3-pronged Grounded Plugs....

[DanHouston]

I am considering using three pronged grounded cords for the power coming in and going out of the Express. That said, there is no ground hookup for the express, so is it ok to connect 8 channels of ground to the incoming power ground (basically grounding it to the house) and the other 8 channels to the other incoming ground?

I can't think of a reason not to do this, but if someone has tried it and things went horribly bad I'd rather save myself the experiment.

That said there are only a few items in my display that will have 3 pronged plugs, most things are two pronged light strings, but I thought carrying the ground in the event something (like a floodlight) has it all the outputs would support it.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[wbuehler]

Yes you can do this, as other on the forum have also done the same.

Bill

[n1ist]

The proper way would be to tie all of the grounds (2 input cords and 16 output cords) together.
/mike

[DanHouston]

Thanks for the replies....I thought I had stumbled across a post where someone had a problem doing this, but I can'd find it now and could not think of why they would have had a problem (short of the wires touching something).

[Jeffl]

I use one screw through the case and ring terminals and do as Mike said.  Tie all 18 of them together.  Works well and looks good as a bonus.

[lineman]

I ahve the three prong on the linesida also on the load side and just cut the ground flush and not use it and have not had any issues the LE don't use a ground anyways but that is just how I do it

[Christmas.joe]

Can the following damage the LE.
Controller is constructed with 2 Power inputs with 3 prong polarized plugs.

Connected one 3 prong extension cord to LE and plugged the other end of the 3 prong extension cord into a 120 V wall outlet. (polarity correct)

Connected a second 3 prong extension cord to the second power lead on LE, then, because the ground (3rd) prong was missing on the other end of the extension cord, accidently plugged it into a separate 120 volt circuit wall outlet with the polarity reversed.

Is the LE robust enough to withstand this situation, or will there be some damage I need to track down?

The LE worked, but it took it some time before the channels started to blinky blink.
 
Everything tested out correctly when I run the built in test while it was in this power-up configuration.

It was an old extension cord and even though it was designed with 3 prongs, I don’t think the neutral side of the plug was the larger size; hence the ability to get the polarity wrong on one side of the power inputs.

I know, I know; I should not have done this, but I was not the one on the other end of the cord who plugged it in and I did not make sure the person plugging it in made sure the polarity was correct. 

 

[wbuehler]

It should not hurt the unit.

Bill

[Christmas.joe]

It should not hurt the unit.

Bill