3 prong outlets, adaptor... correct way?

[GearBoy]

I am looking at moving into a new house. The room I would have my audio gear in: my computer, mixer, keyboards, some outboard gear, etc., has only two three prong plugs that work. Both are part of the same outlet or plate or whatever you call it.

There are two additional three prong outlets, but they don't work.

There are two prong outlets in the room, and they do work.

I talked to the landlord today about remedying the three prong outlets that don't work. Predictably, he backpedaled and said a bunch of stuff that doesn't mean anything. If I push on this issue, i can probably eventually get it fixed.

What I'm wondering is, if I use an adaptor and properly connect the ground tab to the screw... i know that's not ideal and those of you with commercial studios would never do it... but does the very idea frighten you?

Thanks for any replies.

[fastlane]

You'll have to clarify the situation.

where in the world are you?? Ireland??? Sounds like the old 2 pin plugs we used to have here!

What exactly do you want to plug in to the 2 pin socket?

There are a few thing you could do to test it out but if you don't know what you are doing then make the landlord get a electrican in to do the work for you.

[GearBoy]

Well I look Irish... But no I'm in the states. It's wierd that they have both two prong and grounded outlets in the room but that's what they have.

I would be plugging in my Mac, mixer, some keyboards, outboard gear, that kind of stuff. Stuff i don't want to get fried, or add a ground hum to.

Is the adaptor hooked up to the screw to ground it a viable solution, short term anyway?

[diapasound]

I had the same problem when I moved into my new (1950s) apartment. I spoke to the landlord about my concern and he seemed very willing to fix the problem.

Soon after I signed the lease he sent over an electrician to fix the problem. I was very happy until I inspected the job and saw that he had simply installed 3 prong receptacles and connected ground to neutral with a little jumper. I immediately confronted the electrician and landlord and they explained to me that the only way to properly fix it would be to rewire the entire apartment (there are only two wires - hot and neutral - running through the building). The electrician assured me that everything was fine and that he had "been doing it this way for 50 years". I told him that I believed him but suggested he take a look at the building code.

Since my home studio is an interim workspace while I get the business rolling, I'd rather not spend all my money on rewiring the AC. My solution will be to run all my equipment off of a balanced power unit from Equitech. Additionally I have contacted an electrician who will install a couple of ground rods specifically for my use. That ground will be unique to the Equitech box. Running one ground wire is a lot easier than redoing the entire apartment. Plus, the landlord agreed to pay for this solution (minus the Equitech box) so I'm happy.

You might want to check what has actually been done in the wall. You never know with these older buildings.

[PoorGlory]

On older electrical systems (not really old, maybe 20-25 years ago) the ground and neutral are tied to the same buss on the breaker panel. Not a problem. Tying ground to neutral at the receptacle is not mathematically incorrect, but likely against code.

On really older 2 prong outlets, the line is actually grounded to the box itself (or should be). This is where those "ground lift" adapters work... you must attach the center screw of the plate to the screw hole on the adapter to complete the ground.

[nosebleedaudio]

Have replaced several 2 prong plugs and can say that the screw is NOT a ground point.
Have an electrician install a dedicated circuit, you may not want to do this since your renting.