Using a power strip in an old home that was build back in 1955

It's always a Bad Idea to not have grounded power circuits.  Good surge protectors are a good idea, but you really need to upgrade your wiring.  Really.  That change to the wiring code w as done for a reason.  You are risking a whole lot more than your audio rig.

I use the surge protector from Belkin, but your choices look OK if you believe their spec.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JE9LD4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

+1 for ecat026’s recommendation of GFCI outlets. This was first suggested to me by the home inspector to bring my receptacles to code. My home was built in 1910.

A GFCI protects you by severing the flow of power whenever it detects ground faults or leakage currents. They are easy to install (do your homework—shut off the breakers before work, etc).

I swapped all receptacles before putting my computer and hifi equipment on them, and I have not had any trouble. Over time you can look to run dedicated power from dedicated breakers to dedicated hifi outlets and keep building up, without replacing your whole grid. 

If your home isn’t grounded, I’d say grounding your audio is the least of your problems.

I live in a building built in 1865. I installed all new electrical and plumbing.

Ya just can’t mess with second rate electrical work. Safety and fire hazard.

The 2 to 3 prong plug adapter is your friend.  I lived like that for over a decade without an issue.  Actually lifting the ground with the adapter will make those with grounded receptacles sound better

Burning down the house.... Think I will listen to that album. Speaking in tongues. 

@OP If you re saying that the wiring in your house dates from the date of its construction then power strips are the least of your worries.

@MickeyB     et. al.   

Comment 1:  Spring for a < $20 receptacle tester to find out what you really have at each outlet before you do much of anything else. It should have 3 lights to tell you if the outlet is wired correctly and also if there is a GFCI anywhere in the circuit between that outlet and the rest of the world.  I use an Ideal #61-501 but other options are available. 

Comment 2:  A great companion to the above tester is a signal injector so you can trace the circuit back to the panel.  (Also use to check for other outlets on the same circuit, so you can locate a second circuit in a given space, or find other loads that might affect the outlet you are investigating. - e.g., a bedroom window A/C unit that throws a crazy spike onto the line when starting/stopping.) WallyWorld and others offer a Klein Tools M2O41519KIT Digital Circuit Breaker Finder and Accessory Kit for about $80 which includes a version of the Receptacle tester mentioned above, a signal injector so you can find which fuse or breaker feeds the outlet in question, and some accessories so you can easily check light sockets, 2-prong outlets as well as 3-prong, and alligator clips to check for hot wires anywhere in-between or before you start putting things back together. Just don't buy anything without the correct approval label for your country!  UL for USA; CSA for Canada, etc. 

Comment 3:  Before proceeding with poking around inside a wall receptacle box, turn the power OFF.  Even some quite old houses that still have 2-hole outlets (no ground prong) actually may have a ground available at the receptacle box!  BX, or as currently known MC or AC (armored cable), has been used widely in the US since the 1920's. You can look for any armored cable if you are lucky by using a flashlight to peek around the receptacle and look for a metal spiral-wrap sheath coming through a clamp at the back of the box with the wires to the outlet inside of the metal sheath.   Better yet, CAREFULLY remove the outlet itself so you can actually see what wires go where.  Old wires may be very stiff, and the insulation may crack.

I happen to live in a building where there are properly grounded 3-hole outlets, but only two wires coming to the actual receptacle!  The ground is provided by the spiral- wrap cable sheath which is clamped to the box, and the ground point in the outlet is connected when the mounting strap of the outlet is screwed to the box. 

You may have come across old two-prong adapters that will go into a two-hole outlet, and have a pigtail wire or a very short metal tab that are meant to be connected by being tightly clamped under the screw in the center of the outlet thus providing the ground path for the ground prong hole in the adapter.  

Always check for a good ground in this type of a circuit because over the years the ground connections may have been compromised by oxidation, thermal expansion / contraction or even building movement due to traffic, settling, etc. 

Comment 4: If you have ANY doubts, contact a Licensed Electrician in your area.  I worked under a Master Electrician (who was NOT my dad) for many years and I respect electricity.  My (extremely sweaty at the time) dad almost died when hit with 4000V and was VERY lucky he could leave the hospital a month later.    YMMV.

If you're going to use a power strip, at least use a good one, like this (which comes in more and less outlets. You get what you pay for.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000511U7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

By all means, consider having a good electrician rewire your house for more than one reason. For starters, people who lived in your house before you may have tinkered with fixing and wiring themselves. I've seen Teflon wire used to run a "new" fixture in one house I had. In another place a gang of wires wrapped in duct tape was lying in the attic. I got a shock when I merely touched it! We had a fire at my business ($500,000) in 2001 due to a mouse chewing wires in the attic. If I were to build a new house, it would have MC (metal clad) wiring everywhere. You'll have good peace of mind if you rewire and your house value will increase!

Here are the correct links for the pics.

https://postimg.cc/WD3v0ZYn
https://postimg.cc/bGBjgvKj
https://postimg.cc/FdkXB44k
 

Really super bad idea to use a Power strip when you don’t have grounding. That’s a lot of competing forces going on and you could easily screw up.

Run a few grounding wires in key areas. Peace of mind.

You’ll never get a clear answer on this one. Maybe talk to an electrician.

Don’t get cheap on things like this.

Maybe The world doesn’t need grounding at the outlets, but maybe someone thought this was a good idea and maybe it was a good idea after all.

Oh and without grounding it can lead to electrical shock for someone using electricity like an appliance or something. So basically every time you're using an appliance you risk dying from electrical shock.

I can’t see the pics but when was last time you had electrical box upgrade?

Here are some pictures that I took of my electrial box. I don't know what all the info means.

