Making a ground for a surge protector
 

So I recently lost a TV to a passing lightning storm. It was plugged into a surge protector but it was not properly ground.

I am renting a house that was built in the 20's so it has all 2 prong outlets. Our landlord told us that if we got little 3 prong adapters with a little tab on the bottom and screwed through that tab, it would be grounded. I got a tester and it says that it's an open ground. Actually properly rewiring isn't an option because I don't own the house.

So now I am trying to figure out some way to ground two outlets. I was told attaching the ground to the cold water pipe might be an alright temporary alternative. But when I test the voltage between the ground on the surge protector and the pipe (before wiring them together) there is a 50v difference.

It seems like this could be dangerous because the pipe would now be at 50v. It also seems odd to me that the ground prong on the surge protector is at 50v relative to a pipe in my house.

Thanks,
J

Since you don't own the property the landlord would need to hire someone to properly ground this circuit or to install a new properly grounded circuit.

Grounding to the water pipe is not acceptable.

The 3 prong to 2 prong are useless for your needs and do not provide a ground.

Pound a ground rod into the ground and attach to that.

:laughing::laughing::laughing: Yeah... That's the way to do it!

Nah, but if you're worried about it, hook up an incand. lamp between the protector and the pipe. The 50v should drop substantially.

Do these approximate the specs on your protector?

400 v max clamping voltage
600 joules min
1 nS max response time

If you're in FL or the Ozarks in MO you may need more protection.