Re: OFF TOPIC: 2-prong outlets

[S V G <vsyevolod@yahoo.com>]

     Zoe,

     First it's good to know what that third wire really means.  In one 
way of looking at it, it's
a second ground.  Should anything ever go wrong with your equipment and it 
decides that you make a
pretty good electrical path, that third wire can be really nice to have.

     Since electrical grounding codes are different all over the US, 
what's kosher for one area
might not be for another.  Sometimes, the ground and the neutral wires are 
connected at the fuse
box.  Other times, the ground is only physically connected to the earth 
via a grounding pole (sunk
8 feet deep, and usually not under the eaves of your roof unless you live 
in a very wet area). 
Usually, it is no longer code to connect to a water pipe, mostly because 
there's no guarantee that
at some point the pipe isn't plastic (or may be at some point in the 
future), and hence no longer
a suitable ground.

     Unless I'm totally mistaken, that third wire does not necessarily 
make your electrical audio
equipment more or less noisy.  That depends more on the configuration of 
the wiring in the rest of
the house.  It just makes it safer.

     Were it me, I'd run a new wire from the fuse or breaker box to my 
music studio and make sure
it had a solid grounding point.  Perhaps as was suggested elsewhere, you 
can do this by getting
the 3 to 2 adaptors and grounding out the tab onto the screw in the plate. 
 You'd definately want
to make sure of that via one of those there testers.  Then I'd plug my 
whole studio into that new
circuit.  That's basically what I've done in my home studio.  If you have 
an electrician friend in
the area, you can ask them for more specific help.  Pretty much everywhere 
in the country, every
single home has three wires running to it, two at 110-120 each, and one 
ground.  The second ground
wire is done at each home by some sort of grounding rod.

     Stephen



> Anyway, hours ago I just paid the deposit on a new apartment. It's  
> old and beautiful and I just noticed....all the outlets in the house,  
> every freaking one, is 2 prong!! I'm freaking out now because one of  
> the many rooms in this beautiful old house is intended as my music  
> studio. Yikes!
> 
> I'll try to refrain from using my gear while standing in a pool of  
> water, but is this an unworkable situation for a musician with loads  
> of gear? Do I have to move out before I've even moved in??

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