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To buy grounded or not to buy grounded. That is the question.

I recently happened on to a highly recommended web site and looked at power cord options.  There were two basic options: grounded or non-grounded.  Below is the copied info from the non-grounded cord page.

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"Description
Non-grounded cord  (Ungrounded, the ground wire is removed from cord, with G-plug still intaked)

WHY?

Based upon measurements and listening tests; I have recommended to people, to ground only one piece of their interconnected equipment. The interconnects will provide static dissipation through the secondary ground connection & nuetral. They often look at me in extreme terror.😱

Wikipedia agrees…

Wiki; A ground loop is the result of careless or inappropriate design or interconnection of electrical equipment that results in there being multiple paths to ground where this is not required, so a complete loop is formed. In the simplest case, two items of equipment, A and B, are each connected to a wall socket by a 3 conductor cable, containing a protective ground conductor. This becomes a problem when a interconnect cable is connected between A and B, to pass data or audio signals. The shield of the data cable is typically connected to the grounded equipment chassis of both A and B. There is now a ground loop.

How can you benefit from this? Purchase the Grounded cord to hook to your preamp or integrated receiver…All other power cords in the system, such as source equipment, dacs, amplifiers, subwoofers,etc. should all use the non-grounded cord.  This will direct ground your system, removing hum and reduce harmonic distortion from your system. We’ve seen multi thousand dollar power conditioners that do not fix or address this issue. The issues of ground loops are often greater then the dirtiness of the actual AC power!



Need More?

Hot: The black wire is the hot wire, which provides a 120 VAC current source.

Neutral: The white wire is called the neutral wire. It provides the return path for the current provided by the hot wire. The neutral wire is connected to an EARTH GROUND!!!

Ground: The bare wire is called the ground wire. Like the neutral wire, the ground wire is also connected to an earth ground. However, the neutral and ground wires serve two distinct purposes.

The neutral wire forms a part of the live circuit along with the hot wire. In contrast, the ground wire is connected to any metal parts in an appliance such as a microwave oven or coffee pot. This is a safety feature, in case the hot or neutral wires somehow come in contact with metal parts. Connecting the metal parts to earth ground eliminates the shock hazard in the event of a short circuit. (KEY WORD IS SHORT CIRCUIT, Meaning your electronics are broken!)"

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What think ye of this?

Toolbox149

toolbox149

Showing 4 responses by jea48

jea48
4,312 posts
 
+ 1 what cleeds and spatialking posted.

"Description
Non-grounded cord (Ungrounded, the ground wire is removed from cord, with G-plug still intaked)
Power cord is not Listed by any 3rd party testing laboratory.

in case the hot or neutral wires somehow come in contact with metal parts. Connecting the metal parts to earth ground eliminates the shock hazard in the event of a short circuit.

It also provides a low resistive path for ground fault current to return to the source in the event of a hot Line to chassis fault. A hot to chassis fault will cause an overload in the equipment AC line fuse causing the fuse blow breaking the fault circuit. (Fault on load side of fuse) If the fault is ahead of the fuse the only protection then is the branch circuit breaker that protects the branch circuit wiring. No way, jmho, the small wire of an IC will handle possibly over a 100 amps of inrush fault current.

Based upon measurements and listening tests; I have recommended to people, to ground only one piece of their interconnected equipment. The interconnects will provide static dissipation through the secondary ground connection & nuetral. They often look at me in extreme terror.😱
Sounds good but has anyone run any tests or experienced an IC carry, handle, the ground fault current in the event of a hot to chassis ground fault? You might want to look at the wiring schematic diagram of your audio equipment. Good chance you will find the signal ground is not connected directly to the chassis.

Even if the IC can handle a high current inrush ground fault will the signal ground circuitry of say a preamp be able to handle it long enough for the AC line fuse in a power amp to blow open?
Jim
jea48
4,312 posts
 
cleeds1,813 posts12-12-2018 2:09pm

 stereo5 said:
I would bet those ungrounded cords are not U L approved
They’re probably UL listed. There’s nothing inherently unsafe with a two-prong power cord. It’s using it on a device that is designed for a cord with a safety ground that’s hazardous.
Should one of them catch fire, would the homeowners insurance cover it?
It would almost certainly be a covered loss. Carelessness isn’t a typical exclusion.

@ cleeds
From the OP’s posted message


"Description
Non-grounded cord (Ungrounded, the ground wire is removed from cord, with G-plug still intaked)
2 wire cord with 3 wire Plug and 3 wire IEC female connector. The female IEC connector would have to be a 3 wire. A 2 wire female IEC connector would not connect to a 3 wire IEC male connector on a piece of equipment designed to be grounded. No hole in the 2 wire connector for the equipment ground blade.
Not only is the power cord not listed it could leave the person building and selling them liable in a court of law in the event of a person being electrocuted.

Jim
jea48
4,312 posts
 
towertone24 posts12-12-2018 7:24pm

Let’s establish a few electrical facts first;
If a piece of equipment comes with a two-prong (hot and neutral) plug then the chases is bonded and passes any short to the neutral.
The chassis is bonded to what? Not the neutral conductor..... The neutral is a current carrying conductor and is never bonded, connected, to the chassis. Been that way for at least the last 58 to 60 years.

Class II power wiring
Class II Class II symbol

A Class II or double insulated electrical appliance is one which has been designed in such a way that it does not require a safety connection to electrical earth (ground).

The basic requirement is that no single failure can result in dangerous voltage becoming exposed so that it might cause an electric shock and that this is achieved without relying on an earthed metal casing. This is usually achieved at least in part by having at least two layers of insulating material between live parts and the user, or by using reinforced insulation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appliance_classes
jea48
4,312 posts
 
jab431 posts12-14-2018 11:33am

PS Audio made a power cord where you could unscrew the grounding pin.
Yes.
PS Audio states the grounding pin should only be removed for testing purposes only. Basically covering their butt.

Audio-envy on the other hand clearly states they are manufacturing an electrically dangerous power cord with grounding type connectors, (especially the female IEC connector) so the user can use the non earthed equipment ground power cord on equipment that is designed, manufactured, and safety tested by a recognized testing laboratory to be earth grounded.

I wouldn’t even classify the Audio-envy power cord as a ground cheater. A 3 wire to 2 wire adapter is UL listed when used as intended.
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