Importance of Grounded Power?

From: Russ Blakeman <rhblake_at_bigfoot.com>
Date: Sat Jul 28 08:16:10 2001

I don't know that it would necessarily kill the internal power supply but I
do know of higher-dollar surge equipment that won't pass power if the full 3
prong circuit isn't present. Most will pass the current but not provide
surge protection without the ground, some will show a mis-wire light but a
few (some APC's) will shutdown if the wiring is wrong or incomplete. I have
a little $6 plug in tester I bought at Walmart that tells me if the 3 prong
outlet is correct and it's been a good tool to use here in my 1952 house as
well as on customer's sites. Many upgrade jobs include changeout of the
outlet units but they have no wire for the 3rd prong. My whole shop is 3
wire as I ripped all of the basement wiring out and put new everything in,
as is my kitchen, but the rest of the house is 2 wire with 3 prong outlets
until I rip the old drywall down and remodel.

-> -----Original Message-----
-> From: owner-classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org
-> [mailto:owner-classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of Terry Murphy
-> Sent: Saturday, July 28, 2001 1:09 AM
-> To: classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org
-> Subject: Importance of Grounded Power?
->
->
->
-> I recently got an old AlphaServer 4/275, and it worked for a while, and
-> then after I moved into another room, and it stopped working. I only have
-> one or two grounded outlets in my apartment, so I had to hook it to a
-> non-grounded one (via a surge protector, plugged in with a grounding
-> adaptor). I'm not sure if it's coincidence, but that appeared to kill the
-> AlphaServer (the power supply, to be precise). Is it technically possible
-> for non-grounded power to be able to kill a system? In general, what
-> type of hardware will require real grounded power to function? I have a
-> whole slew of PC's, for example, using non-grounded power outlets without
-> a hitch, so is this only going to be a problem for industrial equipment,
-> like AlphaServers?
->
-> Also does anyone know where I could get an AlphaServer 4/275 power supply
-> for cheap?
->
-> Thanks,
-> Terry
->
->
Received on Sat Jul 28 2001 - 08:16:10 BST