ungrounded extension cords?

[ratso]

monoprice and others sell really nice 3 prong power cord extensions. does anyone have a source for someone that sells heavy guage 2 prong (standard and/or polarized) extension cords in different lengths? it is kind of amazing that one exists and not the other. are we all supposed to just risk it and plug out 2 prong cords into a 3 prong extension?

 

[TLS Guy]

monoprice and others sell really nice 3 prong power cord extensions. does anyone have a source for someone that sells heavy guage 2 prong (standard and/or polarized) extension cords in different lengths? it is kind of amazing that one exists and not the other. are we all supposed to just risk it and plug out 2 prong cords into a 3 prong extension?

What are you risking? There is no difference in those two scenarios.

 

[highfigh]

monoprice and others sell really nice 3 prong power cord extensions. does anyone have a source for someone that sells heavy guage 2 prong (standard and/or polarized) extension cords in different lengths? it is kind of amazing that one exists and not the other. are we all supposed to just risk it and plug out 2 prong cords into a 3 prong extension?

There's no risk because there's no connection to the ground pin. The manufacturers leave the pin off because of the chance that noise could be caused by a bad ground.

 

[ratso]

so it is no danger then to just go into a 3 prong plug? i was not aware of that, although i guess that's what you do when you plug it into the wall receptacle (duh). thanx guys.

 

[highfigh]

so it is no danger then to just go into a 3 prong plug? i was not aware of that, although i guess that's what you do when you plug it into the wall receptacle (duh). thanx guys.

Plugging into a 3 prong cord is the same as plugging into a grounded receptacle. As long as the device is made to be used this way, it's not a problem.

If the power cord isn't polarized and one leg is connected to the chassis, like they used to do with guitar amps, it can be very dangerous. They used to include a polarity switch and the instructions mentioned that if it hummed, flip the switch. The problem with that is, if the chassis was connected to the hot wire and the player touches something that's grounded correctly while also touching the guitar's strings, bridge or tuners, they were directly between the hot chassis and ground.

 

[Rickster71]

The problem with that is, if the chassis was connected to the hot wire and the player touches something that's grounded correctly while also touching the guitar's strings, bridge or tuners, they were directly between the hot chassis and ground.

I hate when that happens.

 

[highfigh]

I hate when that happens.

I let a friend use my guitar amp before I changed the power cord to the grounded type and first time he stepped up to the mic, he almost welded his lips to it because the polarity switch was in the wrong position. It's from '58, when they still used two-prong cords and the 'Death cap' to suppress spikes.