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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
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,394 posts
 
Herman, I'm not sure of that. Chances of being struck by lightning are pretty similar 1 in 1 million but people still take safety precautions, golf courses are being evacuated, sport events outside suspended etc. Again - chance of one in 1 million is in any given year. In your lifetime you have at least fifty time higher chance - 1 in 20,000. I don't go outside during lightning knowing that most of people killed ignored danger - like teenager in my area who kept playing soccer in forest preserve during thunderstorm or people sailing in spite of weather forecast and warnings.
For the rest of people, who take precautions, chances are practically none - meaning that chances for people ignoring danger (a few) are very high - much higher than 1 in 20,000. One could say that stupidity kills.
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kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,394 posts
 
ILLOGICAL PEOPLE DIE FIRST. I cannot control cancer or nuclear attack but can greatly lower chances of being electrocuted by not playing in the park during thunderstorms or cutting ground from my electrical equipment that was designed with this ground as a protection. I would not recommend bypassing safety features and am very surprised that people without degree or any education in electrical engineering dare to make such recommendations. Do you also recommend to disconnect airbags? Just curious.
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
If it is such a danger then why are PS Audio power cables made with a ground plug that can be unscrewed? I have been floating mine of years [30?] when it would help. Just exactly what does the "ground lift" switch on equipment do? I had always supposed it lifted the ground; how is this different from floating it? A tempest in a tea pot.
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,394 posts
 
Stanwal - I don't know about PS Audio but suspect that they design their units such way that it doesn't need grounding (class II) but ground is still provided to reduce noise pickup. I suspect that it is the same principle with ground lift - otherwise it would be illegal to manufacture such thing. Every user guide has at least one page on safety precautions. You can also call PS Audio and ask them.
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