Air Line Arm Owners- Compressor Electrical Noise


As mentioned in another thread, I finally got the Air Line arm installed on the XL table, on the finite stand, etc. I installed the arm compressor in a separate 'room' (in reality a large walk in closet off the listening room) and powered the compressor from a 'regular' circuit outlet- the system is otherwise hooked up to its own dedicated lines, per standards discussed many times here.
I have been experiencing a periodic electrical 'zap' (sounds like a big ol' scratch on the record) through the system when the gain is up. Since the room lights dimmed when the compressor kicked on, I figured- why fool with the standard circuit to feed the compressor? I had the electrician come back and set up a separate line just for the compressor- having nothing to do with the system wiring or subpanel. (He had already pulled extra wire through the conduit up into the room, so it was no big deal to do this- he installed a high quality receptacle to this extra line, and terminated it at a different subpanel than that which runs the audio system).

Anyway, still that nasty zap. Never out of options, I decided to plug the compressor into a 240v-120v stepdown transformer I use to power the HT system in the same room. (The HT system is completely separate from the analog hi-fi system we are concerned with here).
So far, so good- the compressor kicks on, but no zap.

Still monitoring the situation- wondering whether other Air Line owners have experienced similar problems (which may be reassuring if this is the cause and I licked it) or I am still chasing electrical gremlins. TIA.
128x128whart
What is the air line made of? Could be building up a static charge and discharging at the TT. Air moving through some types of plastic lines can cause static electricity. What is the humidity in the room now compared to what it was with the zapping going on? Just A thought.....
Hi Whart,
I would contact your dealer first, and then if necessary contact Scot Markwell at themusic.com in California. It may be a grounding issue rather than power. The lines between the compressor unit and turntable are purposely quite long to enable you to find a suitable location for the compressor unit for quiet operation, although you didn't mention any issue with that.
Brian
Yep, I'll bug Scot, who has been responsive to every request as has my new dealer, Bill Parrish. I can barely hear the compressor kick on, mechanically, when the door to the room/closet it is installed in is closed. Putting it further away would start to get really complicated, so the mechanical noise issue is OK. It is really the electrical 'zap' noise that's driven me to audio nirvosa.Thanks, Brian.
Jea- the tubing is as supplied with the arm- it is some synthetic, but it seems to have a reinforced inner lining, and is quite thin, but substantial. There is occasionally a static build up at the TT, I thought, because of the records, not because of the arm. Certainly worth checking, though, thanks. You have been a real help to me on debugging this system.
Well, here's the latest, since it's a holiday weekend and I wasn't going to reach anybody by phone anyway- I rearranged the electronics so that everything is plugged into a Shunyata Hydra, and still have the compressor plugged into my 240v step-down transformer. No more zapping noises! I thought I heard some mild zapping before I took the Shunyata step (the Lamm line stage and TT power supply were originally plugged straight into the wall), but I know that hooking up the compressor to the step-down transformer diminished their severity. It seems like getting everything run thru the Hydras made the additional difference- although the cynics among you may say that, by simply unplugging and replugging everything in, perhaps I did something else!
Dunno, but, right now, I'm making music, not zaps and it doesn't get better than that. (Famous last words, of course).
Thanks for the input, everybody. I'll scream if it starts reoccurring. :)
Hi Whart
I am taking delivery of my Airline this coming Friday. I will let you know if I get any strange noises. Did you do the set up of the arm yourself?