Paul wrote:
Bill in Co wrote:
Paul wrote:
Mark Twain wrote:
You have to ask Paul about that stuff.

Robert

Well, I don't know where your Safety Ground is
coming from, on the three prong outlets you
do have installed.

Two-prong versus three-prong is an odious topic,
that's for sure.

Paul

Just out of curiosity, could someone simply connect the center slot to
the large slot (which is normally at ground potential) as a kludge, even
though it's a bad idea and obviously against code?

I'm thinking that's a bad idea.

If there's a fire at your place, and they spot that,
it could invalidate your fire insurance.

The surge arrestor isn't going to work right either.
It might not have the same protection characteristics.

And you could have a "shifted neutral" fault. Neutral could
be lifted above ground. Since hot and neutral extend outside
your house, there are more options for mischief. They don't
have to stay at their nominal potentials. A tree could fall and...

Paul

And just to set the record straight, I hope no one even dares to do this,
but I was just curious, and wonder if anyone ever did such a hack.
Hopefully not!!

Where and how is that neutral normally grounded, anyways? Right outside the
house, via some metal rod going into the ground, a few feet down? I'm
guessing that's it.