radio_oddity Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 My VP130 was working fine in my setup for the most part, but yesterday I was fiddling with my setup to try to get rid of some static. I connected the ground screw of my pre to a ground screw on my house, but after finding that didn't help, I decided to remove the speaker wire I used to do that. Now there is a loud hum that won't go away unless I hook that extra ground back up, and even still it is still more noticeable than before. My turntable is properly grounded to the pre like it used to be before this issue arose so I don't understand what went wrong. Any advice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajxd Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 The hell? House ground screw? You're using speaker cable as a ground? I'm so confused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radio_oddity Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 The hell? House ground screw? You're using speaker cable as a ground? I'm so confused. Sorry I didn't word it well. I've heard people say they've fixed hums and such by taking a speaker cable from their setup to something like plumbing to divert any extra electricity as a final grounding point. I basically connected the ground screw on my preamp to a screw in the wall of my house as a ground. Is that a bit more coherent? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 The hell? House ground screw? You're using speaker cable as a ground? I'm so confused. I'm still worried/confused by all of this and am pretty certain there's going to be smoke soon. For something to be a ground/earth it either has to be part of your electrical ground wiring which connects directly to a ground spike at the electrical sub station or wired to a ground spike in your garden not just a random screw sticking out of a wall. The use of plumbing as a ground path depends on where in the world you are as some places bond the plumbing to the electrical ground and some don't. If you have a hum in your system something in the audio chain isn't grounded properly so refer to the two paragraphs above and I expect as it all worked before it's just a simple bad connection somewhere. A good earth is all to do with the resistance between your ground point and the actual earth itself so I would expect your random screw in the wall to measure somewhere in the megohm range and be about as much use as a chocolate teapot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radio_oddity Posted January 3, 2015 Author Share Posted January 3, 2015 I'm still worried/confused by all of this and am pretty certain there's going to be smoke soon. For something to be a ground/earth it either has to be part of your electrical ground wiring which connects directly to a ground spike at the electrical sub station or wired to a ground spike in your garden not just a random screw sticking out of a wall. The use of plumbing as a ground path depends on where in the world you are as some places bond the plumbing to the electrical ground and some don't. If you have a hum in your system something in the audio chain isn't grounded properly so refer to the two paragraphs above and I expect as it all worked before it's just a simple bad connection somewhere. A good earth is all to do with the resistance between your ground point and the actual earth itself so I would expect your random screw in the wall to measure somewhere in the megohm range and be about as much use as a chocolate teapot. Gotcha, it wasn't really a good idea in retrospect. But now I've ditched the weird screw thing all together and am noticing the hum that wasn't there before. I wouldn't think I could've damaged my system that bad just from hooking a wire from the ground screw to a metal screw, but am I wrong about that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radio_oddity Posted January 3, 2015 Author Share Posted January 3, 2015 Also, the problem persisted somewhat when I tried the TT with a stereo receiver I have. Could it be a TT issue? I noticed the hum changed when I was touching one of the cartridge screws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
circuit bored records Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 What kind of TT are you using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 As yanquiuxo says what turntable are you using as it will probably has a bearing on the why. Yes it could be turntable related and if you are changing it by touching a cartridge screw it's quite possible the problem is in the turntable or its wiring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radio_oddity Posted January 3, 2015 Author Share Posted January 3, 2015 Its a ProJect Debut Carbon DC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamalatapes Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 What preamp do you use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 If it's come on suddenly and wasn't there before than something isn't grounding, which will most likely mean a bad or broken connection. If you know how to use a test meter you can test between the body of the arm (somewhere metal and clean like a mounting screw) and the end of the ground wire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardcore Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 I've been hearing this sudden, intermittent humming whenever I play my Crash Test Dummies record. ajxd, antoniofhowe, Sidney Crosley and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajxd Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Damn it Tardy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardcore Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 it's only on one specific track, any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney Crosley Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Try playing this track and see if it's any better: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU95v23MQ4c Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 it's only on one specific track, any ideas? That's not a hum its a hmmm and more than one of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajxd Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 I always thought it was more of a "mmmmm" than a "hmmmm". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skadaddy Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 I always thought it was more of a "mmmmm" than a "hmmmm". It is but it didn't fit the thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajxd Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 I didn't know if that was a UK thing or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 I didn't know if that was a UK thing or not. Perhaps a regional accent ajxd 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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