Changing 2 prong to 3 prong outlet

Fairly easy. You won't have a ground feeding back to your service panel, but you can ground the outlet to the fixture.

Turn breaker off. Make sure to test that it's off, either with a multimeter or an appliance.

Swap the outlets. There's a gauge on the back of the outlet to measure how far to strip the wires. Make sure to get this right as you don't want exposed wires, or the polymer coating inside the connector.

Run electrical tape around the back end of the outlet to minimize shorting.

Flip breaker back on and test.

I'm guessing you're in north america, but some 1984 places like Australia require an electrician to do this.

>>1173667
Also, the black wire is going to be your line voltage, white is going to be the common. The outlet will indicate which wire goes where.

>>1173662
Changing an outlet? Easy as shit. Getting a ground to an outlet that doesn't have one? Possible nightmare.

You might be lucky though. There was a period before grounded outlets were commonplace that they would still ground the metal box the outlet is placed in. If the box is grounded then it is easy. Just run a ground wire from the box to the ground screw on the new outlet.

No ground in the box? Put a GFCI outlet in there instead and then label it as having no ground. In my opinion, a GFCI that is missing a ground is still safer than a standard outlet with a ground. I am no electrician, though.

>>1173667
>but you can ground the outlet to the fixture.
Wut?

>>1173686
I believe the box is plastic so can do that. I'd prefer to have an actual ground, because in plugging a high power computer into it. Would a gfci be sufficient to protect it

>>1173742
Sufficient to protect you but your things plugged in won't be grounded.

So you'll get a weird buzzy feeling off things like laptops that are plugged in and the track pad might not work

>>1173686
>Getting a ground to an outlet that doesn't have one? Possible nightmare.

He said its directly above the breaker box in the basement
Cant he just rerun the cable with the 3 wire stuff, hook it up to the existing breaker and just ground it in the breaker box?

>>1173751
Most laptop chargers dont have a grounded plug anyways
Also it would never effect a trackpad at all, the grounding issue would never make it past the power brick

>>1173742
Plastic boxes came along decades after the two prong outlet. Who would replace the box, which almost never needs to happen, and leave a two prong outlet?\

>I'd prefer to have an actual ground

Run new wire. You will need to cut the power to your breaker and either a new ground wire to the run to the outlet or replace the old 2-wire run with a 3-wire run.

>>1173756
Say that to my laptop that feels live and needs an external mouse when I go to my girlfriends old house and use her two pins with a cheater block.

Also say that to all the people asking about it on forums across the Internet.

Then go fuck yourself with a power brick

>>1173662
Replace them with a GFIC , wright no equipment ground on it. And be done.

>>1173765
>Run new wire
this

shouldn't be that dificult

>>1173752
Yes. This is what I would do.

>>1174385
Why do you hate Dish? Out in rural America where I live I have basically two options, DirecTV or Dish and I choose Dish because DirecTV are fucktards.

>>1174361
>IE i bought a 6$ ebay charger that doesnt work properly

Pop a breaker, pull one of the outlets on the circuit out, and see what type of wire is running to the outlet. You might get lucky and find Romex, also known as NM, which will probably have 3 wires. You might find spiral conduit, or BX, which will either have 3 wires or it might use the outer shell as the ground. I got lucky in my house, they rewired everything and grounded at the breaker box but didn't change the outlets out, I just had to pigtail new 3 prong outlets in.
Just check, you might get lucky. Also, buy some basic electrical tools, like a plug in ground/outlet check tool ($10), and a multimeter ($20, home depot, commercial electric).

>>1173742
For a computer you would definitely want a real ground to protect from rfi and shit.

pretty sure it's against code in most places to install non-grounded three prong outlets

>>1174430
not to mention it being an incredibly stupid thing to do regardless. at least when using a two to three prong converter you can know just by checking what's plugged into it that you won't be getting grounding; when the outlets are three prong but ungrounded people plugging something in won't know they aren't getting grounding

>>1174430
Completely legal to do with gfci for a retrofit. Label it no ground. Done. As already recommended in this thread

>>1174430
Not if there is a gfci breaker on the run or you replace the 2prong with a gfci outlet.

You must label the outlets "No Equipment Ground"

>>1174389
Whoops. Left over from another thread. I'm in sububia.... lots of over the air stuff. And I haven't had cable or dish in 15 yrs. Airwaves and Netflix.

>>1173686
This.

When we bought our house, all the plugs were the ancient two-prong type. I had feared the house may have been from before grounding or something like that, but after I popped the plate off and saw a metal box w/ the copper ground wire obscured but clearly screwed to the back, I breathed a sigh of relief.

Bought a small spool of copper grounding wire (green sheath to keep readily identifiable), snipped to short lengths to make the bridge between the new outlet and back of the box, and got to work rewiring every outlet in the house. Took an entire day due to how old and stubborn the old outlets were but at least now I can plug in any modern electronics wherever I need.

(Now I just need to figure out how to add a brand new outlet to the opposite side of a wall to account for the weird lack of one on the entire length of one of my walls that really needs it.)

>>1173662
check if the main panel is grounded outside to a grounding rod or plate. if not its not too hard to dig down and install some rods or plates, run a ground thru an existing hole in your foundation/wall and into your box. then you can ground everything. if theres no grounds from the panel to all your recepticals then you are screwed and would have to pull wire which is not easy

To all the guys saying just run new wire, you know the wire is usually stapled to the studs in the wall, right? So you're just going to leave the old wire then? That's okay, but you'll still have to push it out of the box, and how are you going to run the new wire? Usually you'd use the old wire to pull the new wire through in its place. If there are no staples you're golden, but if there are you're talking about a lot of plaster/drywall work here guys. He'd be better off running ONE new box with a ground for his computer, or just installing a GFCI outlet, as has already been recommended. Just saying. If a real sparky knows something here that I don't, please correct me.

