List of things I own that shock me.

[JFogarty]

Ok, so I've finally setup my gear in my basement in the house I'm renting for this school year. I'm having huge electrical issue. The following things give me a slight painful electric shock:

1.)A regular instrument cable running out of my Soundcraft Spirit FX16 mixer

2.)The spdif cable running out of my digi001

3.) The instrument cable running out of my Johnson J-Station when plugged into either of those sources

4.) My freakin guitar when pluggin into the J-Station when its plugged into items 1 and 2

Everthing is plugged into power strips that are connected to extension chords (all with the three prong things) into the an outlet in the basement which runs into this weird box with things I don't understand in it, and a lever that seems to not do anything.

I haven't found anything else that shocks me, and frankly, I don't want to look. I've been getting shocked all day long, and one day I'd like to have children.


I don't know if anyone will be able to solve this, but I'd be glad for everyone to take a shot.

[skippy]

Stop, *right now,* and get an outlet tester. I'll bet a beer that you'll find out that the outlet you are trying to work from is completely miswired. At the very least, we already know that ground is not ground.

This situation constitutes a *very real* hazard to your life and limb. Call your landlord and tell them to get it fixed before it kills you. If you aren't willing to do that, and you aren't comfortable with trying to debug what is going on in that box, then hire an electrician and pay _him_ whatever it takes to correct the situation.

On the outlet that you are powering everything with, you'll have 3 conductors insode the box. Assuming that you are in the US: Black (or perhaps red) is hot, and should be connected to the output of the fuse or breaker that is protecting that branch circuit (and there'd damned well better be one!). It will go to the gold-colored screw on the outlet inside the box. White is neutral, and it will go to the silver colored screw on the outlet, and the neutral tie bar at the service panel. Bare copper (or maybe green) is ground- it will go back to the ground bar at the breaker box and then be connected to earth (safety) ground, usually at the house's water service entrance. If you have any other colors, or if all the wires are the same color, then that outlet was installed by a wanker and needs to be corrected...

If you get an outlet tester, you'll be able to see what exactly is miswired with your outlet. You can then decide whether to fix it yourself, have the landlord fix it, or hire a pro. But regardless of what your decision is, _fix it ASAP_. If the outlet is miswired with hot on ground (and it could very well be!), you have a real problem- one that could kill you. If it is wired with neutral on ground, and neutral is not tied properly to safety ground at the service panel, you could _still_ be in trouble. Don't fuck around with this: get it fixed...

Everybody should have an outlet tester in their toolbox or gig bag, especially if you play out in a lot of dive bars. Never plug anything you care about (or that you intend to touch while energized!) into an untested outlet. If you gig a lot, spending that $5 could save you a lot of money in gear repairs and medical bills...

[crawdad]

Great reply, Skippy. You have saved me from having to say the same thing. For gods sake, don't get shocked in your studio, JFogarty.

[JFogarty]

man, I knew this house had shitty wireing but I didn't know it was stupid wireing. I'm gonna go to my basement and unplug everything right now....


Thanks a ton by the way, my roommates dad is an electrician, and maybe he can take a look at it next time he comes up.

[ola]

Unplug any electrical equipment more sensetive than a light bulb right away. A buddy of mine had faulty wiring, costing him a graphics card, my C-port breakout box and a couple of shocks while we were fault tracing. Turned out that his wiring was like this:

hot: 230V - normal in Sweden
zero: 0V
ground 110V - OUCH!

Be glad you found it in time and I hope you get it fixed.

/Ola

[sjoko2]

I think its shocking!!

[Light]

It would also be a good idea to get a multi-meter and a book on the basics of electricity and your local electrical code. This stuff is all good to know, especially if you are going to be playing out. A friend of mine once watched a major (as in nationally know and respected) sound company bring 48 EAW 850's into an arena, and not check the power on the generator they were using. My friend asked them if it was right for there power amps to be smoking, and the lead sound guy just ignored him. It turns out the generator had last been used on a construction site, and was still set to put out 480V power. They completely destroyed around $200,000 worth of gear in less than five minutes. I ALWAYS check the power I get anytime I am setting up a system of any kind, even if I have been in a room before and know exactly what I am going to get. I recently was doing a very small show, and I was in a hurry, so I did not check one of the outlets that one of my Anaconda dimmers was plugged into, and one of the circuits had the hot and neutral reversed. This is not a problem for most pieces of electronics, but for those dimmers, it is a major problem. It took us 45 minutes to figure it out, all of which would have been avoided if I had just checked the outlet before I started to set things up.

Light
"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi