How to troubleshoot Ground wire problems

I bought a Belkin Surge Protector last month but I didn't plug it in right away. I'd say it's been plugged in for about three weeks. When I first plugged it in both the Surge Protection and Ground wires went on which for my particular surge protecter is a good signal.

About I'd say four days into using it I woke up during the night from a bad dream and thought I saw the Ground light was off however as soon as I got ready to look at it it came back on it was smooth sailing till today. I had to do a repair installation of Windows 7 because I had some corrupt OS files the installation went smoothly however half way through out of sheer boredom I looked down at the protecter as I was gonna go walking and come back to finalize the repair install and low and behold the Ground light is out.

So I did a shut down from the start menu waited for my PSU to turn it's fan off and flipped the switch on the back of my PSU (I wasn't taking any chances) I then unplugged everything from the surge protecter and walked it into the bathroom and the kitchen they both have three prong outlets. I merely wanted to see if the light came back on and it did in both places.

So now my question is how can I troubleshoot exactly what kind of fault I have and what can I do about it? Personally, I think it's a loose or floating ground wire because as I said before it came back on before but now it hasn't. I don't have money for an electrician and my landlady is gonna say she doesn't either. Is there any kind of device that will ground the current itself? Or do I really have to open up the outlet itself?

 

Change the plug on the surge protector, move the computer and connect to a different socket, wiggle all the wires try and spot a pattern with the intermittent fault. Then swap the wall socket for a new one it's not as scary as it sounds as long you have the power off, you should be able to do all this without voiding your insurance or putting yourself at risk.

An electrician will check the voltage between the ground and live wire, in the US you should have 120V which means you have a good ground. In ideal circumstances you should have 118.5V between the live and neutral and 1.5V between the neutral and ground.

http://ecmweb.com/content/diagnosing-power-problems-receptacle

I've posted for reference the procedure but I don't recommend you do it obviously, get an electrician

 

I just stepped outside my room and went to test a outlet in the living room, it is on a different circuit from what my landlady says and it to is not grounded. So what do I do now? Also I tested the voltages per the instruction guide the Hot to Neutral is 121.5V, Neutral to Ground is 2.5V, and Hot to Ground is 0.5V? Is that even possible?

If so then I will have to find someway to cut the power to the outlet and then I guess I have to take a peek.

One last question, my old surge protecter had a red light that was always on. Was that a power light or a indicator that it was not grounded?

 

Also I was wondering if I can use a 2 prong to 3 prong adapter and try the other outlet on the other side of my room. It's a regular three prong outlet but the ground plug is blocked by what appears to be paint. Otherwise I would have to take the cove plate off and replace it which I really don't want to do...

 

Also I was wondering how much trouble can a ungrounded outlet cause my PC? Working Surge Protector and all. The surge protector is good it's just it detects the wall isn't grounded.

Sorry for triple posting my heart is racing a mile a second.

 

Yes, and it means your landlady has a big problem. Ungrounded equipment is one of the most unfortunate ways to be killed by electricity. When something larger like an appliance is not grounded, the shell of the equipment can become energized IF there happens to be a short to the ground, or green/bare wire. If the home/panel is not properly grounded, and there is no path for short circuit current you become the ground wire if you touch the shell of said equipment.

Hot to ground should be about the same voltage reading as hot to neutral.

 

Totally agree with Mekanic, it's really dangerous if there's any short like a transformer dying the whole case could go live, you touch it and die.

I'm absolutely positive that you cannot rent a property out if it isn't grounded properly in the UK, not only does the electricity outlets have to be grounded but any metal water and gas pipes, also any area's such as sinks, showers, boilers all have to have their own ground for safety. So if she won't take action in repairing it show her your local landlord laws and I'm sure you'll find something, if not I'd move out it's death trap.

Your computer will probably run fine though but the problem is if there is any voltage spike from another appliance anywhere in the house the voltage could go through the ground wire and damage your computer, lightning can also cause this and damage your computer.

 

Ok, I don't even know how to begin to interpret this. I woke up today and there was an episode of Battlestar Galactica (good show BTW, I love it) on BBC America I wanted to watch now for the record the Ground light on my surge protector must have came back on while I was sleeping because it was glowing red when I woke up.

I proceeded to take my HDMI cable out the back of the computer and into my Verizon box I remember the Ground light staying on while I did so. I watched my show and then went to put the HDMI cable back into my PC, which was off since last night I had shut it down from Windows and unplugged the power cable from the protector and turned off the PSU power switch, when I did I noticed the Ground light went off when I removed the HDMI cable from the verizon box and came back on every time I put it back in.

I am so confused now, is it really possible my HDMI cable is somehow interfering with my surge protector's ability to detect a ground connection? I swear to you I'm not making this up this is the weirdest stuff I've ever seen.

 

Whether the ground light stays on or not on your surge protector, you have no ground because there isn't 120v on your ground wire, the multimeter usually doesn't lie especially if you tested neutral and hot and got 120v, ground detectors can be wrong though.

These are the strange things that can happen when you don't have a proper ground but still use the ground wire, the surge protector could be picking up the neutral voltage from another device through the ground wire which both device are connected, this is because often ground is connected to the neutral inside the device this can then make all the ground wires in your house neutral.

You need to get it fixed I loved battlestar too, don't forget to check out Caprica

 

Ok, then I guess I really do have to deal with the outlet itself. Sigh... Ok, I don't have ready access to the circuit breaker. Right now I just want to see if I have a grounding wire, it's a three prong outlet so I am hoping I really am. If I don't touch anything can I at least remove the cover plate and visually count the wires I just need to see where I stand. Also if I don't have a grounding wire is there any cheap way to artificially ground it without needing a expensive electrician? I know GFCIs are not good enough for computer use so I guess that's out.

 

The problem is it may be more than one circuit.

How old is the wiring in your rental?

That is, how old is the home? 20, 40, 60 years?

 

I have no idea. When I see my landlady I will ask her. I doubt it's older then the 50s however as most of the homes here on Long Island don't extend further back then that.