Another cheater plug thread

Yes Rodman. In 1951, the laundry outlet was required to be grounded. Then in 1962, all outlets were required to be grounded as you stated. That shows the grounding requirement must have shown an improvement, towards people dying from electrocution, at a slower rate. This grounding idea turned out to be good.

This link I posted above shows improvement over the years. New construction, remodeling, and electrical upgrades over the years seems to be reflected as the death rate was dropping. And they seem to keep trying to improve the requirements, since it sure seems to be working.

Years back, I've had a couple of years of tech level electronics to know how a person could get electrocuted. I'd like everyone to know how it works, so they could be safer doing anything that involves risk around lethal voltages. But, we know that's not practical for a lot.

All of those people that did lose their life at home while trying to enjoy something powered by electric is sad.

Everyone who did lose their life by electrocution in their home, sure met the criteria for it to happen. You don't need
to be in water.

If someone such as the OP of this thread, or a lot of others reading this, may not know how easy it can happen, is one of the reasons I don't recommend for them to bypass these proven grounding safety features.

One dangerous thing I can see happening if the OP bypassed the ground on his preamp, and something failed causing it be energized to 120 volts, is easily pictured in his system link. A lot of people, including the OP, may lean his one arm on top of the cabinet, against the grounded amp, and change the volume with his other hand touching that energized preamp. Complete circuit, and recipe for potential death.

That would fully meet the criteria for electrocution, similar to what you describe. Simple. Actually so simple, it's scary. And something like this can be easily overlooked. Even more so, by someone that doesn't have any electronic background, or training. So I just can not recommend bypassing the safety ground with a cheater plug.

It's not a big deal if the current passes from one side of your hand to the other. It's something entirely different if the current passes from one hand to the other, with the path being through your chest. Then you'll be dead.

When I was an early teen; someone told me a metal cutting carbon arc could be created, using a pencil and 120V cheater wire. I tried it with a power cord, alligator clips, #2 pencil and a crosscut file. I was sitting on concrete block, with the file resting on another block. Neutral of the cord on the file, I proceeded to try to strike an arc. Nothing was happening, so- I picked up the file with my left hand, forgetting that I had the hot alligator clip resting on the top of my right hand(brain fart). The shock contracted and paralyzed all the muscles of my upper body. I instinctively jumped up and back, interrupting the circuit. Muscles that I didn't know I had, ached for a couple days, BUT- I'm not dead. That was over five decades ago, and I've never been the completion of a circuit since(working with electricity, almost daily, for the past 40 years). I remember it as a lesson in Situational Awareness.