[FullRangeMan]

Hi,
Almost my audio equips have a 3 pin power cables.  But all my mainswall outlets do not have any ground pin or wire ground.
|Is ther any problem/danger running this way ??

I have a Sony SCD-1 which power cable is a 2,5mm+2,5mm Hybrid Copper/Silver speaker cable(positive and negative poles only) isolated in two tubes jackets, but it do not have a ground wire or pin.
Is there any problem here??
I must put a third pin and wire to grounded in something for this Sony player??
Please advice,  Gustavo

[satfrat]

I had this same problem and I ended up intalling an audiophile grade duplex outlet and ran a green ground wire to a copper water pipe in my cellar. This was the only way I could connect a balanced power conditioner into my system and have it worked right. It's actually the single biggest thing I did that lowered the ground noise to the point that it opened my ears to high end audio. While it might not be the proper way to ground a system, it sure did work for me. 
 
Cheers,
Robin

[geezer]

There are increasing numbers of electric/electronic devices that have three-prong plugs. I've had to face this problem many times, and in the last few years what I've done is to replace a dozen or so two-prong outlets with the three-prong type.

The replacements cost only a few dollars, and it takes only a few minutes to install them. I have the sense that you're not familiar with these matters, but if you're handy you'll find all the information you need to do the job yourself in one of the books on electrical work that you find at Home Depot or Lowes. But if you're not confident about your ability to do it safely, by all means have an electrician do it.

And BE SURE TO SWITCH OFF THE POWER TO THE OUTLET AT THE BREAKER BOX FIRST!!!

[FullRangeMan]

I had this same problem and I ended up intalling an audiophile grade duplex outlet and ran a green ground wire to a copper water pipe in my cellar. This was the only way I could connect a balanced power conditioner into my system and have it worked right. It's actually the single biggest thing I did that lowered the ground noise to the point that it opened my ears to high end audio. While it might not be the proper way to ground a system, it sure did work for me. 
 
Cheers,
Robin

Hi Robin,
Some years ago I have a small capacitor for some time as a try of splay energy, but I removed after comproved I have no sound improvment.
A metal water bottle seems a nice idea I was not know.

[FullRangeMan]

There are increasing numbers of electric/electronic devices that have three-prong plugs. I've had to face this problem many times, and in the last few years what I've done is to replace a dozen or so two-prong outlets with the three-prong type.

The replacements cost only a few dollars, and it takes only a few minutes to install them. I have the sense that you're not familiar with these matters, but if you're handy you'll find all the information you need to do the job yourself in one of the books on electrical work that you find at Home Depot or Lowes. But if you're not confident about your ability to do it safely, by all means have an electrician do it.

And BE SURE TO SWITCH OFF THE POWER TO THE OUTLET AT THE BREAKER BOX FIRST!!!

Hi Geezer,
I afraid I do not express me well again, my wall outlets have the 3th pin hole/space and some have the inside plug, but it is link to none.
In the electrical plumbing at my building circulating some voltage due some bare wire, so I do not want to connect the audio ground on these electric pipes.
  Just now I have a new idea, I can connect the ground pin of the Sony player to a Aluminiun frame of a window near, which is obviously linked to the structure of the building.     I will try it tomorrow and will report.
Thanks for reply.

[sts9fan]

So your saying the earth ground is not connectedtk anything?

[rollo]

Hi Geezer,
I afraid I do not express me well again, my wall outlets have the 3th pin hole/space and some have the inside plug, but it is link to none.
In the electrical plumbing at my building circulating some voltage due some bare wire, so I do not want to connect the audio ground on these electric pipes.
  Just now I have a new idea, I can connect the ground pin of the Sony player to a Aluminiun frame of a window near, which is obviously linked to the structure of the building.     I will try it tomorrow and will report.
Thanks for reply.

