Earth (isolated) ground vs. wall outlet ground.


Looking on my 200amp main panel I notice that the neutral (white) wire bus and the ground (bare copper) bus have continuity. Wouldn’t it be better if my interconnected rig had it’s own earth ground thereby isolating it from feedback from the neutral wires? If not (NEC rules, Ott’s Grounding Myths, etc.) why is there a ground lug on some of my pieces? Surely it’s not there for decoration. I can’t imagine a manufacturer adding a useless item (adding cost) in a hidden place if it didn’t have specific function.  All my pieces are connected by balanced XLRs (except the speakers) and the balanced XLR has unified grounds. Inquiring (and in my case sometimes simple) minds what to know.....

 

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Showing 1 response by davetheoilguy

@gs5556 

”No. It’s almost certain to violate your local electrical code. It is to ensure that circuit breakers trips when they have to. Grounding your electrical system to more than one location can cause breakers not to trip during a fault.”

This is absolutely, 100%, correct.

Do not add a separated ground to the system. In the event of fault, the circuit breaker will be bypassed by the new route to ground, stay open, and either start a fire or cause a shock.

If you chose to use the ground lugs on your equipment, the  should go to the plug where you have everything plugged in.  You could have one lead off the screw on the plug  and then a bolt nut and washer tying all your spades grounds together.  This is called a “star ground”.

 

if you are worried about communication between the components, don’t be.  Everything will take the lazy path the ground.  Not sideways.

 

but if you are going to buy a fancy box, be advised they are literally what I just described and a handful of diodes (which allow current flow in one direction).  Maybe $50 of parts.