[ddots-l] Re: getting shocked by equipment in home studio, any suggest ions?

  • From: "D!J!X!" <megamansuperior@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sun, 20 Sep 2009 03:32:20 -0400

You are right, sorry; was half asleep... 

D!J!X!

-----Original Message-----
From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Dave Carlson
Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2009 4:33 PM
To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ddots-l] Re: getting shocked by equipment in home studio, any
suggest ions?

Not to get too technical, but when you are saying "wats" you should be
saying "Volts".

Dave

----- Original Message -----
From: "D!J!X!" <megamansuperior@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2009 12:07
Subject: [ddots-l] Re: getting shocked by equipment in home studio, any
suggest ions?


That's a bad grounding issue, somewhere along the line the cables for ground
are not making contact, or worst, they are making contact with another
grounding system which is either at a different level in wats or that is
canceling out your current ground; this is common in apartment complexes or
duplexes, where the circuits are built together or are added/modified at
various times by different people who in many occasions aren't aware of the
side effects; I had a similar problem in this house (a duplex that I'm
renting) and the electrician told me this was the problem. They eventually
had to replace the breakers box and that's when it was also fixed, because I
explained the problem to the electrician doing the replacing and he figured
out where the problem was, I guess it was the person who installed the
central AC unit who did a cheap work on grounding... To echo what everyone
else has said, get it checked out by a certified electrician, this guy also
told me that had the wats been higher or had I touched the 2 wrong things at
the same time that would add up to a significant amount of wats, I'd be
gone! In the mean time, try where shoes and see if that changes anything,
but if it does that doesn't mean you shouldn't get it looked at, as this not
only harms you, it also messes up your equipment... I've had many people
bring their computers to for repairs and when I tell them that it's a power
issue and that their PSU is dead or worst, their entire system is fried,
they say "but I have a top of the line surge protector/ups" or  "we haven't
had any power spikes or anything like that" but if you look at it their bad
grounding caused the issue by not protecting the system or adding extra
current somewhere along the line...

HTH, D!J!X!

-----Original Message-----
From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Cameron
Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2009 1:31 PM
To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ddots-l] Re: getting shocked by equipment in home studio, any
suggest ions?

Hi.  No no no, it's not just when you touch a mic.  it's when you touch
anything metal connected to the power conditioner, like the control surface,
computer, audio interface, and the conditioner itself.

as soon as the mic is unplugged, everything is back to normal.

Cameron.





-----Original Message-----
From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of D!J!X!
Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2009 2:02 PM
To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ddots-l] Re: getting shocked by equipment in home studio, any
suggest ions?

Interesting, and you get shocked everytime you touch a mic plugged into the
mixer??? How about when you touch the mixer itself?

D!J!X!


-----Original Message-----
From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Cameron
Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2009 12:45 PM
To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ddots-l] Re: getting shocked by equipment in home studio, any
suggest ions?

carpet.





-----Original Message-----
From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of D!J!X!
Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2009 1:36 PM
To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ddots-l] Re: getting shocked by equipment in home studio, any
suggest ions?

Put on shoes and try it, or wait, are you on carpet?

D!J!X!


-----Original Message-----
From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Cameron
Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2009 12:32 PM
To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ddots-l] Re: getting shocked by equipment in home studio, any
suggest ions?

Hi.  not wearing shoes, my desk is not metal, and I am not touching the mics
when I get shocked.  although, touching the mics will shcok me too if I do.

they are all 3 prong outlets.

Cameron.





-----Original Message-----
From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of albertm13@xxxxxxxx
Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2009 9:57 AM
To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ddots-l] Re: getting shocked by equipment in home studio, any
suggest ions?

Hi,

If you have three pronged outlets you could possibly start by going to a
hardware store and buying an outlet tester.  Sorry, I couldn't find one at
homedepot.com.  You can read about them at
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Receptacle_tester and
www.acmehowto.com/howto/homemaintenance/electrical/outlettest.php
Make sure you get one that can be plugged into the outlet and not just put
near the outlet.  You would need sighted help because they only have lights.
They are not expenssive.

If you have two pronged outlets then it's probably a bad piece of equipment
on your end but turning the plugs around might help.  I don't know of an
easy way for you to test for the problem without a voltmeter.

If the problem isn't your house wiring then you need someone who could
figure out what piece of your equipment is causing this problem.  Old pieces
of equipment like a tube amps are notorious for causing this problem.

Whenever you get shocked, electricity flows through you which means it has
to go in one part of you and out another.  Birds on power lines don't get
killed because they are only touching one thing.  You are touching your mics
but you must be touching something else too.  That's why someone else
recommended a rubber mat.  Using a rubber mat is only hiding the problem but
the problem is still there.  Are you wearing shoes?  Perhaps your desk is
metal and it is touching something.

Albert

--- Cameron wrote ---
Hi all.  I have a problem, hopefully someone can give me some suggestions or
shed some light on why this is happening.

The apartment complex I'm living in now was built in the early sixties I
believe.  The outlets are not very good, worn out, you can't plug anything
into the top of any of them because it just falls out.  You can only plug
things into the bottom plug.

Anyways, when I was using my FW1884, I didn't notice any issues with
anything except for noise because I am on a dirty circuit/loop being shared
by all sorts of appliances and god knows what else.

My current setup is now my ADK rack mount machine, Motu896 MKIII firewire
interface, and BCF2000 control surface, which is all plugged into a power
conditioner.

I started doing some tracking with my new gear for a new job this week and
whenever I used a mic that required phantom power, as soon as the mic was
plugged into the interface, I would get shocked if I touched anything metal
that was plugged into the conditioner, including the mic itself computer,
control surface, interface, etc, .  It's not enough to cause damage, but it
is unplesent and is enough of a jolt to make you quickly stop touching
whatever control you're touching.

This happens even when the phantom power is switched off for every channel
on the interface.  I found out this afternoon that it also happens with
dynamic mics too.

As soon as all mics are unplugged, everything is fine.

My power conditioner doesn't appear to have a ground lift switch.  Is this
the issue?  Is there anything I can do to remedy this?  I've got 5 months of
writing and recording ahead and I really don't want to be freaking shocked
every time I touch my gear!

I'm going to make this issue known to the apartment manager on Monday but I
really doubt they will understand what I'm talking about, or give a damn for
that matter.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Cameron.

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