110 V Plug With Erth Pin

[Jasper79]

Hi everybody
I have a question that may sound like a no brainer to many of you.
I have a 110v plug with a metal earthplug. I want to plug this in on a extension cord that has no earth connector. But i can cut away a peace of the connector so it can fit. Is this wise and safe to do? I dont want to damage my laptop.

[bhg481]

I don't suppose they put an earther lead on the computer for nothing, so avoiding using it would seem rather foolhardy to me.
Having said that, you are far more likely to damage yourself than the laptop.

[sunny-dave]

If you are ABSOLUTELY sure that the appliance or power-supply attached to the plug is double-insulated and has no requirement to be earthed, then go ahead .... but that seems like a path to potential electrocution to me, if you don't have the competence to resolve the issue without asking on the internet.

[Buenchico]

With some electrical items (especially those with metal casings), such a plug is fitted onto the end of a three core cable, with the 'earth' lead connected to the metal case or chassis of the appliance. Dispensing with the earth connection would remove an essential safety back-up when using the appliance. (However it wouldn't stop the appliance from working normally. The earth connection does nothing until a fault occurs).

With other electrical items there's only a two-core cable feeding into the plug, with the earth pin left unconnected. So it would make no difference at all if you simply dispensed with the earth pin.

So, without knowing whether it's a 2-core lead, or a 3-core one, it's impossible to answer your question accurately. (However I'd guess that a laptop's power adapter might only have a two-core cable).

I'm also confused as to how you could have an extension lead without an earth connection anyway. This website is based in the UK, where we've got a 230V supply and any extension lead would always have a 3-pin socket on the end of it.

[Jasper79]

Thanks for all the answers. I've in the Dutch Caribbean. And everything is imported from USA and other places My extension cabel has only two plugins (from USA i guess), and the laptop has a metal earth plug. All the sockets in my house have an the ability for a earth pin. I wanted to know if i can still use the extansion cable of have to buy a new one. Don't know if my laptop has a 2 or 3 core adapter. I don't really know anything about this subject.

[Leucocyte]

Perhaps you could use a travel adapter? When I take a laptop abroad, say USA,(from UK), I have to connect to a two-pin socket. So what is the difference if you adopt the same practice?