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> Three-pin appliances require a ground to be safe Can you elaborate on this? My MacBook charger has both a two-prong and a three-prong cable. Why would it be

by aianus 10y ago

> Three-pin appliances require a ground to be safe Can you elaborate on this? My MacBook charger has both a two-prong and a three-prong cable. Why would it be any more dangerous to plug my MacBook into this power strip using the three-prong cable than to connect it directly to the wall with the two-prong cable?

chx 10y ago
Your MacBook then is prepared for ungrounded operations. Now take a laser printer, it uses very high voltage on the inside and if something gets dislodged and touches an outer facing metal part and you touch that in turn, you are dead. That's why the outer parts are connected to a safety ground. Do note Xerox warns you not to use a "cheater plug" http://download.support.xerox.com/pub/docs/4400/userdocs/any-os/en/UserSafety.pdf http://download.support.xerox.com/pub/docs/4400/userdocs/any... . Laser printers are also a great example of when that C7/C8 connection is a fire hazard because laser printers need a lot of power when heating up their fusers. This is also why you must not connect a laser printer to a UPS.
- spoiler 10y ago
  It's also possible that op has a socket like this, so the grounding is on the side: http://i.imgur.com/lLM3gQO.png http://i.imgur.com/lLM3gQO.png However, there is also this: http://i.imgur.com/ftPT7sC.png http://i.imgur.com/ftPT7sC.png, which grounds from either sides or in the middle for sockets like these http://i.imgur.com/FnXMndC.png http://i.imgur.com/FnXMndC.png
  - aianus 10y ago
    No, I have American sockets. The charger looks like this: https://support.apple.com/library/content/dam/edam/applecare/images/en_US/macbookpro/45w_l_ac_adapter.png https://support.apple.com/library/content/dam/edam/applecare... And also comes with a longer, three-prong cable that replaces the little two-prong piece: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/like/172352962036?lpid=116&chn=ps http://www.ebay.ca/itm/like/172352962036?lpid=116&chn=ps
    - sveiss 10y ago
      The MacBook chargers are designed to be safe without grounding. The grounding pin does have a use, though: some cheap powered USB devices will put out a voltage relative to ground on their '0v' lines. If you touch a MacBook that's plugged into one of these devices, you can get a small shock. If you're using a 3-pin adapter, this doesn't seem to happen.
deleted 10y ago
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by aianus 10y ago

chx 10y ago

Your MacBook then is prepared for ungrounded operations. Now take a laser printer, it uses very high voltage on the inside and if something gets dislodged and touches an outer facing metal part and you touch that in turn, you are dead. That's why the outer parts are connected to a safety ground. Do note Xerox warns you not to use a "cheater plug" http://download.support.xerox.com/pub/docs/4400/userdocs/any-os/en/UserSafety.pdf http://download.support.xerox.com/pub/docs/4400/userdocs/any... . Laser printers are also a great example of when that C7/C8 connection is a fire hazard because laser printers need a lot of power when heating up their fusers. This is also why you must not connect a laser printer to a UPS.

spoiler 10y ago
It's also possible that op has a socket like this, so the grounding is on the side: http://i.imgur.com/lLM3gQO.png http://i.imgur.com/lLM3gQO.png However, there is also this: http://i.imgur.com/ftPT7sC.png http://i.imgur.com/ftPT7sC.png, which grounds from either sides or in the middle for sockets like these http://i.imgur.com/FnXMndC.png http://i.imgur.com/FnXMndC.png
- aianus 10y ago
  No, I have American sockets. The charger looks like this: https://support.apple.com/library/content/dam/edam/applecare/images/en_US/macbookpro/45w_l_ac_adapter.png https://support.apple.com/library/content/dam/edam/applecare... And also comes with a longer, three-prong cable that replaces the little two-prong piece: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/like/172352962036?lpid=116&chn=ps http://www.ebay.ca/itm/like/172352962036?lpid=116&chn=ps
  - sveiss 10y ago
    The MacBook chargers are designed to be safe without grounding. The grounding pin does have a use, though: some cheap powered USB devices will put out a voltage relative to ground on their '0v' lines. If you touch a MacBook that's plugged into one of these devices, you can get a small shock. If you're using a 3-pin adapter, this doesn't seem to happen.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]