[DrewWinters]

I just moved into a new house, and lo and behold, only ONE outlet in the entire house is grounded. I have searched here, but I'm sure I've just missed the answer - but just how important is a grounded outlet?

I've got a PS Audio UO to protect my equipment - but I am under the impression that it won't be able to do much if the outlet isn't grounded - but I don't remember where I read that or otherwise got the impression.

If it is essential - how hard is it to ground an outlet properly? (any DIY guides online?)

TIA

EDIT: I should clarify how I determined that the outlets aren't grounded: I have a simple little yellow tester I picked up at Lowes with three LED's. Which ones light up are coded to certain problems. The plug tester indicated an "open ground". I don't have (or don't know of) another way to test it.

 

[Snake]

The benefit of grounding seems a "hit or miss" proposition. Yes, technically a component based upon a true balanced design will require a ground to achieve proper ground potential. Most high end components are pseudo-balanced internal design with "ground" being negative of the circuit, with chassis drain. Grounding should bring a lower noise floor, better sound via reduction of stray potentials and other things but half the time, thanks to the circuit negative being shared with chassis ground, it can create the GroundLoops From Hell syndrome.

Been there, done that, saw the movie.

For the pseudo ground designs it is generally best to use only a single ground point for the entire system - that is, either 1 ground shared between all grounded components (single outlet) or only 1 component grounded with all others floating. That's Audio Heresy but it's the only way I've found to truly eliminate all the frustrating ground loops of a system suffering from the malady.

The ability to suffer ground loop problems is a factor of the ground potential of the home's wiring, plus the design of each and every component in the system. In other words, it is totally hit and miss and I don't think 99.9% of the world will be able to tell you what's gonna happen when you hook up a system.

But I will say that if you have TV cable hooked up ANYWHERE in the system - a stereo tuner, a TV in the other room with just RCA's coming over to your audio system...you're gonna suffer so huge from the ground loop problem your head will want to implode.

Avoid it if at all possible, if not isolate the coax cable using either the Mondial Magic box, the Xantech isolator or a balun/transformer patched-together combo.

As for getting ground to your outlets, life isn't very simple. If the wiring leading up to the outlet box is metal armored, the outlet box is full metal, and the continuity between the metal outlet box and the main electrical panel measure low through the armored electrical conduit, you can "supply" ground to (new) grounded outlets by hooking up ground through the armor and panel/outlet box chassis. This "works" but it isn't exactly "up to code"; the potential difference usually doesn't make the ground "true", along with electrical ground supposedly being separate from chassis for safety. But it gets you access to a ground potential.

If you do not have armored cable and you do not have 3 wire Romex to the outlet box you are really S-O-L. You can run a solid core ground wire from a (new) 3 wire grounded outlet to a (legitimate) ground potential, like the cold water inlet pipe into your home or a copper spike driven into the ground to the depth validated in the building code...but who's gonna tear apart a wall to run a solid core ground from the outlet???

 

[radrd]

Grounding is very important. Get it fixed.

 

[beamrider]

When you say "new house", I assume you mean it's new for you, and not a newly built house..........

 

[DrewWinters]

Right, I just moved in. The house is probably 20-40 years old. I haven't tried to determine it's age - but architecture hasn't changed much in the past 50 years out here. The equipment I am concerned about is my computer system and my headphone system (see my sig).

"Grounding is very important. Get it fixed." - very important as in, "your surge protectors are useless" or as in "too much noise, ground loop problems..etc." (i.e. what Snake is talking about).

Thanks for the comments.

 

[Snake]

Your surge protectors will be useless in protecting against the hot to ground pulse (the most common, I believe) or common to ground pulses for without a ground there is no place for the MOV's to drain the surge to. You will lose probably 70% of the supressors protection (don't know the figure, just guessing but probably close) without a ground.

Not having a ground on grounded equipment is considered a great safety hazzard, not to mention a code violation.

The house is only 30 years old but without grounds?? That sounds fishy. I would recommend you pull some outlets around the house and check to see if they have their ground wires connected. If they do then you'll have to check the service panel to see if those individual grounds are connected to the common ground drain. If yes then it might be that your home's ground has been lost; many houses ground via a strap around the cold water inlet pipe to the house. It may have corroded or come loose.

Yes, without grounds on your grounded taps it is considered a great safety hazzard. But as for grounds when used in an audio system it seems your mileage will certainly vary.

Let us know what you find out.

 

[Anders]

I asked about grounding and PS Audio power products at their forum because I have a secondary system at a place without grounded outlets. I think the answer from Paul McGowan corresponds very well with Snake's.

"Power Plants and Power Directors really need the ground to do their thing, as do most products of this type.
You'll still get major benefits without the ground, especially with a Power Plant, but it won't be as good as it will be with a ground. On a Power Director or UO, you lose a percentage of the rejection of noise because half the circuit is shunted off to ground." (End of citation)

I have perceived the UO as more effective when connected to ground but it still makes an audible improvement with the ungrounded connection. I could easily do a ground connection to a water radiator, but am not shure if it is really grounded. It is made of metal but may be connected to plastic tubes in the ground.

 

[DrewWinters]

Thanks guys. I will check out the outlets and see... I believe the house was rewired fairly recently (but not by professionals - I think my landlord did it himself....) perhaps they just didn't get the ground done right...

 

[DrewWinters]

I checked two outlets, one had a ground wire, the other did not. I also talked to my landlord - he replaced the outlets but not the wiring - but he said that they should be grounded (i.e. that should all have ground wires at the socket and that they were grounded to the electrical box). I will check the box...

He said that grounding to just the box "was good enough for anything plugged into a 110-volt plug..." and that is was up to code. This is true, yes? I trust this landlord (my last one turned into a real punk after a while, I am hoping that won't happen again).

EDIT: I may have misunderstood him - he may have meant the outlet box rather than the main electrical box - he just said "box". ??