I just bought a UPS in case the power goes off so my computer will stay on but the UPS needs a ground i live in a really old house so none of the outlets have one. What can i do?

I did some reading and find out that i can use a GFCI outlet but it says that you shouldn't use that for a computer surge protector.

:bawling:


any suggestion?

maybe i should use my new computer without a UPS and ground....not that i want to

call an electrician ;)

you dont need no stinking ups

i have one sitting in my closet... it needs batteries but im not about to pay the 50 bucks for new ones

no nned for a ups? you crazy?!

would you guys use a new computer without a ground?


Can't call an electrician it's not my house and would end up costing to much.....looks like there would be some fancy device out there to solve my problem.

Run a wire out your window and steak it into the ground, can't remember at what depth, but you're not talking rocket science here

Run a wire out your window and steak it into the ground, can't remember at what depth, but you're not talking rocket science here

I know it's not rocket science that's why i think radio shack should have something to fix this lol

:bawling:

There's no *fix* aside from running a seperate ground wire.

You can either add the ground wire in the plug and run it out the window into the ground or run the wire to your cold water pipe in your house.

Either way thats the only way to fix it.

Originally posted by DanielP
There's no *fix* aside from running a seperate ground wire.

You can either add the ground wire in the plug and run it out the window into the ground or run the wire to your cold water pipe in your house.

Either way thats the only way to fix it.


Note: Either way your going to have to open the electrical outlet up, and wire the ground to the plug...

When doing this, be sure to kill the power first :D Unless your experinced...

But if you haven't done something like this... Don't attempt it :D

I ran into a similar problem. I figured out that my wonderful "electrician" had installed grounded plugs, but he failed to run a ground wire. I assume this was out of pure lazyness. :rolleyes:

I eventually got tired of looking at the "faulty wiring" light on my UPS so I did as Samuel suggested and corrected the problem myself.

If you want to do it right you should use a 5-6FT 3/4Inch galvanized rod/pipe. 5-6FT sounds long but you need to make sure it is below the mositure level, many places will recommend 8-10FT rods. Also, make sure the rod/pipe doesn't have any paint on it since paint doesn't conduct electricy too well.

theres a fix on my ham radio in my truck i had the sam problem...i made a contraption wont go into detials how it would but used basicly a paint bucket...

When I had this problem I just went to my dollar store and picked me up one of those grounded plugs that plugs into the wall and it worked for me my UPS didnt say nothing about faulty wiring. And it only costed me a buck for 2 of em :)

Just wanted to pass that along

It'll be worth the investment to have an electrician come out and ground all your outlets. That is unless they say your house isn't up to code and lalalala, hand you a quote for a bunch of work you were not wanting.
The ground is important to have, however.

Run a wire from the ground post in your outlet to the negitive post (the black one) they terminate at the same spot on your power box anyway. An electrician told me that.

Aaron

*cough* I've seen people cut the third prong off.

That won't help your warnin light on the UPS though.

the green wire on your white/green/black set in lights,fans,etc is also ground. The cold water pipe is attached to ground (theoretically). The safest bet tho is to run a line to ground outside, but remember that the resistance of the line is proportional to the distance of the wire, and inversely proportional to the guage of the wire. Additional resistance won't allow for a clear grounding path as it will take some of the voltage (IXR). Also, a good connection must be made to the stake and to the other end.

Black wire BAD! it is actually hot in house wiring, ground in electronics. the white wire is neutral, and the green or uncoated wire is ground. Your electrician is wrong.

BTW, you probably shouldn't mess with it since there's a reason they have codes and licenses for electricians.

Originally posted by WII-Aaron
That won't help your warnin light on the UPS though.

Thats true!

Originally posted by JWB
*cough* I've seen people cut the third prong off.

Why do that when you can go to home depot and for $1 pick up an adapter that lets you plug a 3 prong plug into an outlet lacking a ground?

Though it wont fix your issue.

9 times out of 10 (and almsot 99% of the time in cities) it is agsint housing codes not to have grounded outlets. Talk to the land lord if you rent and remind him of that (check first with your Dept. of Housing & Buildings; just stop by and ask is a ground required, theyre nice people).

If its not an apartment, you need to find out who did work last and if the ordinance was in effect at the time of construction. If it was, you should have a ground. The system failed you twice in that case. Once being the contractor not grounding your stuff, the second time for a DHB inspecctor for issuing a CO on something not in code.

skelley1:

You know youre stuff :D

Originally posted by Acronym BOY



If its not an apartment, you need to find out who did work last and if the ordinance was in effect at the time of construction. If it was, you should have a ground. The system failed you twice in that case. Once being the contractor not grounding your stuff, the second time for a DHB inspecctor for issuing a CO on something not in code.

skelley1:

You know youre stuff :D

I am a man of many, many talents. Now if I could just figure out a way to get paid to drink beer...