>>1174361
Common is ground, just a different path.

>>1174552
Metal plumbing pipes are naturally grounded too

>>1173667
Small addition.

If you don't have ground wire in your installation connect the ground prong to the one with neutral wire(usually right prong) and put phase on left one.
Phase will usually be black brown or grey, neutral should be blue and ground - yellow-green but it doesn't have to be, in that case just remember to bridge the ground with any other prong.

>>1175127
don't do this if you're in a CENELEC country

>>1175127
This is definitely against code, and will shock you when ever you touch your computer

This guy was in the last thread and is a troll or an idiot.

>>1173667
>places like Australia require an electrician to change an outlet

Holy fuck. That's sad.

>>1174563
I think the guys saying to run new wire were being dicks.

>>1175220
You don't know shit m8.

It's against the code in some countries but this is how you do it in general. And whether it'll shock you or not depends on the kind of plugs you have. The German/French style will work fine and behave like 2 prong plugs in TN-C system. If your installation is TN-C in the first place, then there's literally no reason to do otherwise.

>>1175311
>no reason to do otherwise.
it's less safe than the alternatives

>>1173765
>Who would replace the box, which almost never needs to happen, and leave a two prong outlet?\

Old people.

>I already have an outlet, so I just need the box

Dealing with tons of stuff like that and better in my house

>Installing a front light? Let's power it with a spliced extension cord run through the gutter!

>>1175285
Who is going to know anyway? No one keeps records of this shit.

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>>1175124
And then shit like this happens. Don't ground to pipes. They were never intended to act as a ground so they may very well be touching stuff that would do badly if current went across them.

>>1175127
Ignore this guy and his colossal stupidity. If you ever end up with current going across the neutral from another outlet in the series it will make the case of anything "grounded" to the neutral live and you will get shocked. Just don't do it.

>>1175311
Right, because OP clearly is using German or French plugs like in his picture. Again, don't follow this guy's advice.

>>1174395
What no its fine when plugged into three pin plugs. Only happens in a 2pin house

>cuntbag

>>1175122
I not understand the relevance

>>1175122
And a school full of children is a road, just a different path.

In my country (we use 2 prong) I've heard a myth that there only one right way to insert plug into a socket, that's why other countries use 3 prong ones. If you plug it incorrectly, it would use a lot more electricity. Anyone can confirm this shit?

>>1175477

if you do it the wrong way whatever you plugged in will probably malfunction or blow up

>>1175477
Your plugs should actually some way of being polarized, unless everything is designed so it doesn't matter.

Some us two pronged plugs for instance are polarized, but not grounded.

>>1175311
It's against code in the goddamn us, where op clearly is, and where the Europeans make fun of us for our monstrous electrical code.

>>1173667
Without a path back to your grounding rod or whatever, it's useless. So if the box isn't grounded this won't do shit.

>>1173686
A gfci works by sensing a difference in the current between the two current carrying conductors. If you drop your toaster into the sink current the gfci will detect a difference in current between those two conductors and it will trip. The sensitivity and reaction time of that gfci is regulated by the electrical or governing codes in your area.

>>1173742
Having a gfci there is the best available option.

>>1173751
No. Laptop chargers are 2 prong, ungrounded, double-insulated transformers that rectify to DC. They don't even have a prong for the ground.

>>1174361
Laptop chargers don't even have a prong for the ground. Can you tell me how they were ever grounded without that prong?

>>1174408

Protip: A ups is very similar to a vfd and protects you from spikes, dips and rfi. It rectifies to dc, runs across the batteries, then converts back to AC to output. Nice steady artificial sine wave.

>>1175387
This is correct, mostly. If you don't have a grounding rod, your code may allow you to ground to the water pipe, but it's usually within a foot or two of where it becomes accessible inside the building.

The current leads back here eventually, but it goes through the panel, not the pipes or hot water heater like in the pic.

>>1175477

On 3 prong north american receptacles you'll notice one hole is bigger than the other one. This is for the "white", also known as the common conductor. That conductor is grounded at the panel. So, if your two prong system is the same, it may make tripping your breakers safer and more effective.

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>>1176780
>Protip: A ups is very similar to a vfd and protects you from spikes, dips and rfi. It rectifies to dc, runs across the batteries, then converts back to AC to output. Nice steady artificial sine wave.
This seems preferable to pulling a new wire.

>>1176786
You should still put in a gfci. It's $20 well spent.

>Laptop chargers don't even have a prong for the ground.
mine does
where's your god now?

>>1176780
>>1177274

>>1177274

Mine doesn't, but my wife's does. Guess I was partially wrong on that one.

If you want the least amount of work method... get a three prong adapter- then ground the little grounding tab on the three prong to the box. - now test if it is grounded with an outlet tester. - If it tests as grounded then your box is grounded either with a wire, or possibly through other metal protecting the wires. (if they used metal pipe over the wires, it may be the ground itself. - If it IS grounded, just install three prong and ground to box. - Done.
If not grounded, buy a section of ground wire from store, buy a piece of 'electrical wire cover trim to match your wall color.) ground box, pry out baseboard, drill behind it through floor, feed single ground wire down to electric service box, attach to ground at box, cover wire with trim. install 3 prong and ground to box. It looks kinda 'dumb' with the piece of plastic trim running from below outlet cover to baseboard, but just position something to cover it like say... a computer desk. - You could even run your ground wire to a dedicated grounding wire not hooked to main service if you want and then install the 'orange faceplace' "special computer equipment outlet" and try to call if a 'feature' rather than laziness.

>>1173742

nb