? Thanks in advance.
Calling them dangerous is an exaggeration in my opinion, but you do forgo the added safeguard of that 3rd prong when you use those converters. The purpose of the 3rd prong is to provide an alternate path in the rare event that an electrical current escapes its intended pathway. When this happens, any metal surface of an appliance can become energized and will shock someone if they touch it. The 3rd prong protects them from that by sending the rogue current back to the breaker. That being said, a lot of appliances have GFCI's built into their plugs now which basically does the job of a grounding prong in the event of an electrical fault, and a good chunk of electronics these days have entirely plastic exteriors which won't shock you even if there is a fault. So yes, technically they are less safe than a properly grounded 3 prong outlet, but the odds of someone coming into contact with an electrified surface is very slim if you just use basic common sense.
In a bedroom the risk typically is small as there are few grounded surfaces so risk of a severe electric sock is low. I assume you have some carpet floor that is not conductive. I still dislike the adapters as they are basically a fixed installation but not to the code. Why not do according to a code and use GFCIs?
Hi, does this mean, I don’t need to add additional ground cable wire. Usually we only have 2 cable wires for our outlet in our country, we only have, live and neutral or hot and NO GROUNDING
Your country? This is about the US (though it should apply to Canada). Different countries have different rules. In Europe for example the whole point is moot as you can use grounded plugs in ungrounded outlets. As a general use you may take instructions for other countries as general reference and information but you cannot just apply them directly.
My town will make a big fuss if I ever tried to sell the house and did this sort of electrical work on it. Need to have an electrician install even something so simple in my town and get a permit.
Alright I’m the one in a million who is attempting to convert my new laptop 3 prong cord to a two prong outlet. The cheesy adapter with the green tab you’re supposed to bend down to the metal plate and then screw in the outlet plate. Assuming this two prong is fully grounded. I opened it up and all I saw was a clump of dirty black coated wires from my guess is the early 70’s. Think the output of the computer is 19.5 V. 2.5A, 45W. Input is (hold on grabbing magnifying glass), 100-240V, 1.4A, 50Hz? What’s the easiest way to tell if the 2 prong is grounded with killing myself? I’m guessing there’s no shot? Thanks in advance if you’re still answering dumb q’s from people like me? Scott
Thats too much work. My father was an electrician and I was trying to plug a 3 prong plug in and only had a two prong outlet. He grabbed a pair of pliars and removed the 3rd prong from the extension cord, chuckled and told me it should work now. Everyone is so sensitive and girly these days. Btw im not talking about something that needed to be plugged in permanently. Just for a short while and yes he did know what he was doing and he did understand the risks
While that is not recommended maybe he knew something of the location where it was used that you do not realize.You cannot apply that to different cases without proper knowledge. That would be cargo cult electrics. I do not recommend cutting the prongs as the cord may then be used at a different location like outside where the risk is much higher.
True, unless somewhere along the line a segment was removed and "upgraded" with non-metallic sheathed cable and not properly bonded to ground at both ends.
Thank you for explaining this! I knew it wasn’t safe to use that adapter the way I was told. Now, I know the reasons why. Great video.
Also your cord is sticking out much further than it normally would be. Luckily all the electrical boxes in my house are grounded all outlets in the kitchen were upgraded. I have a few areas where I still use the adapters but I always screw it in.
How can you tell if it's grounded without an electrician?
I'm flat broke and would like to know.
my cover plate's screw doesnt match up to where the adapter's green tab is which makes it not be able to fit. any fixes?
I am a firm believer in having the 3rd prong. My grandmother told me a story when I was a kid about a woman who was running a blender with one hand and reached over to shut off the sink and got shock so hard that it shattered her ankle.
Dude, holy shit :/
Can I attach a ground wire to the adaptor directly? my house doesn't have outlet box, thank you for answering
Thank you for not making this video 15 min
I just moved into an old house with only two prong outlets. The cheater adapter is all I can do use my electronics. Any advice?
I'M installing 4' LED linkable ceiling lights in my workshop. I bought two different models of lights and discovered when I began the install that one of the models has a 3 pin configuration and the other a 2 pin. When connecting them, I can fit the 3 pin plug into the 2 pin receptical with the ground pin not plugged in to anything. This is probably not to code so I'm wondering if there is a specially designed adaptor to make the setup safe and to code?
