Is grounded power outlet necessary ?

Afrodrum

Afrodrum

Member
Hi, I am new owner. I have a annoying noise on most presets. More than half of the noise disappears when I touch my AFII with my fingers. None of the power outlets in my room are grounded. Is this the reason for the noise?
 
Afrodrum said:
Hi, I am new owner. I have a annoying noise on most presets. More than half of the noise disappears when I touch my AFII with my fingers. None of the power outlets in my room are grounded. Is this the reason for the noise?
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Dirty power is often times the culprit. Are you using any kind of power conditioner? A lot of us use something like a Fruman rack mount power conditioner to alleviate noise from dirty power. I'm sure there are guys on here that know a great deal more about this subject than I but a grounded outlet is crucial. Keep us updated on what solution works for you so we can pass it on to others. Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new AFII.
 
[h=2]"Is grounded power outlet necessary ? "[/h]

Only if you want to avoid being electrocuted.
 
Problem is in your guitar and or rack. You need to ground to stay safe. Balanced AC Power is an expensive but effective option...
 
Afrodrum said:
Hi, I am new owner. I have a annoying noise on most presets. More than half of the noise disappears when I touch my AFII with my fingers. None of the power outlets in my room are grounded. Is this the reason for the noise?
Click to expand...

You just answered your own question. Are you just kidding, or is this actually a serious question?

Then you go on to say that you don't mind being electrocuted.... :? I am sorry but it is just really hard to take you as serious as your first two posts are these.
 
In any case, if you are serious, please contact an electrician ASAP, and add grounding to your outlets in your home. You or a member of your family can be literally killed because of this. You also need to add GFIC outlets in your wet areas. An AXE-FX II does a dead man no good. This is more important than owning an AXE-FX II. One lightening strike and that baby will fry and you could die. (I am a licensed General Contractor and Architect - This is fact - only as a result of all of the dead people did these codes have to change) Of course that is the reason for your ground fault. DO NOT PLAY BARE FOOT EITHER until you fix this.
 
The hum/noise is just a minor inconvenience. But running gear with ungrounded outlets can be LETHALLY DANGEROUS.

Sure, most equipment will run fine (or maybe have minor noise issues like you're seeing). However, the circuit or appliance will use the path of least resistance to transfer or discharge any electric load if a short or other malfunction occurs. The ground on a correctly grounded receptacle provides this path. If the ground is not available or is disconnected, the appliance may discharge through contact with a human being or any other available object that can transfer and/or discharge the electricity.

This can mean DEATH and/or electrical FIRE. It doesn't take much of an electrical shock to stop a heart.
 
:eek: Dude!!1 GROUND THAT SH!T!!!! :eek:

Seriously...the ground is there for a reason! You can save your life - I can't imagine how on earth a building got approved without being properly grounded, but in my part of the world (Caribbean) we take it pretty seriously, and we're considered poor and '3rd world'. The ONLY reason you'd want to 'unground' your equipment is for troubleshooting purposes, so you can figure out what the problem is (where the noise and ground loops come from) so you can FIX THE REAL PROBLEM!!!! NOT to use it for everyday use!!!!

PLEASE, for your own sake, as well as your family, get grounded!
 
His house is probably older. Codes didn't require safety grounds until relatively recently (last 50 years-ish) so there are a lot of houses around with wiring from earlier periods. My house was built in 1952, and still has some old two wire romex in it. I have been updating as I go, but there are still live two-wire circuits here. Based on information from my city inspector, updating the wiring isn't required until modification occurs. I don't know if that holds true for all older wiring.

I totally agree with the safety issues here. But there are ungrounded sources still in legal use in many places in the US and elsewhere.

To answer the OP, yes this could easily be the source of your problem. Best test is to get it on a grounded circuit connected exactly as is and see if it disappears. My bet is that it will clean right up.
 
Dramelot said:
In the part of my house that has my studio, no grounded outlets=noise. I drove a 8 ft rod outside into the ground and wired it up. TaDa fixed.
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I did the same thing! Once you tie them into the main box, the extra ground rod gives more ground points (and sometimes a needed redundancy). But it is a good interim fix.
 
Rick said:
His house is probably older. Codes didn't require safety grounds until relatively recently (last 50 years-ish) so there are a lot of houses around with wiring from earlier periods. My house was built in 1952, and still has some old two wire romex in it. I have been updating as I go, but there are still live two-wire circuits here. Based on information from my city inspector, updating the wiring isn't required until modification occurs. I don't know if that holds true for all older wiring.

I totally agree with the safety issues here. But there are ungrounded sources still in legal use in many places in the US and elsewhere.

To answer the OP, yes this could easily be the source of your problem. Best test is to get it on a grounded circuit connected exactly as is and see if it disappears. My bet is that it will clean right up.
Click to expand...

Ah, I see now, thanks for clearing that up
 
The symptom described does NOT necessarily mean that the outlets are not properly grounded. It could be MANY things:

A short in the pickup, or guitar wiring.
Ground loops causing eddy currents etc. in the rack (most common issue)
Short in one of the cords.
Shorts in a piece of gear
and more...

First thing to trouble shoot is to reduce variables:

1) Does it happen with more than one guitar? No - fix ground/short/shielding in guitar Yes - go to 2
2) Try several cables (and cable(s) between amp and speaker), does it happen with all of them? No - toss the offending cable(s). Yes - go to 3
3) Plug the guitar via ONE cable into a guitar amplifier with a THREE PIN power plug. Still happening? Yes - if amp has a polarity reverse switch (not the same as a ground lift, though often one switch does both with lift in the center position) - try that. Still happening: house wiring issue. No - go to 4
4) Pull the axe-FX out of your rack, take whatever you're using as an amplifier out of your rack (skip if using active speakers). Put both and your speaker on a non-conductive surface, like a bed, and make sure they're not touching each other. Plug them both into the SAME power strip (three prong, of course). Plug that power strip in. Connect to your speaker. Turn it on. Still happening? With more than one guitar and cable? Yes - house wiring or short in Axe-FX or Amplifier No - go to 5
5) Buy Humfrees. Reinstall all of your gear into your rack using them. Plug EVERYTHING in that rack, with 3 Prong Plugs, into ONE power strip and plug that into a grounded outlet. Connect your amp to your speaker. Turn it on. Stil happening? Yes - something in that rack has a short, or somewhere in that rack, a unit's chassis is contacting the rails. Try ABS/Nylon screws with the Humfrees if you need to. No? be happy.

I'm sure there are a few more possibilities, but you get the idea - break down the problem by a) checking swappable gear (guitars, cords) b) reducing variables.

Good luck.

P.S. IMHO - Furmans suck. There are better alternatives. I am looking into a Balanced AC Power unit for my rack - that is the BEST possible solution.

*** THIS BOOK *** has lots of good advice. He and I built my first studio together, way back in 1985, and he knows his stuff.
 
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