The amount of people I need to explain this to is the mildly infuriating part.
One time when packing up after a LAN party, a friend of mine grabbed my surge protector instead of his power strip. A couple days later I was like “Hey we swapped some gear by mistake. I think you took my surge protector and I have your power strip” and he was was like “Oh well I already set my computer back up at home, so maybe we just keep them because it’s the same thing”
Nah, my dude. Mine is an expensive surge protector that I put my expensive computer equipment on. Yours is a $10 power strip from the bargain bin at Home Depot and I would never plug things I care about into it.
He did swap back with me but acted like it was such a bother.
reddig33@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It should still be properly grounded.
RoidingOldMan@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
That’s not generally how they are sold. A power strip looks like this. A surge protector is grounded.
klangcola@reddthat.com 2 weeks ago
Power strips can be grounded or ungrounded.
This particular power strip has ground pins on the outlets, but they’re not connected to anything , making the power strip both dangerous and illegal. OP should notify the seller and relevant authorities.
RoidingOldMan@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Are you suggesting that a 2 prong power strip/extension cord would be illegal? Because they definitely sell those.
reddig33@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Is that something regional? Because in the US, power strips are often sold as grounded. Examples:
www.homedepot.com/p/…/329675198
www.homedepot.com/p/…/328532018
Product details: “Grounded outlets” “Power strip”
BlackVenom@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
You can get 2 prong ones… They look similar to Christmas tree wiring. I’ve never seen them in “power strip” form… Just extension cables with 3 outlets on the end… Some even with a slot so a grounded plug can go in. You can also buy 3->2 prong adapters for “external grounding”.
RoidingOldMan@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
If you take them apart like OP, I wonder if they are really grounded.
Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 2 weeks ago
Could go either way.
I think a surge protector needs the ground to detect the surge.
I own many power strips that are grounded, but have zero surge protection. These are commercial-grade units with built in, real circuit breakers.
I have a bunch of cheap ones with ground too.
I don’t buy surge protectors. They fail in weird ways.