 The Aluminum window IS NOT grounded to the stucture. Is not the outlet box itself grounde ? If so connect the ground wire to the screw of the outlet plate. If not hire an electrician it appears your building may have UNSAFE electric servive. Call your landlord as well.


charles

[Speedskater]

FullRangeMan I'm not sure what electrical power wiring system is used in Brazil.  In the US and CAN a special wall receptacle is available called a GFCI that is permitted to add a 3 pin outlet to a 2 wire system. But in any case the ground wire should follow the same path as the Hot & Neutral wires back to the point that they connect to Mother Earth. The more different the path, the more likely to pick up noise and the less safe the system will be.

[satfrat]

Hi Robin,
Some years ago I have a small capacitor for some time as a try of splay energy, but I removed after comproved I have no sound improvment.
A metal water bottle seems a nice idea I was not know.

Gee, I didn't realize you were from Brazil.    My advise was done on a US home with a cellar and to copper water pipes  that go to an underground well along with the home that has been properly grounded. My way is not up to code but it does work and following code isn't nearly as strict here in Vermont as it's followed elsewhere. The smart thing to do is at least talk to a electrician and get an idea as to what you should do. At the very least you'll have the proper advise to think about. If your power stucture is anything like ours here in the US, you really should have a proper ground wire for your system tho, that's my feelings anyways. Good luck. 
 
Cheers,
Robin

[gerald porzio]

Ignoring elec. code can be costly when it comes to fires. It allows the insur. co. to avoid paying the claim. If they did this to people in hurricane Katrina, they'll do it to audiophiles in a heartbeat.

[FullRangeMan]

So your saying the earth ground is not connectedtk anything?

Hi STS9FAN,
Yes, I think it is true.   

[FullRangeMan]

The Aluminum window IS NOT grounded to the stucture. Is not the outlet box itself grounde ? If so connect the ground wire to the screw of the outlet plate. If not hire an electrician it appears your building may have UNSAFE electric servive. Call your landlord as well.
charles

Hi Rollo,
The Aluminium window is connected to the building bricks, maybe this is a bit better than what I have today.
For sure I do not know the outlet box/tubes are grounded to the land. If they ground the electrical tubes to the soil, it is a rare well done sercice.
Even IF the wall outlet is grounded I fear to trust in others people work in electrical subjets, as I love my SCD-1.
As here is a humid tropical wether a good copper bar burried in the land  have a good ground just for a year, no more than this and my building have 16 years old.

[geezer]

I strongly urge that you follow Satfrat's advice, and talk to an electrician. Some of us are probably confusing the issue because we don't know your specific situation.

Also, I doubt your aluminum windows are grounded, and I wouldn't recommend using one as a ground even if they are.

[FullRangeMan]

FullRangeMan I'm not sure what electrical power wiring system is used in Brazil.  In the US and CAN a special wall receptacle is available called a GFCI that is permitted to add a 3 pin outlet to a 2 wire system. But in any case the ground wire should follow the same path as the Hot & Neutral wires back to the point that they connect to Mother Earth. The more different the path, the more likely to pick up noise and the less safe the system will be.

HI Speedskater,
Here in Brazil there is 4 Tensions avaliable to the general public: 127V monophase, 220V mono phase, 220V bi-phase and 360V tri-phase. I use 220V bi-phase (two hots phases of 115V to 118V to make 220V, I note always there is a loss of some Volts in my condo, I suppose this is normal).
IF these loss of some Volts is abnormal please fell free to say!!
Now, the kind of electrical connections I can not say for sure, by looking the circuit braker box I suspect in my apto was made a kind of parallel circuit.
The breaker swiths are five:
20 Amps
30 Amps (electric shower, there is no boiler in Brazil)
15 Amps
15 Amps
15 Amps

[FullRangeMan]

I strongly urge that you follow Satfrat's advice, and talk to an electrician. Some of us are probably confusing the issue because we don't know your specific situation.

Also, I doubt your aluminum windows are grounded, and I wouldn't recommend using one as a ground even if they are.