Tried doing this and couldn't get the new 3 prong gcfi outlet to work.
That screw that holds the adapter grounds NOTHING!!!!!! There is no ground!!!
In very very rear situations the box would be grounded so the adapter screw would ground it.
Yea. If the metal emt is not grounded, then the ground would not work
Can you use a AFCI/GFCI combo outlet? Instead of only GFCI
Will there be more benefit?
Dont use them??
If the outlet housing is simply nailed to a wall stud, where is the ground path
older houses using metal conduit or armored cable could be used for equipment ground if it ran the entire way back to the panel/grounding rod.
Exactly what I was thinking
Now I realize why they put GFCI in my kitchen...Most of my plugs have been updated on the main floor, but not on the second...time for some upgrades! Thanks for the info!!
Armorlite Metal-Clad Cable, Is use in multifamily buildings so is all grounded back to the panel and that was used in some or must older homes in the NY area.
Non isolated ground receptacle will ground from the metalwork of the backbox
You will need a self-grounding receptacle and the box needs to be grounded.
@@okaro6595 very true
I do use the grounding screw with my adapters. My question is can i use two adapters on the same outlet that are using the same screw for grounding?
Now the thing is and my question, and also corresponding with an electrician, that if you upgrade to a gfci. But your system has absolutely no ground, that gfci is useless. Is that correct?
I saw one guy and he installed the gfci upstream on house, but I’m not sure if the panel box was already grounded or not.
No that is not correct, the purpose of a GFCI is to provide protection whether or not there is a ground. They work by monitoring the amount of current coming out of and returned back to the outlet. If there's even a slight difference it will cut the power within a few milliseconds. They essentially provide a way to add similar protection to old houses without having to rewire the entire system which is much more costly.
Would an NFCI be more useful for a bedroom than a GFCI? I have seen NFCI/GFCI combo's but not available in 20A, locally.
Like in the beginning of this clip I am perfectly content with just plugging InTo the wall my adapter and screwing the little green tab in between the cover plate and its screw..Thx 4 the tip!
I've been using those dinky little 3 prong to 2 prong adapters my whole life and had nothing go wrong..I also have no clue if my house has grounded 2 prong plugs but I definitely don't ground the adapters, never knew about this
I use them, too, but I do ground them...even if I didn't know it was helping until I recently moved my surge protector to a newer outlet in another room and saw that the adapter and prong on both had severe signs of damage. Now, I'm freaking out about how to get the other outlets grounded - the ones I couldn't afford the electrician to do since he was charging per outlet and the $$ was adding up quickly.
An easy way to check if your outlet is grounded to the panel is to use a receptacle tester, they're cheap, and then check it. You'll need to use the little screw on the adapter and plug the tester into the adapter.
Guess what? I am the guy that properly
grounded my 2-prong outlet ADU to use my 2 prong outlets that came in my tiny house from China… now you know somebody.
I the outlet housing is just nailed to a wall stud, where is the ground path?
Some wiring methods include a cable containing a grounding conductor -- either as a separate conductor inside the cable or a metal sheath that is bonded to ground at the service panel, or even a non-metallic sheath around which someone (in the 1950s) may have wrapped an "extra" grounding wire connected to the service panel. Otherwise, assume no ground and install a GFCI breaker or receptacle.
I agree with everything said except the grounded metal box being rare, it is more common in some regions and more rare in others and depends on regional codes at the time of construction. Just think of the guy that wires or rewires the house up correctly for 3 wire but finds the store is out of stock on 3 prong or uses the old ones. He plans to fix them later when he has more time. There are a lot of Frankenstein wiring jobs out there. Assumptions when dealing with electricity kills or injures, always check twice. It maybe forty years before, a mistake in wiring causes harm or death. I have known 4 people in my life who died from electrocution. Two were electricians with more than 20 years experience each, never knew if it was their mistake or somebody else's. The quality of work of electricians and people varies a great deal.