Originally posted by skelley1
I am a man of many, many talents. Now if I could just figure out a way to get paid to drink beer...

What do you think Eistein was working on before he died? Not only the small unifying equation to pull everything together, but beer as well.

"Beer is proof god wants us to be happy." --Franklin
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." --Hemmingway
"He was a wise man who invented beer." --Plato

:D :D :D

Aleph-null bottles of beer on the wall,
Aleph-null bottles of beer,
You take one down, and pass it around,
Aleph-null bottles of beer on the wall.

In the topological hell the beer is packed in Klein's bottles.

Originally posted by skelley1
In the topological hell the beer is packed in Klein's bottles.

Bwahahahaha! That has got to be the funniest thing I have ever heard. :D

Can I use that?

For those who dont know what a Klien bottle is, go here:

http://acronymboy.com/external/kleinbottle1.mpeg
http://acronymboy.com/external/kleinbottle2.mpeg

And google for how it... ummm.. "works". I really dont feel like explaining at 3:30am how it has no volume.

Im off to bed. :)

"hells beer in klein bottles" heh :beer:

it's kind of like the mathematician who goes hunting for lions, so he puts a fence around himself and declares, "I define this area as outside"

Klein bottles have no volume (or infinite volume depending on your point of reference) because there is no clear defining of inside/outside. it's kind of like an integrated mobius strip.

nice klein stuff, Acronym BOY.

Anyway, get with the owner of the house and see if they'll help with the electrician, or do it yourself. It's a lot less money than paying for the house if it breaks down, and your renter's insurance won't pay if they deem what you did was 'negligent.'

Where I live (rented flat) we only have ground outlets in the kitchen, but your not going to put your computer there :). If I want to connect my computer to ground, I'll just run an extention cord from the kitchen.

When I had this problem I just went to my dollar store and picked me up one of those grounded plugs that plugs into the wall and it worked for me my UPS didnt say nothing about faulty wiring. And it only costed me a buck for 2 of em


Maybe i should try that i'm more worried about the power going off than anything. Wonder what happens if the power goes off when a computer is booting or writing data to the HD.

Hmmm... all this nastiness about earthed/grounded wiring.

All of our Australian plugs are three prongs and are usually earthed (we've got a metal pipe going into the ground out the back).

I'd advise to get an electrician to fix up the earth as others have suggested. Earth is what helps to protect your system against lightning/surges and with computer equipment it's a bit silly not to have it.

I recall hearing that safety switches (Australian thing - I assume they're overseas as well) require earth to function (I may be wrong) - for those who are unfamiliar, safety switches are a device that will immediately disconnect power to the circuit if a dangerous condition is present - well worth the money; they've triggered a few times and eliminated the potential for a nasty/fatal accident.

As for a UPS - I bought a small APC one a few months ago (BackUPS ES) and it's a blessing. It's only 350VA but it keeps the file server (headless) and phone system up for about 15 minutes.

Where we are - if we have a power failure it's either <3 minutes or >60mins (60+ minute outage is rare), never in between so 15 minutes for the UPS is plenty.

Anyway, it's 2:38am here and I start university in 8 hours so I'm going to get some sleep.

--Shaun

Originally posted by shaunewing
I recall hearing that safety switches (Australian thing - I assume they're overseas as well) require earth to function (I may be wrong) - for those who are unfamiliar, safety switches are a device that will immediately disconnect power to the circuit if a dangerous condition is present - well worth the money; they've triggered a few times and eliminated the potential for a nasty/fatal accident.


They are called Ground Fault Interupters here in the US... They are pretty much always installed where ever water is used, such as a bathroom or kitchen...

Originally posted by skelley1
it's kind of like the mathematician who goes hunting for lions, so he puts a fence around himself and declares, "I define this area as outside"

Klein bottles have no volume (or infinite volume depending on your point of reference) because there is no clear defining of inside/outside. it's kind of like an integrated mobius strip.

nice klein stuff, Acronym BOY.

:D

4 dimensional object rule me.

Want an interesting read that will make your head hurt after a long day at work:

http://www.lns.cornell.edu/spr/2002-03/msg0040045.html

:D

Originally posted by skelley1
Anyway, get with the owner of the house and see if they'll help with the electrician, or do it yourself. It's a lot less money than paying for the house if it breaks down, and your renter's insurance won't pay if they deem what you did was 'negligent.'

He means in case you screw up some how :)

Originally posted by Dave22
Wonder what happens if the power goes off when a computer is booting or writing data to the HD.

When a harddrive is in the process of writin data, that means that data is still in the harddrives cache. Cache is RAM. Ram is volatile. Data is gone.