[ale] OT: Running computers in an older home (read older circuitry)

[Doug McNash]

The third prong ground is for safety, not for any operating reasons.  It
is connected to the case.  In the event of a short it provides a low
impedance path for the current and quickly trips the circuit breaker or
blows the fuse.  Of course the whole idea falls apart if you don't have
proper fuses or breakers.  Without it, a short could cause the case to
become "hot" - in the electrical sense - and potential to deliver a
painful shock.  At some point the ground and neutral wires are connected
to ground, typically at the breaker box and that ground is tied to the
six foot ground rod driven in to the earth just outside your house and
also connected to your plumbing.

That's how it has been explained to me.  I personally don't see that
much of a cost/safety benefit to a refit. But I have never had my house
burn down and have survived many many shocks.  


On Thu, 2004-02-19 at 11:36, John Wells wrote:
> Guys,
> 
> My wife and I have found a house here in Greensboro we really like, but I have a few concerns.  The house is approx. 54 years old, with an addition on the back that's approx. 15-20 years old.  The addition has grounded, three prong outlets, but the front portion of the house, where my "office" would be, have the older two pronged, non-grounded outlets.
> 
> On a given day, I run a 120 mhz firewall/router, a 900 mhz Athlon, a 2200XP+ Athlon (1800mhz) with a lot of components, and a 2.0 Ghz laptop pretty much 24/7.
> 
> What are the concerns with going into a house like this with my power usage?  I do know that it's on a circuit breaker system...not fuse box.  And I plan on having an electrician come in a replace one outlet with a grounded, dedicated circuit so my computers will all plug into this outlet.
> 
> Anything I'm missing or not considering?  I've never purchased a home with old wiring so I'm a little wary, but we're probably putting an offer in today.  I know that grounding all outlets in the house will probably be pretty darned expensive, so if I don't have to, I don't want to!
> 
> Let me know asap if you have any comments/suggestions.  Thanks guys!
> 
> John
> _______________________________________________
> Ale mailing list
> Ale at ale.org
> http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale