CAN AN UNGROUNDED SERVICE CAUSE UNWANTED AMP NOISE

[jackson111]

Hey guys has anyone else ran into this problem? i have been struggling to eliminate hum and hiss through my amps. i grounded on receptacle to my water pipe where it enters the house and my amps are almost dead silent now. and i dont get feedback with a single coil pickup anymore. i opened up my panel and it looks like all i have on my ground/nuetral buss is the nuetral from my line feed. i did find a small (maybe 8 gauge wire that is connected to a waterpipe in my basement, but the ground point for that wire is a good 30 to 40 feet after the water pipe leaves the ground? i am looking at driving a couple ground bars outside and running a 4 gauge bare wire to my ground/nuetral buss to ensure i have a good ground. oh yeah btw tested my receptacles and they all read ungrounded, even thought the have a ground wire.

 

[JOLLY]

Re: CAN AN UNGROUNDED SERVICE CAUSE UNWANTED AMP NOISE

Your power is not grounded?

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: CAN AN UNGROUNDED SERVICE CAUSE UNWANTED AMP NOISE

Next time you take a shower, you'll be the ground! LOL

 

[Lazarus1140]

Re: CAN AN UNGROUNDED SERVICE CAUSE UNWANTED AMP NOISE

Is your wiring copper?

 

[jackson111]

Re: CAN AN UNGROUNDED SERVICE CAUSE UNWANTED AMP NOISE

doesn't look like I have a system ground. I figured back in the mid 70's it must have been acceptable to use a water pipe for a ground since all the pipes were copper, only problem is during renovations the copper pipe can be cut and spliced with pvc which breaks the ground. since I bought the house just a few years ago I have no idea if this was the case. I have a feeling it is though.
as far as my wiring yes all solid copper. I have metal receptacle boxes, which will help with the ground.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: CAN AN UNGROUNDED SERVICE CAUSE UNWANTED AMP NOISE

Hire an electrician.

Seriously.

Bill

 

[kramersteen]

Re: CAN AN UNGROUNDED SERVICE CAUSE UNWANTED AMP NOISE

I like where this is going,

 

[jackson111]

Re: CAN AN UNGROUNDED SERVICE CAUSE UNWANTED AMP NOISE

yep already spoke to an electrician he can get to me for a few weeks, but he is going to come and look it over to see if i overlooked it. if not he is going to drive 2 ground rods and get me hooked up. he explained that my ssytem should run off the nuetral from the line but may fulxuate up and down between 105 to 125 volts and that this could cause bad performance of electronics. the ground should be able to help stabilize the power a little bit more. i didi take my fluke and checked my receptacles and he is right i could not get a steady voltage the lowest i read was abotu 108 and it toped out at 128, but never stayed constant. i will keep you guys posted and let you know what the final result is. i hope this fixes it, cause before running a seperate ground wire to that one receptacle for my amp i have tried everything, i even bought a power conditioner that didnt seem to do anything.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: CAN AN UNGROUNDED SERVICE CAUSE UNWANTED AMP NOISE

If you ground to a water pipe your circuit breaker usually won't trip in case of a ground fault from a device plugged in . . . because the water pipe has several ohms of resistance. If there's any exposed piping between where you connected your ground and where the pipe exits the building someone could get shocked by touching it.

 

[jackson111]

Re: CAN AN UNGROUNDED SERVICE CAUSE UNWANTED AMP NOISE

guitarstv the ground that i connected is about 4" from where the water pipe enters my house which is under my stairs in a closet, so someone woudl really have to work to get to it, but the electrician that originally put my service in connected about 30 feet down the line and there is alot of exposed copper pipe. the electrician that i spoke with told me that the 8 gauge wire to the water pipe should be there to protect the water system not to be the service ground, and in the early 70's a service ground may not have been needed per code. he explained that an electrical line getis acroos the water main that feeds my branch line to my house then it will feed through the water lines since they are copper. he explained thats waht that small ground wire is probalby used for to send the electiricity to ground in that case.