For 49 cents - can't go wrong but where ??

begbie

At www.audiorevolution.com , they recommend a 49 cent ground floater to kill ac hum. Worth a try but the local Home Depot (Canada) doesn't carry this 49 cent piece ?! Anyone ever try this and how well has it worked? Anywhere else I can find this piece?? Or am I just in the wrong department at Homedepot?



Here's the desciption from their site (under rewards section)



"Home depot brand Ground Floater-49 cents
AC ground hum is an evil **** that needs to be attacked with reckless abandon. Before you clip the third prong from the AC power plug on the offending component – try a 49 cent ground floater from Home Depot. Any good installer will tell you, they can be a life saver and a hum killer."

RuSsMaN

Cheater Plug, Rat shack has em'.

begbie

Thanks Russman ! I'll try my luck there !

pare

I just bought RM6800 and the subwoofer makes a very low hum. It hums just with the power chord connected.
I suspect it's from transformer. The sub plug is two pin and I have the 3 pin socket. would this cheater plug help and is it still available (replying to a 2002 thread).

McLoki

Nope, wont help you. Sorry. What the cheater plug does it remove the ground plug from a 3 prong wire and make it act like a 2 prong plug. (without cutting the end off the plug and just putting a 2 prong plug on there)

Since you are starting with a 2 prong plug, your problem lies elsewhere....

Good luck.

Michael

polrbehr

Don't cut off third prong... it's there for a reason. It grounds the external chassis of equipment so in the event the hot wire comes in contact with it the circuit breaker will (should) trip. Removing the ground prong or using a cheater will not prevent what is in all likelihood a 60 cycle A/C hum, nor will it prevent you from getting jolted should that situation occur. Michael (above) is correct. I would try a decent line conditioner or UPS, as most of them rectify A/C to D/C and back again.

unc2701

polrbehr wrote:

Don't cut off third prong... it's there for a reason. It grounds the external chassis of equipment so in the event the hot wire comes in contact with it the circuit breaker will (should) trip. Removing the ground prong or using a cheater will not prevent what is in all likelihood a 60 cycle A/C hum, nor will it prevent you from getting jolted should that situation occur. Michael (above) is correct. I would try a decent line conditioner or UPS, as most of them rectify A/C to D/C and back again.

Cheater plugs aren't terribly dangerous for amplifiers... and many amps have a ground lift switch that does the same thing. It's not the best solution, but it works. A better (and safe) fix would be to replace the outlet with a GFCI and only hook up the hot and neutral lines. This meets code and will effectively be the same as using the cheater plug.

polrbehr

If you're going to replace the outlet anyway without hooking up a ground wire, save yourself some money and just buy a duplex receptacle. Hooking up
a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter without a ground isn't going to accomplish much. I was addressing the (potential) danger of removing the ground prong in general, not specifcally for amplifiers, which I agree don't draw much current.

unc2701

polrbehr wrote:

If you're going to replace the outlet anyway without hooking up a ground wire, save yourself some money and just buy a duplex receptacle. Hooking up
a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter without a ground isn't going to accomplish much. I was addressing the (potential) danger of removing the ground prong in general, not specifcally for amplifiers, which I agree don't draw much current.

The potential danger of removing a ground plug can be avoided by using a ground fault receptacle as I described. Any voltage on the chassis would trip the outlet. This is also a way to add three prong outlets to older wiring without the ground. Anything downstream from the GFCI is protected.

polrbehr

I couldn't get a GFCI to trip without intentionally creating a short circuit, but it will, as you describe, protect whatever is plugged in to it whether the ground is connected or not, so you're suggestion is actually a great ($$$) alternative to a line conditioner or UPS for amp/equipment protection, as well
as being useful for older wiring. I would just add that you must connect any wires downstream to the "load" terminals on the GFCI, for anyone interested.