dedicated curcuit question????

Glen, could you elaborate on some of the real experiences you've encountered or heard from non-grounded environments?

I shut off all components if I'm not in the house and when I go to bed.

If I hear a storm is coming or go on vacation, I unplug all equipment.

What are some of the possible situations I could encounter with my non-grounded application? And what is the possibility of such events occurring?

I do have a whole house surge protector installed by the electric co.. Also, most outlets are non-grounded anyway since the house was built 42 years ago.

Also, my Sony SCD-1 SACD/cd player came with a cheater plug. If things are so scary, why would they provide that as well as plenty of mfg'ers supply permanent 2 pronged power cords?

I'm asking because perhaps I really don't understand the risks I may be taking.

Thanks much,

-John

I guess the most obvious scenario would be a lead wire coming lose in one of your components and touching the casing or anything bonded to the casing. The odds of this happening are probably pretty slim, but if it happened while your ground was lifted you could get a severe shock when touching the equipment. With the ground attached your breaker would trip instantaneously and would not reset.

As far as real life experiences go. I've been an electrician all my life. I've seen lots of burned up stuff. (As in whole buildings /houses etc.)

I myself have been injured by electricity on several occasions. Therefore I respect it. I don't toy around with it.

In the old days people didn't realize how important and effective grounding was. Today they do. That's why everything associated with electricity is usually grounded.

When appliances have a two-prong cord cap and a UL listing that usually means the product is double insulated and will not transmit voltage to the outer casing should something become defective inside the product?

As far as the two-prong cheater plug. I have no idea why manufacturers supply it. Sounds like a law suite waiting to happen.

I know all my gear warns against disconnecting the ground and voids the warranty should you choose to.

I acknowledge lifting the ground to be a quick fix for ground loops, amp hum and a few other problems, but personally I don't agree with this solution. In the trade we call it a band-aid. It does not solve the real problem.

I basically agree with everything you've said so far on the subject except the grounding comments.

I run six dedicated circuits with dedicated neutrals one isolated ground and a dirty ground to my gear. I connect one ground to an I.G recptacle the other to the box(If metal) I never compromise the ground when doing electrical work.
What I end up with is very clean power and no noise. My noise floor dropped so low I sold both my power conditioners.

I hope this helps. It seems to me you are asking some valid questions politely so I don't mind addressing them. Even though it is my day off :^)

Thanks, Glen. Much appreciate your answers to my questions especially on your day off. :)

In the future, I think I will refrain from mentioning lifting the ground.

And, yes, there certainly is a risk anytime one dabbles with electricity.

It scared the cheese out of me when I moved a couple of breakers around on my service panel from one phase to the other.

BTW, Have you ever thought or tried the balanced power (230 volt) route with your amp?

There is no issue with using either side of your panel or should I say both sides. As long as you bring in a separate neutral (white wire) with each hot. DO NOT BALANCE TWO HOTS ON ONE NEUTRAL IF BOTH HOTS ARE CONNECTED TO THE SAME BUSS IN YOUR PANEL. Did you notice I didn't say same phase?

A residential service is Single phase. Both 120volt lines in your panel are derived from a single transformer provided by your power company. (Thus single phase) There is no such thing as A-phase and B-phase in a residential panel. unless of course the house is huge and has a three phase service coming in. This would only apply to around 5% of the population.

If you are balancing two hots on one neutral they must be on opposing buses in your panel. Otherwise you could very easily overload the neutral and burn it up. This will cause an electrical fire in your walls long before you trip a breaker. This is not a grounding issue.

Anyway I hope I helped a little on this thread.