Surge Protector and confusion about grounded indicator

[Damascus Elm]

Hello! I have been reading the various threads on properly grounding a computer and have learned quite a bit, but there's a question I couldn't find an answer to.

After having just moved and set up my office in the new home, I noticed that this room has the only outlet in the house that doesn't have three-pronged plugs. I bought a three prong adapter, plugged my surge protector into the adapter, and the rest of my desktop setup into the surge protector.

My surge protector has two light indicators; A red light for Protected and a green light for Grounded.

When my computers PSU is turned off, the surge protector indicates that it is PROTECTED and GROUNDED. When I turn the PSU on, the green indicator for GROUNDED turns off.

I'm having trouble understanding why this happens and would like to know what this means.

Thank you

 

[thee_prisoner]

It depends on what 3 prong adapter you bought. Here are two examples of grounded adapters http://diy.stackexchange.com/questi...ding-tab-wire-on-a-3-prong-to-2-prong-adapter. Just make sure the that screw that holds the face plate is actually connected to metal structure that holds the outlets. Turn off power to that room and test by plugging in a lamp or something to make sure the power is turned off. Remove the face plate, there should be three wires that are connected to the outlet, red, black and green. IF it has a green wire connected to the outlet you might be ok as long as the wires are connected correctly and the house is actually grounded properly.

You might even want to check all the outlets in your house to see if they are properly connected. Also as kind of a footnote, if you have cable, the cable guy comes out and grounds his stuff which can cause a problem with grounding.

Happy wiring, the Prisoner...

 

[pete_conrad]

The outlet box isn't really grounded. That adapter is depandant on a metal box with a metal conduit that goes all the way back to the panel. If you're getting anything it either a static connection or the nuetral shaved and touching the box wall ( a dangerous condition ). Most outlet boxes are never grounded or they are made of plastic. For your surge protector or Power conditioner ( even better ) to work properly it will need a connection to Earth Ground. You have 3 options: Water Inlet pipe, Earth ground rod (best), or main electrical panel. Your local Ace or true Vale or orchard supply Hardware store can help. I suggest you get some electrically insulated tools (ace has a set for about 12 bucks) and an inductive voltage sensor ( to tell when the power is off). An electrician could also handle grounding the outlet too.