Just got shocked by something in my studio

[Minion]

Make sure that you are plugging all of your audio equipment into the same electrical circuit/outlet ......

I recently moved into a new jam space , and we had the PA plugged into an outlet at one end of the room and we had the guitarists/singers mesa dual rec plugged into an outlet at the other end of the room , Now everytime the singer/guitarist got close to the mic he would get a major shock .....

To solve this we plugged everything into the same outlet .....

I believe the probelm lies with different ground potentials with different outlets , if the ground potential is different then the differance in voltage between the two outlets will give you a shock ......


Cheers

 

[witzendoz]

Make sure that you are plugging all of your audio equipment into the same electrical circuit/outlet ......

I recently moved into a new jam space , and we had the PA plugged into an outlet at one end of the room and we had the guitarists/singers mesa dual rec plugged into an outlet at the other end of the room , Now everytime the singer/guitarist got close to the mic he would get a major shock .....

To solve this we plugged everything into the same outlet .....

I believe the probelm lies with different ground potentials with different outlets , if the ground potential is different then the differance in voltage between the two outlets will give you a shock ......


Cheers

This can also be caused by outlets being on different phases, some buildings have 3 phase power coming into the main board. The 3 phase is then split up to supply different outlets around the building. The problem is that you can get rouge current between the phases due to uneven loading, not necessarily caused in your building but anywhere between the mains transformer in the street and your outlet.

I have measured 48 volts across the phase Neutrals (working at 240 volt supply) at 1 venue when doing live sound / lighting. While 48 volts may not sound like much, it hurts like hell when it's between your lips and the microphone. The rouge voltage also causes noise in the audio when say a DI is connected to a bass amp on 1 phase and the PA on another, this is often called an earth loop problem (which it could be) but sometimes it's actually being caused by voltage in the audio line.

In my studio I have all studio power on 1 phase, the Kitchen area and lighting on another, and the again air con on a different phase. This works in you favour as the Air con, Fridge in the Kitchen, kettle going on and off does not induce switching noise into the studio supply.

Cheers
Alan.