Ground Cheater plug or....


Maybe this isn't a good idea, but I thought I'd ask anyway.

I have what I believe to be a persistent ground loop hum from my amplifier. It's quiet, inaudible if music playing or unless you're standing next to the speaker, but knowing it's there is annoying.

I've heard suggestions to use a cheater plug to defeat the ground, but it seems counterintuitive to stick a 35cent plastic plug between expensive cables and power supplies. My question is, couldn't you accomplish the same thing by disconnecting the ground wire in the outlet, and still exact the benefits of better cables?

I'm sure the fire marshall would disapprove, but I'd like to hear what the hi-fi nuts have to say.

Cheers!
grimace

Showing 1 response by minorl

Absolutely do not use cheater plugs. They defeat the ground that is there to protect you, your equipment, kids, wife, girl friend in the event of an electrical fault. Find and fix the electrical problem causing the need for a ground loop. Be it, bad interconnect cables, bad electronics, bad ground system in your home, however, you will find many people telling you to use cheaters. You are asking for trouble if you do this. No electrician in their right mind would tell you to defeat the home ground system by using cheater. It is relatively easy to find the cause of the problem, isolate it and fix or replace it.

if you have a hum or ground loop, I can tell you how to systematically find it, isolate it and what you can do to get rid of it. But do not use cheaters.

enjoy