Question Any problems in utilising grounded plug in power strip to ungrounded mains socket?

[zenten]

Hi all,

I am currently in Japan where the presence of grounded (3 prong) plugs are rare. At best, you affix a short grounding wire into a copper plate in the wall. This is currently how I am powering my PC. I have purchased a power strip which allows 3 prong plugs (type B) but it connects to the wall with a type A plug plus short grounding wire. Would my components be at risk if I simply plugged the power strip into a type A socket given that I would ground my PC in the power strip?

Looking at the box, it says it has a '電ガード' or electricity guard for thunderstorms so it seems to do the trick but would this necessitate my grounding the power strip or should it be fine?

Image for clarity:

Essentially I am asking whether there is a risk to putting a 3 pin plug into the power strip but not grounding the power strip itself.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Components:
Corsair RM 550x PSU
Gigabyte Aorus Elite B450 Motherboard
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X CPU (not overclocked)
Stock CPU cooler
HyperX Fury DDR4 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) 2666
MSI GTX 960 2G (currently unseated)
Western Digital 1 TB HDD (I cannot remember the model, I apologise)
ASUS VZ239 Monitor

 

[jay32267]

" but it connects to the wall with a type A plug plus short grounding wire. "
If confused....is there a grounding wire or isn't there and is it connected?

If it's grounded then....no problem.
If it's not.....you can run this way and probably not hurt the components....but there are serious risks.
For one....the case can become electrified and now you have a hazard.
The breaker won't trip because there is no ground.
Also.....in some cases the ground is used for noise reduction.

 

[zenten]

" but it connects to the wall with a type A plug plus short grounding wire. "
If confused....is there a grounding wire or isn't there and is it connected?

If it's grounded then....no problem.
If it's not.....you can run this way and probably not hurt the components....but there are serious risks.
For one....the case can become electrified and now you have a hazard.
The breaker won't trip because there is no ground.
Also.....in some cases the ground is used for noise reduction.

Sorry for not being clear. It essentially looks like this.

Not sure if that helps to clarify things. So I am wondering if I do not ground that wall plug by affixing the green wire to the copper plate, am I risking my components?

 

[velocityg4]

As far as I can find. Wiring in Japan is similar to the US. In which case the ground is for your protection. Sometimes appliances (including computers) can build up a dangerous or lethal charge on their case. It's there because there is a potential for the computer to become energized.

 

[zenten]

As far as I can find. Wiring in Japan is similar to the US. In which case the ground is for your protection. Sometimes appliances (including computers) can build up a dangerous or lethal charge on their case. It's there because there is a potential for the computer to become energized.

You are correct. Unfortunately, however, the prevalence of grounded sockets (or even sockets with a small copper plate to ground) are very rare here. Usually they are reserved for a single appliance (like a fridge) and so are often unusable.

Is there a strong chance of building up a charge on the case? Would this, in either case, happen immediately or over time/given a power surge?