Stand on metal to ground myself instead of a hum eliminator?

[ecc83]

For Fuck's sake? Did you mean to reply to someone else? I do see that there's disinformation going on here in the forums, and not from you.

I mean YOU you twit! We told you repeatedly NOT to tie yourself to ground and you have gone and bloody done it!

Last time of telling. Ground the KIT NOT your BODY!!

Dave.

 

[Steenamaroo]

Watch the George Harrison clip.
You'll notice he let go pronto.

If that happens to you, you're done.
The number of times I've seen amplifiers and other equipment with the mains earth connection broken is unreal.
People think they're solving problems and really they're making the equipment extremely dangerous.

If the proper mains earth connection is lifted and you've strapped yourself to the chassis, then you're in very serious trouble
if there's even a minor equipment failure.

I appreciate there's conflicting information and suggestions in this thread but
do listen to the guys telling you you're running the risk of seriously injuring or killing yourself.
Your 'solution' is not safe.

 

[Bargarcs]

I mean YOU you twit! We told you repeatedly NOT to tie yourself to ground and you have gone and bloody done it!

Last time of telling. Ground the KIT NOT your BODY!!

Dave.

I don't think you understand what I did. Stop calling me names.

 

[TalismanRich]

I don't think you understand what I did. Stop calling me names.

You said you tied a ground wire to your ankle. That is PRECISELY what we advised NOT to do. If you would like to know what could happen, look up the death of Keith Relf, who was the singer of the Yardbirds. He was electrocuted playing an ungrounded guitar.

The Tragic Death Of The Yardbirds' Keith Relf - Grunge

Keith Relf was the frontman of the British rock band the Yardbirds until their 1968 disbandment. Here's a closer look at his tragic death.

www.grunge.com

The sole purpose of a ground point is to provide a safe path for electricity in case of a failure. In a house, you drive a rod into the ground, and if things go wrong, the electricity goes into the ground safely.

If we told you it was stupid to clean a loaded gun, would you heed that advice?

 

[ecc83]

Unusually for me I am a little annoyed. If the chap cannot cope with the mild but well meant "twit" then he is in for a big shock on other forums. Grow a pair.
I do not apologize about electrical safety matters.

Dave.

 

[rob aylestone]

I always view things through Judge Judy's glasses - can you imagine what she would say based on what's been said here. She called somebody a moron the other day, and she was right. In this case, the guy got the same advice over and over again and then tells us he is wrapping a copper cable around his leg. We all do stupid things, but this one is the craziest I have ever come across since I got my first electric shock aged 15, and I am now 50 years further on!

I'd rather our friend is insulted than him be dead.

 

[Bargarcs]

Unusually for me I am a little annoyed. If the chap cannot cope with the mild but well meant "twit" then he is in for a big shock on other forums. Grow a pair.
I do not apologize about electrical safety matters.

Dave.

I am a sensitive person and already told you I was recovering from an illness. If you can't deal with that, then that's on you. I'm sorry I ever asked you a question. Good day.

 

[ecc83]

I am a sensitive person and already told you I was recovering from an illness. If you can't deal with that, then that's on you. I'm sorry I ever asked you a question. Good day.

After a few months of extremely high blood pressure and feeling very ill I went on drugs which reduced it. For the last six weeks or so I am having great difficulty breathing after doing even the simplest tasks, I cannot walk more than 100mtrs or so without a 5 min stop to recover. This is having a severe effect on my quality of life. The doctors have done blood tests, ECGs X rays and antibiotics to no avail. I strongly suspect they will tell me eventually that I have heart failure. If you want the full SP I have had bladder cancer and only couple of years ago had a cancerous kidney removed.

We all have our troubles my friend but am I asking you to treat me differently from a totally fit person? No, our personal problems have sod all to do with electrical safety or being a dick*.

*Sorry mods but this guy has pissed me off. This is hopefully a one off.

Dave.

 

[TalismanRich]

I am a sensitive person and already told you I was recovering from an illness. If you can't deal with that, then that's on you. I'm sorry I ever asked you a question. Good day.

Sorry friend, but being a "sensitive person" or "recovering from an illness" is NO excuse for doing something that can be lethal. It is flat out irresponsible!

Electrical safety isn't an opinion. A half dozen people have said not to attach the ground wire to yourself, and that's exactly what you did. If you can't understand why people are upset, the problem is with YOU!

 

[Papanate]

Papanate mate, 'we' have I think already established earlier that the OP's problem is not a ground 'loop'. This cannot be the case since neither devices mentioned actually HAVE any connection to ground. This is a relatively new problem caused, as I say because of the great increase in class ll "double insulated" and therefore UN grounded equipment.

Maybe not a ground loop but you can definitely get a ground leak which acts like a loop - and while a piece of gear may not have a direct link to ground - it can come through cable attached to the device.

There is absolutely no danger in providing a ground to system that lacks one. Just don't make yourself part of that system!

That’s always good advice.

