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Good morning. I am not an electrician, but could use some advice. I don't see many forums via Google search that can answer my question, so perhaps someone here can help, or can perhaps direct me to an appropriate forum.
I'm a college student on clinical rotations. In about a month, I'll be going to stay in a rural area in Texas in the finished attic of a family's home. My problem is that per a classmate of mine, the attic only has 2-prong ungrounded outlets. I just build a pretty expensive computer, and was hoping to bring the computer to work on projects and such. I will not have access to the rest of the house, so I'm betting I won't be able to touch the circuit breaker. From what I understand, these are my options: either try to replace the 2-prong with a 3-prong outlet while the outlet is hot (assuming there's a ground wire in there), or don't use the outlet at all.
My question... if I bring a replacement 3-prong outlet with me and there isn't a third wire to connect it to, is there any safe way to plug a computer into a 2-prong outlet? Will any configuration of surge protector shield my computer from harm?
For what it's worth, I have replaced outlets before, but only when the circuit breaker was flipped off. I have also been shocked before and I think I could be careful enough to avoid it. I just want to prepare myself in case there isn't appropriate wiring in the attic. A month is a long time to stay in an attic without and form of entertainment.
Thanks for the help, and again, sorry for crashing the professional electrician forum.
I'm a college student on clinical rotations. In about a month, I'll be going to stay in a rural area in Texas in the finished attic of a family's home. My problem is that per a classmate of mine, the attic only has 2-prong ungrounded outlets. I just build a pretty expensive computer, and was hoping to bring the computer to work on projects and such. I will not have access to the rest of the house, so I'm betting I won't be able to touch the circuit breaker. From what I understand, these are my options: either try to replace the 2-prong with a 3-prong outlet while the outlet is hot (assuming there's a ground wire in there), or don't use the outlet at all.
My question... if I bring a replacement 3-prong outlet with me and there isn't a third wire to connect it to, is there any safe way to plug a computer into a 2-prong outlet? Will any configuration of surge protector shield my computer from harm?
For what it's worth, I have replaced outlets before, but only when the circuit breaker was flipped off. I have also been shocked before and I think I could be careful enough to avoid it. I just want to prepare myself in case there isn't appropriate wiring in the attic. A month is a long time to stay in an attic without and form of entertainment.
Thanks for the help, and again, sorry for crashing the professional electrician forum.
