So if I'm already faced with the issue of old wiring... (2 prong to 3)

[Shawn S.]

What should I do about my wall outlets?

Right now I'm using those ever so dangerous 2 to 3 prong adapters and have managed not to kill myself yet. I take out the outlet cover screw and screw it into the green hole on the adapter cause it helps it hold itself in, and I read this is the "grounding method" of itself.

For the past year I've lived in a new apartment with great new wiring, no issues with noise, blah blah blah. My parent's house is/was older and doesn't really have a proper grounding method either, but I did manage to install 3 prong outlets in the rooms I knew I'd be in, just so I wouldn't have to mess with adapters. The instructions I had when I did that was to connect the green earth wire just to the center screw inside of the outlet box. It tricks most surge protectors into thinking it's properly grounded, but the little tester I got wasn't fooled...

Should I do the same to my new rented place with old wiring? Some outlets in the house already are 3 prong, but I'm assuming they're just jerry-rigged and not actually properly grounded...

[Shawn S.]

Let me ask again:

Should I bother retrofitting 3 prong outlets to my music room in my house which was designed and wired with 2 prongs in mind.

[Structo]

If the house is two wire and the receptacles are not grounded through metal conduit, the screw that you attached the 3 prong adapter to is not grounded.

The only real way you could conceivably wire in a ground now to the wall outlets in your music room would be to install three prong outlets and run a separate ground wire through the wall outside to a ground stake that is driven into the earth a good three to four feet.

Otherwise you are going to have to tear up the walls and run ground wires.

The house probably doesn't have the proper breaker box installed for a grounded system.

Big money to rewire the house.

If it still has a fuse box a breaker box can be retro fitted but it will cost $500-1000 just to have a breaker box installed but it will still not ground the outlets in the house unless you run three conductor wire throughout.

[Shawn S.]

I see...

Well it's rented. It's not worth it... so what to do about "loose" sockets... you know, those old 2 prong sockets that are really worn out and don't hold the 3 prong adapter in well...

[Rosewood]

Just replace the receptacle or spread the prongs on the adapter if they are the split type.

[mike80]

If it still has a fuse box a breaker box can be retro fitted but it will cost $500-1000 just to have a breaker box installed but it will still not ground the outlets in the house unless you run three conductor wire throughout.

$500 -$1000? Man, that's cheap! That's what I usually charge on the side...through a contractor it's going to be at least $1200.

I see...

Well it's rented. It's not worth it... so what to do about "loose" sockets... you know, those old 2 prong sockets that are really worn out and don't hold the 3 prong adapter in well...

Have them replaced. They are dangerous because they are so old that the metal tabs in them have very little strength left, and can cause a fire if they break and short out.

[Bob V]

Replacing the outlet or using an adapter does not give you a ground, it just gives you a place to put the three prong plug. Different place than your landlord is going to tell you to put it when you ask for new outlets.

If you have an electrician run a ground wire to one of the outlets, you can use a GFI outlet there and run the downstream outlets off of the GFI, but you need to ask an electrician to trace it all out properly.

[Shawn S.]

Thank you for the suggestions everyone.

I know exactly what my landlord will tell me. I don't even need to ask :)

A few years, and I'll have a newer home, where I don't have to deal with this old home junk anymore. The first project for whenever I own a home is to make sure that wiring is good, at least in the section of the house that I really need it.

[Shawn S.]

Just replace the receptacle or spread the prongs on the adapter if they are the split type.

I did this on my parent's house about a year or two before I moved out. There was a small screw at the back end of the outlet box where it suggested to screw the green earth wire into from the new 3 prong outlet.

I used that, often with two amps in stereo, for about a year or two before moving off to college. That house is from the 60's I'd think. There has been no issues or fires or anything, so I'm assuming it'd be safe to replace a couple where needed.

[Memorex]

Put a sock over your mic. That'll protect you from fried lips. And don't touch the bass player if he's plugged into a different outlet.

[Structo]

Another thing that happens to outlets over time, especially if they use screws on the terminals to secure the wires is, they get oxidized and also can becomer loose.

I was having some weird problems in a house I bought, it was built in the early 40's.
I went around and loosened then tightened all the screws on the wire terminals.
This provides a good contact again, short of replacing the outlets.

Mike80, yeah my parents had a fuse box and had it converted to a breaker panel when they had an ac unit installed.

I believe they paid a contractor $800.
He ran the 10 gauge for the ac unit plus installed the breaker box.
He also installed a couple ground rods but the house remained two wire but he grounded the ac unit.

[Shawn S.]

I went into the Kitchen with my tester from HD, and the only properly wired outlets are in the kitchen, as far as being 3 prongs and properly grounded. Another outlet in another room with 3 prongs is not grounded properly, but hasn't exploded either.

The breaker box only has about 8 switches on it, the smallest I've ever seen. When I installed a ceiling fan in the bedroom, it appeared there was an entire switch for all the outlets including the light switch for the whole room. As flipping it off turned all the electronics off in that room, including the ceiling light.

Would that be a concern?

[larry1096]

I went into the Kitchen with my tester from HD, and the only properly wired outlets are in the kitchen, as far as being 3 prongs and properly grounded. Another outlet in another room with 3 prongs is not grounded properly, but hasn't exploded either.

The breaker box only has about 8 switches on it, the smallest I've ever seen. When I installed a ceiling fan in the bedroom, it appeared there was an entire switch for all the outlets including the light switch for the whole room. As flipping it off turned all the electronics off in that room, including the ceiling light.

Would that be a concern?

Only if you add a high-draw device or keep popping it. Lots of largish homes were built with 60 amp services in the old days, before lots of electric appliances and electronics were the norm. I just worked on a 3000+ square foot house that had the kitchen, front room and sump pump all on one circuit!