turning 2 pronged wall outlet into a 3 pronged outlet?

Yes, usually. I have a 60 year old house and have converted most of the outlets from two to three prongs. The third prong is for a ground to your circuit panel. Depending on the age of the wiring in your house, converting it will vary. Typically in older homes the wiring is metal armored BX cable with two wires inside it (black-hot and white-neutral) with the metal casing acting as a ground. More modern versions (BX armored or the modern Romex type) will have 3 wires with the third being the uninsulated-ground wire.

To convert the outlet you will need a plug in type ground check tester (about $4) ( http://images1.hdpi.com/product_enlarged/GardenerB... ), a roll of green or uninsulated 12 gauge copper wire, a new prong outlet and tools like screwdrivers and a wire stripper, electric tape and mostly likely a work light with extension cord.

First find the circuit breaker for the outlet you are changing and turn off the power and check it with the tester. Remove the plate and then gently pull out the old outlet. Detach the old outlet from the wires and toss it. Take a look inside the outlet box in the wall for a third ground wire. It the box is metal you may not find one and the box itself is grounded. Cut about 6-8 inches of your new ground wire you bought and attach one end (strip off the insulation if necessary) to a metal connection in the box (usually a screw). Attach the other end to the green ground screw on your new outlet. Reattach the hot (black) and neutral (white) wires to your new outlet (either screws or push in holes). It may be necessary to re strip the ends on the wire. At this point I like to wrap electric tape around the whole circumference of the outlet to prevent potential shorts against the metal box. Gently push the outlet back in and turn the circuit back on. Test the outlet with the tester. If its fine, turn the circuit back off and reattach the screws and outlet plate then turn the circuit back on. One down, 20 to go!

Your local hardware store will have an adapter to covert a three prong cord to a two-pronged outlet.

Someone familiar with electricity can install a three-prong duplex outlet in place of the two-prong.

yes,,,it must be a very old outlet. but most elec lines were bx cable and the chageover is simple. just replace it with a 3 prong and the steel box willl act as the ground for the 3rd prong. White wire to the big slot side and the black wire to the small slot side.

lost here ..reading one Lengthy response .I get impression isn't in UK..

in Uk old 2 wire system had red and black wires on wall sockets . red=live and BLACK=neutral.

its a simple job to change the socket tp a 3 pin a as long a s You do not get live and neutral wrong. earth is the third prong (always upper one and larger)

is there not a good DIY friend or handy man you can ask? as its normally less than 20 Min's to replace one.unless You want 2 replace the whole socket and casing in which case it will take a bit longer .

You picked the WRONG best answer! There is no adapter or converter. A separate ground wire needs to be run from the receptacle to the fuse box or circuit breaker panel. That's the only lawful way. Your best answer went right around the grounding issue, and left you unprotected!