Hi Geezer  and  SatFrat
I appreciate yours concerns with my system security, Thanks.
Iam fear to use collective grounds as my building have 16 aptos, all have electric shower(5 to 7KW each) and hot/cold air conditioning
(for summer/winter).
In the electric affairs of my beloved audio system I prefer to rely only on my service, an electrician will no made a good ground for me
on the 3th floor.
I think the best option is a groud device, as I see in StereoReview magazine in the late 1990years, it was a blackbox with some coal
and electric oils inside, on that time I think it was a device that worked like a capacitor,however I maybe wrong on how it real works.
any one know anything about this ground equipment??

[Dan Banquer]

Satfrat is right; call the electrician. By not having your equipment grounded you have a safety hazard and you could well have a shocking experience.
If the ground is wired correctly by the electrician all should be well, and what goes on in the rest of the apartments should not matter.
Regards;
    Dan Banquer

[geezer]

HI Speedskater,
Here in Brazil there is 4 Tensions avaliable to the general public: 127V monophase, 220V mono phase, 220V bi-phase and 360V tri-phase. I use 220V bi-phase (two hots phases of 115V to 118V to make 220V, I note always there is a loss of some Volts in my condo, I suppose this is normal).
IF these loss of some Volts is abnormal please fell free to say!!
Now, the kind of electrical connections I can not say for sure, by looking the circuit braker box I suspect in my apto was made a kind of parallel circuit.
The breaker swiths are five:
20 Amps
30 Amps (electric shower, there is no boiler in Brazil)
15 Amps
15 Amps
15 Amps

The electrical practices in Brazil are very different from anything I'm familiar with. Without knowing much more than I do about them, any advice I gave you would be no better than a guess, and might be dangerous. Sorry.

[FullRangeMan]

The electrical practices in Brazil are very different from anything I'm familiar with. Without knowing much more than I do about them, any advice I gave you would be no better than a guess, and might be dangerous. Sorry.

You help alot, Many thanks boys for yours advices.

[rollo]

Acoustic Revive offers a grounding device. However my advice as an Architect is to have an electrician check the bldg. service to determine the grounding of the bldg. If there is no third ground wire usually the ground is through the neutral leg. If the outlet box is connected to ground then you could connect the ground pin through a cheater plug with attached ground wire to the screw of the receptacable cover plate. 
   This is NOT a matter of improving your system but a SAFETY check for the building itself. Once regrounded by a electrician to code then you can playaround with such devices.
   My bet is that in the humid enviorment you live in has affected the Buildings grounding system. Good luck.


charles

[FullRangeMan]

Acoustic Revive offers a grounding device. However my advice as an Architect is to have an electrician check the bldg. service to determine the grounding of the bldg. If there is no third ground wire usually the ground is through the neutral leg. If the outlet box is connected to ground then you could connect the ground pin through a cheater plug with attached ground wire to the screw of the receptacable cover plate. 
   This is NOT a matter of improving your system but a SAFETY check for the building itself. Once regrounded by a electrician to code then you can playaround with such devices.
   My bet is that in the humid enviorment you live in has affected the Buildings grounding system. Good luck.
charles

Thanks Rollo for this Acoustic Revive info,
The complete link is:   http://www.acoustic-revive.com/english/rgc24/rgc24_01.html

This AcousticsRevive words below, say precisely why Iam fear to use collective ground in a 16 years old building:
As for audio product, it is an ideal to get high quality grounding from the earth.
A lot people have trouble getting grounding done, because of the environment where they live.Even grounding has been done, it is difficult to get good result because of low ground resistance.This could lead to countercurrent of noise and radio single on to the sound.Also, if there is an mistake in how dropping the ground from the equipment, there is a chance of ground loop and ham noise getting on to the audio signal.
RGC-24 fixes chassis electrical current potential and electric field outbreak by virtual ground environment.

Based on this device, now I can made my own grounding apparatus.
Thanks to everyone for your post,   Gustavo