New House had old style plugs...HELP!!! (1 Viewer)

[Chris Drenner]

i am in the process of moving into a new house (rental) and all the electrical recepticles are of the old two prong design...can i just replace them with new three prong style plugs...(hospital grade) in the "theatre" room??
im not sure if the house has the same grounding as does a new style home.
i will be using a monster power hts2600 and a hk525.
thanks for any help!

 

[George_W_K]

According to the National Electric Code 406.3 (D)(3) (a-c):

"Where grounding means does not exist in the receptacle enclosure, the installation shall comply with (a), (b), or (c).

(a) A nongrounding-type receptacle(s) shall be permitted to be replaced with another nongrounding-type receptacle(s).

(b) A nongrounding-type receptacle(s) shall be permitted to be repleced with a (GFCI)-type of receptacle(s). These receptacles shall be marked "No Equipment Ground." An equipment grounding conductor shall not be connected from the (GFCI)-type receptacle to any outlet supplies from the (GFCI) receptacle.

(c) A nongrounding-type receptacle(s) shall be permitted to be replaced with a grounding-type receptacle(s) where supplied through a (GFCI). Grounding-type receptacles supplied through the (GFCI) shall be marked "GFCI Protected" and "No Equipment Ground." An equipment groundng conductor shall not be connected between the grounding-type receptacles."

There's the official answer. If all of the receptacles are two prong, I find it highly unlikely that the electrical system is grounded correctly. There should be a ground rod driven into the ground most likely in the area where the meter comes into the house. And a copper wire should come from your panel and be bonded with the water line. Your service should be at least 100 Amps also. Circuit breakers, not fuses.

A receptacle being "Hospital Grade" doesn't privide a ground on its own. It still needs to be connected to an equipment grounding conductor. What kind of wiring is in your house. Is it knob and tube or is it run in conduit?

You can change out the receptacles, but they won't provide protection for a ground fault. But, they will still provide the 120V. (But, your friendly neighborhood elecrtrical inspector would frown on this. Not that you're having it inspected.)

If I confused you, then I apologize:frowning: . But, if I helped, then glad to be of service!


George

 

[Chris Drenner]

thanks alot george,
only slightly confusing.
i will have to put the word out through my group of friends im sure someone knows an electrition that can hook up what i need
thanks for your time

 

[George_W_K]

Maybe your lanlord should hire the electrician. You did say you were renting, right?

Glad I could help.

George

 

[Rob Lloyd]

My house has 2 prong outlets too but the box was grounded so I was able to run a ground strip from the box to the new outlets. Very simple and cheap to do. And this can be done to code - at least in CT. My father-in-law is an elecrician and helped me do some.

Since the wiring is old it's probably not very HT friendly unless you're under 15 amps TOTAL for the entire circuit. I ran new dedicated lines just for the HT, but it's my house.

You should talk to the people you're renting from before doing anything. I'm sure they wouldn't object to you upgrading the electrical as it's to their benefit.

 

[Jack*Mains]

15A at 110V AC is roughly 1650W. Although there ARE some systems out there that use that much power, I think it should be sufficient unless you're running quad Tumults in there.

Besides, the breaker would most definitely go way before the wire if you did happen to exceed the limits.