My housemate's desktop has a noisy power supply

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by vortalexfan

A little update on this issue, I think the issue with my housemate's computer power supply is getting worse because I was driving back from my parents house today and when I pulled into my neighborhood (which has overhead powerlines) and when I got around the first 90 degree turn in my neighborhood (its a horse shoe shaped neighborhood with no outlet at the end that I live on) I suddenly started hearing the same kind of interference that I would hear when my housemate has his computer on on my car radio, and I was really far away from my house (like a block and a half away) and also its to the point that no amount of trying to reorient the battery powered radios I have to try and cancel out the interference is working anymore.

And yes unfortunately none of the wiring in my house is grounded (they have grounded outlets but they don't have ground wires running to them at least according to my surge protectors which show the ground light being unlit which means they are not grounded) they have a "ground wire" running to the electrical panel (which is actually just them running a "ground wire" to one of the old lightning rod "ground stakes" next to the house, but other than that there really isn't any ground wires going to any of the outlets in the house.)

If the electrical service in your house is not properly grounded (or, worse, not grounded at all), it may well be in violation of the National Electrical Code. I am by no means certain, but I think the NEC does state that all houses built after a certain year must have 3-wire electrical service.

Just because you have 3-wire outlets in your house does not necessarily mean the AC wiring is grounded; in fact, from what you said in your post, there is no proper ground anywhere, except that "ground wire" you mention which runs to a ground stake near the house. This sounds to me like a very poor excuse for a "real" ground connection. In addition to this very likely being a violation of the National Electrical Code, it could very well be a fire hazard if anything shorts out anywhere in the home's electrical system. I would have this checked by an electrician and corrected as soon as possible. This could also explain why your housemate's computer is radiating noise everywhere through your home's electrical system, although if the power supply is that noisy, it is not normal and should be examined as well.