The rest of the house has a ground except a the bedroom. All the bedroom plugs are two prong instead of three. There is a screw on the outlet. I've took some readings and find that there is no ground there. This is a rented space so I'm told not to make any changes. I have a surge protector but there is no ground. I've been told that ground is necessary to have the surge protector work. What are some ideas I can do to make ground available in the bedroom?
Thanks
What appliances do you have in the B/R which *must* be grounded? There is rarely a compelling safety issue.
Jim
As long as your wife isn't over revving the vibrator, don't worry ;-)
Assuming you want to use a surge protector to protect some type of electronic equipment.
What you could do (weather you really need to do it is another question) is get one of those 3-2 prong adapters that has a pigtail ground wire. That could then be extended to a water pipe such as for baseboard hot water heat or into the bathroom, under the sink.
Here are the parts you would need to do this. Ground Clamp
2 to 3 prong grounding adapter with pigtail 14 gauge stranded wire, green jacket butt connector and heat shrink tubing to attach ground wire from adapter to long wire going to ground clamp.
For all practical purposes, you can't. Buy a UPS/Power filter for your electronics, and hope that's good enough.
It's not just that a protector must be grounded. It must make a short ('less than 10 foot') connection and it must be grounded to earth ground. Even if receptacle had a safety ground, earth ground is too distant. For those with electrical knowledge, wire impedance - not wire resistance - is why a receptacle ground provides no effective protection.
Grounding to a water pipe is considered dangerous to human life, and has not been acceptable for well over a decade. Do not connect any ground to pipes with the intent of dumping electricity into those pipe - for many reasons. Furthermore, for same reasons in the above paragraph, grounding to a pipe does not provide a sufficient earth ground. Avoid everything in a recommendation that recommends grounding to a pipe.
For two prong outlets or three. Effective protection 'system' is a single 'whole house' protector installed at main breaker box. This only if breaker box is installed to meet and exceed post 1990 earthing requirements. Why? Protection is earth ground - not the protector. Protector is only a temporary connection to earth. No short connection to earth ground means the protector would not be effective.
Effective protectors have responsible brand names such as Square D, GE, Leviton, Polyphaser, Cutler Hammer, Intermatic, and Siemens. Ineffective plug-in protectors are marketed by companies such as APC, Tripplite, and Belkin. Even Powermax now is marketing a 'whole house' protector. 'Whole house' protectors are so inexpensive and so effective that your telco installs one, for free, where their wire enters your house.
Effective AC electric 'whole house' protector is sold in Home Depot, Lowes, and electrical supply houses. Effective protector costs about $1 per protected appliance. How much was that plug-in protector to protect only one appliance? $20? $50? That would be 20 or 50 times more money for a protector that does not even claim to protect from a typically destructive transient.
Solution even if using two wire receptacles is a 'whole house' protector AND mains panel earthed less than 10 feet to a single point earth ground. What is the most critical component of a protection 'system'? Earth ground. What do ineffective plug-in protectors not even discuss? Earthing. Not any ground. The ground essential for effective transistor protection: earth.
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