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Ungrounded power cord: Will I die?

I'm always reading about the dangers of lifting ground from a power cord, especially in manufacturer manuals. Does this only apply to lifting ground from a grounded cord or just using an ungrounded cord, period? There are tons of devices in our homes that use ungrounded power cords (think wall wart). How is it possible that my house has not erupted into a ball of flames yet?

Anyway, I have a 2-prong power cord with a 3-prong IEC female end that came with my Luxman amp. I am getting the outboard power supply for my Calyx 24/192 DAC, but it requires an additional power cord. The Luxman cord sounds pretty good so I want to use that instead of spending another $500 to buy another one, which is +150% of the power supply itself!

What say ye?
eugene81
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
Kijanki, PS Audio power cords are used with every conceivable type of gear, not just PS products; are they ALL designed not to need grounding? The point is that they [PS ]say that the sound is better sometimes with the ground plug in place and sometimes without; they do not give any warning about using them ungrounded; just suggest you try them both ways.
hifihvn
943 posts
 
In reference to PS Audio, their newer products I found contain a safety warning about the ground. Links [http://www.psaudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/HumbusterIII_-Manual.pdf][http://www.psaudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P3001.pdf] [http://www.psaudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Juice-Bar-II.pdf]
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,432 posts
 
Their logic is a little fuzzy. They recommend to avoid disconnecting ground pin unless absolutely necessary and in next sentence they say removing this pin is dangerous? Maybe it is only 80% dangerous or perhaps it is dangerous on even Tuesdays and safe other times?

"Do not remove or bypass the ground pin on the end of the AC cord unless absolutely necessary
to reduce hum from ground loops of connected equipment. This may cause RFI (radio frequency
interference) to be induced into your playback setup. Removing or bypassing the ground pin on
any electrical component is potentially dangerous and should be avoided for safety reasons."

"To prevent electric shock, use a 3 prong,
grounded type power cable"
pehare's avatar
pehare
835 posts
 
how can you possibly call yourself an audiophile if you aren't willing to die in search of better sound? motorcycling, scuba diving, skydiving, airplanes, etc. what are we men or mice?
hifihvn
943 posts
 


02-01-12: Kijanki
Their logic is a little fuzzy.

It makes me curious about how much some of these companies know about power grid, cords, and other products they make. Any electrical engineer knows about the risk.

Maybe this was brought to their attention, and they put the risk, warning part in the manual to help keep them from getting into trouble if they go into litigation. They can say the customer didn't take the warning serious.

That pin removal was, or still is a selling feature for them.

Those ground adapters are banned in Nova Scotia Canada.
Also, a college professor was electrocuted using one. So that shows it can happen. That's in the Wiki link. Link [http://www.gov.ns.ca/lae/electricalsafety/esbadapterplugs.asp]Wiki link [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheater_plug]
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