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Gthirteen's Rogue Tempest is HUMMING

Greetings AudiogoNers!!
It's been a while.

I am thoroughly enjoying a recently purchased Rogue Tempest integrated amp, despite UPS's best efforts to break it...
"Big Ups" to Mark at Rogue for his superior patience and kindness...

Problem is, the outlet in my stereo area is only a 2 pronger, so I have to use a cheater plug, additionally I'm using a BMI Eel. Only source is Rega Planet CD. SHort RCAs. After a couple of weeks, a loud hum began eminating from the chassis of the Tempest. It IS worse when the ceiling fan is turned on, and occasionally, when flicking the fan on and off, you can hear clicking coming through the speakers. What's wierd is that the amp was whisper quiet at first.
I initially bought a $6 Leviton outlet at Home Depot (3 prong) , but never put it in, because I doubted that there was a ground wire in the wall, however there are 2 grounded outlets in my apt, not sure if separate ground wires were run to them. What should I do, guys (and gal)?

Thanks as always, and hello to all my pals.
gthirteen
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
...you can unscrew your outlet from the wall and see if there is a metal box or green wire.
If you find either one of these, you can replace your outlet with 3-prong properly connecting signal, newtral and ground wires.
I'm not sure if it will eliminate hum.
I use an inexpancive Panamax 1500 power conditioner and I have an electric washer in the same circuit line.
Otherwise you shouldn't probably use that wall socket since it doesn't have a sufficient power to drive your amp.
mark_skjerve
8 posts
 
Just a quick thought... I had a Rotel poweramp hum/buzz pretty bad, but it only did it on occasion. It ended up being a hallogen lamp in another room. If I turned off the lamp, hum went away. You might try unplugging and/or turning off everything in your apt and see if the hum goes away. If it does, plug things in one at a time until you find the offending AC powered device.

Just a thought anyway...
Mark
castlesteve
14 posts
 
You need to install a power conditioner to eliminate the hum. You can also run a new circuit to fix the problem. Having a metal outlet box does not necessarily mean that it is grounded. I am an electrician and have my own company. You can get hold of any parts you need at home depot.Good luck.
chelillingworth
309 posts
 
A power conditioner like the inexpensive monsterpower 1000 will help. Halogens and dimmers possibly the fan control can all add to the problem. I would definately give Mark O'Brien over at Rogue a call he will be the more helpful than any of us at solving your problem. I would think that running a tube amp ungrounded is far from the best idea.
south43
386 posts
 
If I'm not mistaken the cheater plug should have a metal tap on it. Try to connect this to the wall plate screw. Even if you got a conditioner most will still have a three prong plug and if your wall outlet is only two you will need the cheater anyway. It might save a little time and money with the above fix until you decide to switch out the entire plug. I hope this helps.
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