I moved into a house recently. I am renting it. I checked around to see if the outlets were grounded so I could hook up my computer. My surge protector lights up to indicate faulty wiring. I found a few outlets that showed up as grounded. I went and bought a receptacle analyzer and it too showed correct. I opened a few outlets to check what the difference between them was and found nothing. The outlets that show ground only have 2 wires(white and black) connected to the receptacle. Im only starting to learn this stuff and im very confused. Why isnt there a 3rd wire?

 

What is the wiring method? Conduit and some types of metal jacketed cable can be used as the equipment grounding conductor.
Don(resqcapt19)

 

Im not sure, all I know is some of these show ground and the others dont. If that method you mentioned is used is it ok? Is it possible for only some outlets to be wired this way?
thank you

 

I'm not an electrician, but yes, it is possible that only some of the outlets are grounded by this method and others may not be grounded at all.
As you know, a surge protector is useless without a grounded circuit outlet. Make sure that your computer components are connected to grounded outlets only.
Good luck!
Mike

 

thanks, how worried should i be about my TV, vcr, stereo etc. not being on a grounded outlet? How common is it to have damaging surges occur? Also, does someone have anyone they recommend for electrical work in the southern California area?

 

If the appliance does not have a 3 wire plug, there is no advantage to having a grounded receptacle. The installation of a 3-wire (grounded) receptcale without a ground is a code violation, unless the receptacle is being fed from a GFCI and is tagged "GFCI protected, no equipment ground".
Don(resqcapt19)