- Jul 18, 2001
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This is a little lengthy, but I need to fully explain the setup for an accurate answer.
Our house was built in the 1950's and doesn't have proper grounded outlets. We've always had three prong outlets, but there's no ground wire. In the back bedroom our CATV drop for the cable modem/bedroom TV comes in. The CATV line is grounded outside to an exterior ground line. On one receptacle there's an APC UPS where the cable modem plugs into and the other receptacle just a regular APC surge protector/powerstrip. For the longest time the site wiring fault lights have been lit on the UPS and PS since there's no ground on the outlet. Recently we got a new TV in the back bedroom which has a three prong grounded power cable. After plugging in the TV the site wiring fault lights on the UPS and PS shutoff. I'm assuming that the TV, connected to the cable box, which in turn is connected to the grounded CATV line, was completing a ground correct? When I either unplugged the TV or disconnected the CATV line from the splitter the site wiring fault lights would turn back on. If there had been an overload of current then everything would have been destroyed since the ground was only complete because of the TV?
I did some searching online and replacing the outlet with a GFCI is the up to code way to correct the ground issue without rewiring everything. So I've replaced the outlet with a GFCI and the site wiring fault lights are back on. Everything is working fine, no weird issues or things refusing to power on. The GFCI itself tests and resets just fine. I'm assuming that with the GFCI outlet in place even with the site wiring fault lights on I'm better off than with the three prong no ground outlet in?
If I had the money available, I'd get the outlet properly grounded and the fuse box replaced with a breaker box too. Anything else I should look out for?
Our house was built in the 1950's and doesn't have proper grounded outlets. We've always had three prong outlets, but there's no ground wire. In the back bedroom our CATV drop for the cable modem/bedroom TV comes in. The CATV line is grounded outside to an exterior ground line. On one receptacle there's an APC UPS where the cable modem plugs into and the other receptacle just a regular APC surge protector/powerstrip. For the longest time the site wiring fault lights have been lit on the UPS and PS since there's no ground on the outlet. Recently we got a new TV in the back bedroom which has a three prong grounded power cable. After plugging in the TV the site wiring fault lights on the UPS and PS shutoff. I'm assuming that the TV, connected to the cable box, which in turn is connected to the grounded CATV line, was completing a ground correct? When I either unplugged the TV or disconnected the CATV line from the splitter the site wiring fault lights would turn back on. If there had been an overload of current then everything would have been destroyed since the ground was only complete because of the TV?
I did some searching online and replacing the outlet with a GFCI is the up to code way to correct the ground issue without rewiring everything. So I've replaced the outlet with a GFCI and the site wiring fault lights are back on. Everything is working fine, no weird issues or things refusing to power on. The GFCI itself tests and resets just fine. I'm assuming that with the GFCI outlet in place even with the site wiring fault lights on I'm better off than with the three prong no ground outlet in?
If I had the money available, I'd get the outlet properly grounded and the fuse box replaced with a breaker box too. Anything else I should look out for?