Tweakers' Asylum Tweaks for systems, rooms and Do It Yourself (DIY) help. FAQ.

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Does he mean isolated ground?

Posted by Al Sekela (A) on October 13, 2006 at 14:27:01

In Reply to: Hospital Grade vrs Computer Grade Outlets posted by halfnote on October 13, 2006 at 06:29:06:

There are consumer-, spec-, industrial-, and hospital-grade outlets, but I've never heard of computer-grade either.

By "individually grounded," does he mean isolated ground? This type of outlet has a separate safety-earth connection that does not tie to the metal mounting strap. It is used in large buildings where there may be a lot of electrical noise present on the metal frame of the building, and sensitive equipment, such as computers, would have problems unless the safety-earth wire were kept separate all the way back to the power distribution panel. The outlet strap is grounded to the metal electrical box, and another safety-earth wire is used to attach the box to the electrical earth connection.

This is probably not necessary in your home, and would be completely useless if your electrician installs your outlets in plastic boxes or metal boxes nailed to wooden studs. However, it might be useful if you live in an apartment building and/or have metal stud construction.

If he is going to use metal boxes, be sure to break the circuit of the one-turn transformer comprising the outlet metal strap and the box. I use a Nylon screw and washer on one end of the outlet. The other end is tied to the box with a metal screw to preserve the ground connection to the box.

If you have multiple circuits routed to a gang metal box, do the same thing for each outlet. Have the electrician tie all the grounds together in the box. Be sure all the circuits are fed from the same leg of your 240-volt service.

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