I installed 3-prong outlets in my house and now I get shocked when I touch my computers. How do I fix it?

Question

My house originally had 2-prong outlets, so there isn't a grounding wire. Is there anything I can do?

Answer 1

Modest is correct, Call an electrician, but in the iterim, I suspect that you did not get the neutral on the proper side of the outlet. Black to gold and white to silver side. If you have metal conduit then ground to box. But it would be safer and wiser to call an electrician

Answer 2

You may have a wattage overload. Check with a volt meter.  

Answer 3

sounds like you have a polarity problem..wires reversed, if in doubt have an electrician check it..or they make a nice little device you can plug in that will tell you if it is right or not.

Answer 4

Is your house wired with 2-wire romex?  If so, you have the hot and the neutral reversed.  Use an AC voltage tester to determine which is the hot lead.  Make sure it is tied to the brass s***w or the small prong hole.  The neutral should be on the silver s***w.  That will eliminate the shock problem.  I have seen electricians run a jumper from the silver s***w to the green s***w.  This ties the outlet to ground.  It is not NEC approved.

Dave

Answer 5

Dave's answer is correct in how to wire this outlet but fails to mention that when you replace 2 prong outlets with 3 prong outlets and do not update the wiring to grounded wiring the only correct way to do it is to replace the outlets with GFCI receptacles as this is the only code approved way to replace non grounded with grounded receptacles

Answer 6

Dave's answer is pretty good. The white wire in your outlet box should be connected to the silver colored s***w on the outlet. The black wire should be connected to the golden colored s***w. The green s***w is where your ground should be connected. If your house has metal boxes and the wiring is encased in metal, you can ground the green s***w (run a wire) to the outlet box. If the box is not grounded, you should hire an electrician to come in and update your wiring. As a temporary fix, you can run a wire from the green s***w to a nearby copper pie & clamp it to it. Make sure it is a water line and not a gas line.

Answer 7

You reversed the line and neutral in the outlet that feeds your computer. Since the outlets are without a ground, each outlet you installed needs to be labled "No Ground Present". This is a safety issue.