Grounding a 3 prong plug with a ground wire

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TheBruce

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Apr 27, 2015
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I live in a apt. Two of my three prong electrical outlets were not showing up grounded when I plugged my surge protector into them. I need to plug computers and an air conditioner in, so we called the office and they sent their fix it guy, who is not an electrician. In the end, he came over with some wire and attached a ground wire from the one good electrical outlet to the other one outlet. The wire he attached goes around the walls of the room like a cable wire to the other outlet.

Since he has done this, I keep noticing weird lighting on the T.V. Peoples faces are grey and maybe even tiny distortion from time to time. It's hard to see for some people, but this is a good T.V and the picture was perfect.

Should he have fixed the problem using a ground wire from a good outlet, to fix the other two? Can it cause problems with my T.V. or other electrical equipment?
 
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kanewolf
I bet if you get a city inspector out to look at that "fix" it would be corrected. That will NOT make you popular with the apt management. It sounds like a safety issue to me.
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TheBruce

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Well, the plugs are showing up grounded. I don't think he would do it if it wasn't safe, but I like to watch my tv.
 
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kanewolf

kanewolf

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Maybe it is safe, maybe not. I don't know what was done. If only the ground wire was tied then it might be safe, but it still may not meet code. Exposed wiring may require an armored (metal shielded) cable. It needs to be protected from being abraded.
 
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TheBruce

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I know nothing about electricity. I have tried to educate myself about this, but my understanding is very limited. The wire he used is like a little round white wire that goes around the wall like a cable wire. But I am not crazy, right? It can be affecting my TV picture and even my computer monitor picture? I have a surge protector. If he un does it, will it go back to normal?
 
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kanewolf

kanewolf

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I don't believe it is effecting your TV. Bad coax is more likely to effect your TV. Check the fittings that screw into the wall (or cable box) and the TV. Are all the fittings tight? Is there a nice long (1/2 inch) center conductor? Is there any foil or braid (thin silver hair-like wires) that are interfering? Has the coax been bent or kinked? Does your TV have the same problems with DVD player or other input sources?
 
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TheBruce

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I checked and the cable wires are securely connected. there is no wire or anything. everything looks fine. It was all done by the cable company. I have never had a problem with this T.V. As soon as he did this with the wire, the picture has not been the same. I also checked my picture settings and they have not been reset. They are exactly how I set them and I swear the picture was perfect.
 
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TheBruce

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Could the cable box that provides HD and all the channels be the problem? Could the power surge have damaged the splitter the cable company installed, or other equipment? Now that I think about it, even when I first got this cable box it had problems and I would have to unplug it and plug it back in, but the tv worked great, so I didn't think anything of it. However, my monitor for my computer seems affected too, but I am not as sure.
 
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IamTimTech

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Primarily I would like to say that the fix is certainly not a safe one and should be remedied as soon as possible. That is a fire hazard, but above all is a good way to take out all your electronics. I don't believe that the picture on your TV and the remedy are directly related but if they are it is because of electrical interference caused by daisy chaining the outlets together. You should remove the TV from that outlet and try a different one with a different input source suhc as a dvd player or laptop. Try to plug the TV into an outlet on a different circuit altogether. If the problem goes away call your landlord and simply inform him that you are having the city inspector over for dinner and you will be sure to make mention of the odd "repair" his "repairman" made.



Yes he most certainly would. Outlets do not get grounded to each other, this creates resistance, they get grounded to the breaker box, or individually to a steal rod in the ground.
 
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westom

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He cannot make a connection as you have described. That would be a threat to human life. Either that receptacle must have an existing third wire, bundled with other wires, connecting back to the breaker box. Or he must install a GFCI. Those are his only two, legal, and safe options.

Does not matter what a tester reported. Your examination reports a significant code violation. Meanwhile a tester can never report a good ground. It can only report some defects - not all. Notice that good does not necessary mean 'not bad'. From your description, a human safety code violation now exists. Tester can only report 'bad' conditions - not good ones.

 
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