 

[ecc83]

Just a general word about grounding in certain electrical supply systems?
There are some around the world I believe that use 'floating' mains? That is a supply that is NOT referenced to ground* and thus one can in theory safely touch either pole of the supply and not get a lethal shock (I suspect you WOULD feel it! Capacitance to ground must cause some coupling)

If, on such a supply you then solidly ground the metal of say a cooker and IF that cooker went live to frame you would then place everyone on that power supply in danger of shock. AFAIK these supply systems are not found in 'advanced' countries such as Europe and USA.

*In UK it is the grounding of the 'star point' of the three phase wimdings of the local substation transformer that gives us our ground reference. My apologies to any EEng grads, just my recollections.

Dave.

 

[ashcat_lt]

Do me a favor and take that wire off your ankle and clip to your guitar’s bridge instead. Thanks.

 

[MC208]

For the type of hum noise that happens when you let go of the strings, I read that you're supposed to wrap some wire around the strap button of the guitar, and then put the other end in your sock so it stays against your skin. Seems to work. Although I'd like to be able to fix it so that we don't have to do the wire thing. I've yet to find a gadget or anything that helps.

 

[ashcat_lt]

The strap button is never electronically connected to anything at all. Connecting yourself to it cannot help. The wire needs to go to something actually connected to the amp’s signal ground. The jack barrel or the metal part of a cable plugged into it, usually pot shafts, the bridge, etc, BUT…

It is NOT A GOOD IDEA to permanently fasten yourself to anything connected to the amp chassis!!! Any failure in the amp which puts a high voltage potential on that chassis will then put that potential on you and there are a bunch of ways for you to create a path to ground such that a significant amount of current flows through your bag of wet meat. If you’re lucky, something else acts as a fuse before you do.

 

[RFR]

The strap button is never electronically connected to anything at all. Connecting yourself to it cannot help. The wire needs to go to something actually connected to the amp’s signal ground. The jack barrel or the metal part of a cable plugged into it, usually pot shafts, the bridge, etc, BUT…

It is NOT A GOOD IDEA to permanently fasten yourself to anything connected to the amp chassis!!! Any failure in the amp which puts a high voltage potential on that chassis will then put that potential on you and there are a bunch of ways for you to create a path to ground such that a significant amount of current flows through your bag of wet meat. If you’re lucky, something else acts as a fuse before you do.

Not always true. For example, a Gibson ES125 has a rosewood bridge so the ground is attached to the strap button and the trapeze tailpiece.
But yes, in most cases the strap button is not electrically connected to anything. It’s just a piece of metal screwed into wood. So running a wire from it to your ankle won’t do shit.

However, it is a stupid thing to wire up a ground to your body. I know some have done that, but it’s not a good idea. You CANNOT get away from the current should something go wrong.
At least with a conventional string ground you can get away from the current spike. You’d be surprised how fast your hands fly off the strings in that situation.

 

[rob aylestone]

If people took just a short time to do some proper research, a few things become clear. People who work on sensitive electronics have, for at least 40 years wore grounding straps that connect them to ground to stop static killing sensitive parts. The absolutely VITAL bit is these connect you through a 1 MegOhm resistor, so you don’t die, if you prod something live! You could use one of these to kill hums if you wanted to, or get your gear sorted properly. The guy earlier in this topic was a moron. No way to describe him in any other term. Blaming it on illness or being sensitive does not work as an excuse. Don’t do this, it can kill you. I did it. You are a moron, stupid, and an idiot. I would rsther somebody called me a moron, than commented on my death.

If you have never seen these straps. They are Here

 

[ecc83]

In my opinion the bridge and thus the strings of a guitar should always be bonded to the jack earth/ground sleeve. That way, hand on or off should make no difference to hum...IF IT DOES! You have another grounding issue in the amp setup!
Rob is absolutely right to call anyone who deliberately makes themselves a low resistance path to earth a moron. No offense my colonial brothers but there does seem to be a rather cavalier attitude to electrical safety over there? I put it down in part to the lower mains voltage. I can assure you 230* volts takes FEW prisoners! DO check all cables and diss boards for earth continuity. A digital meter can be had for less than $20. Earth lines, including plug pin to chassis should read less than 2 Ohms (a basic meter will insert 1 Ohm or so of lead and contact resistance) Get stuff PAT tested every 3 years or so. get an RCCB and run ALL the kit off it.

*But most of us still get the even slightly more lethal 240V PLUS!

Dave.

 

[ecc83]

https://www.screwfix.com/p/masterplug-13a-fused-hard-wired-active-in-line-rcd/389kg

That ^ is ideal fitted in your main diss feed because you can't do a gig and forget it!

Dave.

 

[Slouching Raymond]

If you have never seen these straps. They are Here

For working with semi-conductors, I bought a large anti-static mat that came with one of those wristbands.
After the wristband broke, I just wiped my hands on a wall radiator, then tried not to move too much.
In all my years I didn't kill any chips with static.

 

[Papanate]

For working with semi-conductors, I bought a large anti-static mat that came with one of those wristbands.
After the wristband broke, I just wiped my hands on a wall radiator, then tried not to move too much.
In all my years I didn't kill any chips with static.

That’s different than the OP - he wanted to electrocute himself apparently - maybe he did unfortunately - he certainly wasn’t listening to the advice he was given - he also said he was sick - I hope nothing happened to him.