Another cheater plug thread

Yes- There IS a risk(indubitably); IF you happen to be grounded, when in contact with the hot side of a 120V AC circuit(or two hots of 240V single phase/any two hots of 3 phase). You HAVE to be the completion of a circuit, for current to flow. Grab the hot wire of a 120V AC line, and nothing will happen(unless some part of your body is in contact with neutral, or earth ground). The children, in that article, were electrocuted when they touched the energized metal ladder of the boat. Being in the water, grounded them(tragic). Ungrounded NEMA 1-15 sockets have been prohibited in new construction in the United States and Canada since 1962. Grounded cords & polarized plugs have only been common on electronic equipment, since the late 80's.

Assuming that your preamp has a grounding plug on it; yes, it will be grounded through the PS. I suppose many of the posters that scream about cheater plugs, didn't live through the era of non-polarized/ungrounded AC plugs(EVERYTHING pre-late 80's). After three decades(70's - 90's) of being in the electronics biz; I can't recall an instance of anyone being fried by their equipment. I suppose if they had grabbed a ground, and their phase was reversed; it may have gotten interesting. If the idea of an extra, low grade connection(the cheater plug) in your AC line bothers you: find the chassis ground lead, coming off the back of the IEC jack(inside the amp) and disconnect it. If your upgraded power cord uses the ground as an EMI/RFI shield, it'll still work. Unless your outlet is connected with the phase reversed; I THINK you'll make it!. BTW: You don't have any power cords, interconnects, etc. running close together/parallel, do you?

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.

ATTENTION- Anyone with Dynaco, ARC, McIntosh, Marantz or Conrad Johnson(tubed components), that lack a grounded power cord: Keeping/using that equipment is dangerous and not in your best interest. Send it to ME, IMMEDIATELY(I'm your friend and will take all the risks)!