Having a consistent ground potential is a good thing. However this isn't the way to do it correctly. You could end up with a lot of problems depending on the equipment. At times you'll be correcting engineering mistakes perhaps, and at others you'll be causing problems. I'm with Speedskater here. Circuit ground? Safety ground? Earth ground? Virtual ground? on and on...
It looks stupid enough that I don't want it.
That word "ground" that causes the confusion. Jim Brown writes:
Loaded Words That Cause Misunderstandings One of the most overused and misunderstood words in electronics is "ground" (or "earth" in British English).
There are several important and common uses of the words. One meaning is an actual connection to mother earth. Some common
earth connections include the steel structure of a building, a buried conductive water pipe, a concrete
encased grounding electrode (called a Ufer), and, of course, one or more conductive rods driven into the earth. The
primary function of this earth connection is lightning protection.
A second common use of the word "ground" (or "earth" in British English) is a third conductor that
is part of the power system wiring that should never carry current (except in the case of a fault) but
connects the conductive enclosures of equipment to a common point within the power system.
This "green wire" or third pin in the outlet in North American power systems, is called the "equipment
ground" (or "protective earth" in British English). The green wire is required to be connected
to all exposed conductive parts of electrical equipment "that might be energized" in the event of
equipment failure. The purpose of this connection is to provide a sufficiently robust current path
that a fuse will blow or circuit breaker will trip in the event of equipment or wiring failure that
causes the chassis to be "hot," thus protecting people from electrical shock and preventing fires.
A third common use of the word "ground" (or "earth" in British English) is to describe "circuit common"
or "circuit reference" within equipment. Circuit common should nearly always be connected
to the power supply reference, and to the shielding enclosure of the equipment. If the source of
noise is within equipment, circuit common is reference for the noise voltage (and current), and it is
the point to which that noise current wants to return.
Ground Wiring Some hams (and audiophiles) like to think of the earth as if it were somehow a "sink" into which all
noise can be poured, never to bother us again. Indeed, you'll find lots of bad advice to solve RFI
problems with "a better ground." In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. An earth connection
is rarely part of a solution to RF or noise problems. Rather, we need a better understanding of
the four common meanings of “ground,” that “ground” is not a single point, and that connections
between them change current paths.
more at:
http://www.audiosystemsgroup.com/publish.htmhttp://www.audiosystemsgroup.com/RFI-Ham.pdf
