PC in a non-grounded socket?

[VJ]

Hello,

A friend of mine just moved to a new apartment. Only the sockets (230V, 50Hz) in the kitchen are grounded; the others throughout the apartment aren't.

He is reluctant to plug in his desktop computer in a non-grounded socket. So, should he pull a cable from the kitchen to where is PC is located, or isn't it a big deal to plug a PC in a non-grounded socket?

Thanks!


Jörg

[ZokesPro]

It's always better to be safe than sorry, but as far as experience goes, I doubt that it causes any damage to the pc itself. I know a few people who have their systems plugged in to non-grounded outlets and the pc's worked fine for however long they had them plugged in there. But don't take my word for it.

[rylan]

Well the grounding is there for safety. It won't effect how the power supply works, however it will mean that if something faults, the case can become live instead of just shorting to ground. It may effect the EMI shielding and effectiveness depending on how things are connected inside the system. Also means that your surge suppressors won't work.

[VJ]

Thanks!
We'll pull a cable from the kitchen to the pc desk.


Jörg

[High_Jumbllama]

I did this for over a year and a half. No problems but that was just dumb luck considering that lighning struck a tree out back.