May 19, 2004 07:28 am are american plug not earthed already then? all ours are...
you guys use them 2 pin ones dontcha?
Laptop grounding question....
Posted on May 19, 2004 06:02 am
riffgod
www.charlienaebeck.com
Member Since: Apr 10, 2004
Just out of curiousity has anyone ever experienced a very odd static/hum sound through their recording console on a laptop that uses a power cord. I am thinking it is because the outlet that I am using is not grounded at the moment (I of course unplug everything from the wall when not in use til I can put a grounded box in there), or it could be one of the power strips, or the laptop power cord its self, but I tried it with just the laptop cord plugged into a regular outlet and it worked fine with no noise. I am leaning towards the power strip or particular outlet that I have my power strip plugged into. Anyone ever have anything like this happen??
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May 19, 2004 07:28 am are american plug not earthed already then? all ours are...
you guys use them 2 pin ones dontcha?
May 19, 2004 12:05 pm yeah, most houses in the US are already grounded with the 3 prong plugs, but in my case the particular outlet I am plugged into needs an adaptor and is a very poor outlet to begin with. (It is in an older house). I have an outlet across the room that I can run an extension cord to which is already grounded, but just need to purchase or procure an extension cord and good surge protector for it. :)
So, I do believe that the 2 prong outlet is the case eh?
May 19, 2004 12:17 pm *sings* "Shoot the outlet, shoot the outlet" lol :D
May 19, 2004 02:09 pm That, or if it's one of those inline transformers... Those suckers can be pretty noisy...
W.
May 19, 2004 11:08 pm Yup, sounds like your floating a ground. I worked for the telephone company when I first got out of college for awhile. Ran around with my head stuck in a lot of power. Our power infrastructure is not all that great. Ya, it's pretty much all grounded out there and fairly safe, but not at all reliable for the sound equipment we play with. I seriously recomend using Furmans (or equilivilant) for audio gear if not isolation transformers. Getting one ground reference for all of your equipment will do you a world of good.
May 19, 2004 11:56 pm fyi: if there wasn't ground then 'the circuit' wouldn't be complete between your house and whoever provides you electricity. the right slot is Hot and the left hole in the outlet is the return which is connected to the earthed ground. I know, it may be a hard concept to swallow if you aren't electronically inclined but the only reason the ground plug (pin 3 on a US outlet) exists is for safety... for those things with a metal chassis. it provides a better path for electricity to ground instead of our bodies when we touch a metal chassis that happens to be shorted to an electrical path. of course if there was a short to the chassis it would draw so much current that any circuit breaker inline would trip (or fuse to be blown), thus further protecting us.
i'm not saying that your electrical path is clean or that i know how to fix it, but pin 2 and 3 are connected to the same earthed ground. if you have any rack gear that allows you to "lift ground" (usually a button on back of unit) try it and see if it fixes your problem.
May 20, 2004 12:00 am oh yeah... i had ran into the same problem. it turns out that one of my crt's (i now have lcd screens) where about to go and was causing the hum/noise. good luck on troubleshooting the problem.
May 21, 2004 08:01 am Thanks for the advice guys, yeah I tried plugging into the other outlet across the room which is a 3 prong outlet and it seemed to be a temporary fix, but it is still coming and going kinda. Would you guys reccomend a good power conditioner in the loop? I have been looking for a good excuse to pick one up for a while anyhow. heheh I am going to try it without some of the gear plugged in in different configurations and see if the good old process of elimination works also or if its still something with the outlets in the house one way or another. I think personally I vouch for the power conditioner. ;)
May 21, 2004 08:49 am try wrapping the cord between the adapter and the pc with some tinfoil
May 21, 2004 09:09 am And be sure to wear the obligatory tin foil hat, too! It has to be one of those pointy, tin-man looking hats too...not one of those tin ball caps or sailor's hats. :D
I think that the biggest suspect would be the instrument cable, followed by the input jacks since you say that it only happens when something is plugged into the amp. I would try different cables, different instruments, and different locations around the house to try to isolate the problem.
Good luck!
May 21, 2004 09:38 am I have cured many a hum by plugging all equipment into the same power strip, preferably a conditioner. Obviously power grounding is not the only source of stray noise however.
May 21, 2004 10:35 am Oops, I just realized I posted my last message in the wrong thread...I thought this was the thread with the Princeton 65 with the hum problem. sorry bout that .
May 21, 2004 01:05 pm try using balanced cables where possible too.
May 21, 2004 01:15 pm cool, thanks for the suggestions guys. I think I will look into the Power Conditioner deal. I know that the best shot would be plugging the stuff directly into the conditioner, but have you guys ever had much trouble with a power strip or two going out of a conditioner?
May 21, 2004 01:22 pm No, as long as you don't max out the load. Read your max's on your conditioner, and all the gear you have plugged in (add about 5W for each unit for saftey), and if the number is higher than the max for the conditioner, don't do it!
W.
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