I remember an inspector stopping and looking every little thing over on a job, the guy that did the work ask did I do some wrong? No, it is perfect, the best I have ever seen a work of art. How long did it take? Some answer. Inspector - Dam perfect and fast too.
i just bought a house built in 1965 and several bedrooms have the 2 prong outlets only and the home inspector told me they were grounded and it would be ok to use the adapter. that said, i'd rather just spend the money to replace the outlet than to buy adapters for temporary use.
I have an older home with upgraded 3-prong outlets in part of the house, but not in the other half, including in our master bedroom. I've used 3-prong converters for as long as I can remember without incident. What is the danger of using them if the house has not had a complete electrical upgrade? Thanks in advance.
Hey where did you get your converter?
Here's a link to a video that I think explains the dangers well.
ua-cam.com/video/1TZ47h_UUSc/v-deo.html
Calling them dangerous is an exaggeration in my opinion, but you do forgo the added safeguard of that 3rd prong when you use those converters. The purpose of the 3rd prong is to provide an alternate path in the rare event that an electrical current escapes its intended pathway. When this happens, any metal surface of an appliance can become energized and will shock someone if they touch it. The 3rd prong protects them from that by sending the rogue current back to the breaker. That being said, a lot of appliances have GFCI's built into their plugs now which basically does the job of a grounding prong in the event of an electrical fault, and a good chunk of electronics these days have entirely plastic exteriors which won't shock you even if there is a fault. So yes, technically they are less safe than a properly grounded 3 prong outlet, but the odds of someone coming into contact with an electrified surface is very slim if you just use basic common sense.
In a bedroom the risk typically is small as there are few grounded surfaces so risk of a severe electric sock is low. I assume you have some carpet floor that is not conductive. I still dislike the adapters as they are basically a fixed installation but not to the code. Why not do according to a code and use GFCIs?
Hi, does this mean, I don’t need to add additional ground cable wire. Usually we only have 2 cable wires for our outlet in our country, we only have, live and neutral or hot and NO GROUNDING
Your country? This is about the US (though it should apply to Canada). Different countries have different rules. In Europe for example the whole point is moot as you can use grounded plugs in ungrounded outlets.
As a general use you may take instructions for other countries as general reference and information but you cannot just apply them directly.
Those adapters start so many fires each year. They should not be sold at all.
Need to show it rather than just talk about it.
It's still not grounded
My town will make a big fuss if I ever tried to sell the house and did this sort of electrical work on it. Need to have an electrician install even something so simple in my town and get a permit.
why not show a video???
Alright I’m the one in a million who is attempting to convert my new laptop 3 prong cord to a two prong outlet. The cheesy adapter with the green tab you’re supposed to bend down to the metal plate and then screw in the outlet plate. Assuming this two prong is fully grounded. I opened it up and all I saw was a clump of dirty black coated wires from my guess is the early 70’s. Think the output of the computer is 19.5 V. 2.5A, 45W. Input is (hold on grabbing magnifying glass), 100-240V, 1.4A, 50Hz?
What’s the easiest way to tell if the 2 prong is grounded with killing myself? I’m guessing there’s no shot? Thanks in advance if you’re still answering dumb q’s from people like me? Scott
i have a 2 to 3 prong adaptor and its got the ground screw connected :)
Thats too much work. My father was an electrician and I was trying to plug a 3 prong plug in and only had a two prong outlet. He grabbed a pair of pliars and removed the 3rd prong from the extension cord, chuckled and told me it should work now. Everyone is so sensitive and girly these days. Btw im not talking about something that needed to be plugged in permanently. Just for a short while and yes he did know what he was doing and he did understand the risks
While that is not recommended maybe he knew something of the location where it was used that you do not realize.You cannot apply that to different cases without proper knowledge. That would be cargo cult electrics.
I do not recommend cutting the prongs as the cord may then be used at a different location like outside where the risk is much higher.
No hazards with two prong outlets ? This doofus is not an electrician. DANGER !
Yes, a proper grounding path adds safety.
If BX was used there’s a path
True, unless somewhere along the line a segment was removed and "upgraded" with non-metallic sheathed cable and not properly bonded to ground at both ends.