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

  • From: "George Bell" <george@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 02:10:42 +0100

Hi Cameron,
 
I don't know anything about electrical regulations in America (which
is where I assume you are based), but here in the U.K. we have very
strict rules, especially with rented property.
 
Here, part of the leasing agreement between landlord and tenant
includes a mandatory electrical safety certificate, which is renewable
after a given period of time.
 
Given the culture in America for suing anyone who as much as looks
sideways at you with the wrong expression on his or her face, I'd be
very inclined to request an electrical safety check.  It is clear that
the owner of the property should be replacing these bad outlets, if
only because they could be a fire risk.
 
Sorry, but where mains electricity is concerned, nobody can afford to
take chances.  It can be a killer, even at 110 Volts AC, and can
additionally carry a charge of manslaughter on the grounds of
negligence.
 
And I make no apologies if I sound alarmist!
 
Get it checked out by a qualified electrician!
 
George.

  _____  

From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Cameron
Sent: 19 September 2009 00:13
To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ddots-l] getting shocked by equipment in home studio, any
suggestions?



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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