[Mass. Wine Guy]

I have an annoying problem with my Arte Forma amp. Maybe it's because there is more static electricity in the winter, but many times when I walk the eight feet from my sofa to my amp to adjust it, there's a flash of static and the amp turns off. Can I ground it somehow? Also, the amp sporadically seems to turn off by itself even if no one has touched it. Do I have a poltergeist in the house?

Thanks.

[WGH]

The amp is already grounded, that is why you get a spark.
You need to ground yourself before touching anything.

Touching a lamp with a metal base or your cats nose (once) should get the job done.

[Sam-fi]

Or a door knob or metal car or... you get the point.

If it is not that then this sounds spooky.

[lonewolfny42]

Do I have a poltergeist in the house?

Maybe....your in Massachusetts.....

Try this.....

Salt is thought to be effective at banishing evil spirits ...sprinkling salt around the area affected by Poltergeist activity is said to banish the Poltergeist and other evil spirits.

Also....The burning of 'Sage' a small evergreen shrub with grayish leaves and purplish flowers is also commonly thought to be effective at removing evil spirits.

Good luck....    


(it's just static electricity....just touch something else first.... )

[WGH]

I have heard that the clothes you wear make a difference, time to ditch the polyester leisure suit.
Try listening in the nude and see if it makes any difference - I'm serious, really.

[timind]

Simple and cheap solution is to wipe the amp with a dryer sheet when dusting. Once a week works for me.
Not sure about the amp turning itself off but this could also help that problem.

[JLM]

I'm having apparent grounding issues too since adding an Eastern Electric DAC a few weeks ago (touching the CD transport or DAC causes a 1 second muting, doesn't happen if I touch them again within a minute or so).  I'd like to blame it on 30% relative humidity in the house, but have only had such a problem sporadically in 40 years of audio.

[mcgsxr]

My old DIY Flexy style rack used to be perfect for this issue - I would touch one of the metal legs of the rack prior to touching any of the gear.

It was more of an issue in my townhouse 5 years ago, with a finished basement with carpet.  My current cave is unfinished, though there are sections of carpet, and I generally don't touch the gear anyway, since it is all remote controlled via PC, other than turning the amp on or off, and in this space there are not frequent shocks.

[HAL]

Another simple way to ground yourself before touching the audio system is to add a small brass knob with a series 10meg Ohm resistor to ground.  Just touch the knob before touching the rest of the system.   

It usually does not get dry enough here for the static buildup to be a problem, but it is this year. 

[richidoo]

The temporary muting is caused by the voltage spike from your static discharge hitting various ICs in the circuit, especially microprocessors, but any IC can be affected. If the chassis was not earthed (plugged in) it might damage those ICs. Some people think repeated shocks do damage the microcircuits over time. Tube circuits aren't bothered by static, although you might hear the snap amplified depending on the circuit. There are grounding techniques to protect parts from static shock.

The faceplate screw on every electrical outlet is a handy earth. You can wire a metal object to earth and place it near the stereo controls to make discharging easy and habitual. If you touch something that is earthed you will be fully discharged. If you touch something metal but not earthed like a doorknob, you may still be carrying a charge which will still shock when you touch a real earth.

Earth means connected to mother Earth with an electrical conductor. Earth's iron core has infinite ability to absorb charge so it is the ultimate ground.