[url=https://postimg.cc/p5J5ZB3y][img]https://i.postimg.cc/p5J5ZB3y/20240922-124137.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=https://postimg.cc/3WXGYKW7][img]https://i.postimg.cc/3WXGYKW7/20240922-124202.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=https://postimg.cc/4mX93rhc][img]https://i.postimg.cc/4mX93rhc/20240922-124212.jpg[/img][/url]
 

@bigtwin 

😂🤣😂

Where's the stereo equipment?   😆

Yes, I have Gfci in my 1957 home.  It is nice to have a copper rod driven into the ground.  I also have a grounded water pipe.  I bought Furman PST 6.  these have electrical protection and will filter the power.  $30 each.  3 prongers with no ground are a nono.  NEC is the same for all states, I would think.

I also live in a 1955 era house. Same lack of grounding. My grounding issue was so bad, you could feel low current levels on the metal faceplates of components. 

My attempt at a solution was successful. I bought a $200 or so Panamax surge protector/line conditioner. No more "hot" faceplates. Couldn't say if anything sounds better due to the line conditioning, but I don't feel like I'll get zapped by my ungrounded audio equipment.

Where's the stereo equipment?   😆

Upgrade your electrical system. The house I live in now was built in 1880. It probably had no electricity when built and over the years, probably went from 60 amps to 200. The previous house I owned in NY was originally built in 1780. I had the electrician pull out as much unused wire as possible and rewired the panels-- it was over 6,000 sq ft, not including outbuildings, pool, etc.

Worth doing right. It's not just safety, however important; it is also quality of power. 

This is not an area where you look to save a few bucks. Get it done properly by a competent electrician. Far less costly than black boxes and mystery tweaks. 

From my research with a similar issue, code allows you to install ungrounded 3 prong receptacles IF a GFCI is installed upstream and the downstream receptacles are wired to that GFCI's Load. The newly installed three prong receptacles must then be labeled "protected by GFCI" or something similar, I don't remember. Something to look into for safety. 

I'm on here asking for tips mainly. If I was an expert, I wouldn't be on here.

More important than ground for safety is proper polarization. I remember the old days of finding the quietest orientation for each plug.  And shocking PA systems.

I'm just brainstorming ideas at this time.

Here is an ideal setup

playstation 1 with upscaler - 2 plugs

playstation 2 - 1 plug

playstation 3 - 1 plug

playstation 4 with vr - 2 plugs

playstation 5 - 1 plug

tv - 1 plug

dvr - 1 plug - 8 plugs total

or 

nintendo system with upscaler - 2 plugs

super nintendo with upscaler - 2 plugs

nintendo 64 with upscaler  - 2 plugs

nintendo gamecube - 1 plug

nintendo wii - 1 plug

nintendo wii u - 1 plug

nintendo switch - 1 plug

tv - 1 plug

dvr - 1 plug - 12 plugs

Not all device would be on at the same time.

I had to work through that same problem being my house was also built in the 50’s.

I guess it is a common practice to replace two prong receptacles with three prong receptacles to increase the homes resale value. I was pretty pissed to find that out after purchasing my house that all the outlets other than the ones in my basement, bathroom, and kitchen were not properly grounded.

I hired an electrician and they ran ground lines for the outlets in my AV room it was only a couple of hundred dollars because the breaker box had already been upgraded.

It sounds like OP that you seem to have some concerns with the way you are solving your problem or you would not be here asking for our advice? Cheers

My home was built in 54’. If you have conduit, have an electrician pull all new wire and grounded outlets. Mind you, the outlets must be to a grounded panel as well. 
I would do this if money allows. Should be about 5k. 

I agree 15 amps is not a whole lot for high end systems.  Better to feed your rack from more than one circuit, if possible.

I wanted to have a third pin actually grounded where the outlet's third pin was not connected.  Got an electrician who ran a wire to a water pipe in the basement.

Your circuit, which likely consists of several to many wall outlets, is likely on a 15amp breaker, if you have breakers.   This can be easily overpowered with that number of outlets on one strip.  Add up the amps of each thing you intend to plug in.

22 is too many things and noisy to boot.

I may be living dangerously, but nothing bad has ever happened. I've never had a fire start or anything. Maybe I'm just really lucky.

I'm not an electrician, but this sounds like living dangerously to me. I think that it's illegal in my jurisdiction to have a three-hole receptacle which isn't grounded. In any case, I would never do it because that ground pin can save your life.

Also, most surge suppressors route excess energy into that ground pin. IF that's connected to nothing, then protection is nil. The first thing I did when I moved into a 1950's house was upgrade all the important circuits to 3-conductor, along with a 200A service.

Just my $.02 - but I strongly urge you to consult an electrician.

To provide some additional information.

I've been using power strips for years. Most of the outlets in my home are the 3 prong type, but are not grounded. My room has a 2 prong ungrounded outlet. I added a 2 to 3 prong adapter and added a power strip. No issues.

In the living room, where my tv is, the outlet is a 3 prong ungrounded outlet. I plan to upgrade my power strip from a 12 to a 22 or 24 outlet power strip. I'd plug in gaming consoles along with upscalers.

What I don't want to have happen is to plug in a 22 outlet power strip and have a wiring fault occur so that the power strip doesn't function. Although it doesn't seem like a problem would occur.

You will need an adapter plug to use that Amazon strip with your two-prong AC outlets.

My old house was built in 1953. Same type of outlet wiring. A circuit breaker panel instead of fuses. I never had a problem no matter how many components I plugged into the outlets. So why worry? Use whatever power strip you want. They won't affect the sound of your gear. 

My first question would be what are you planning to plug into this box?  With so many plugs, will you be overloading the circuit?  Do you have the opportunity to run a dedicated gounded line fron your main panel?  If grounding is important,  I don't see that plugging things into a power strip that goes into a non grounded outlet will achieve anything?