Ground lifting, just how "dangerous" is it?

  • Thread starter Thread starter chava
  • Start date Start date
110 Volt Shock?

We have all gotten so accustomed to solid state devices that we tend to forget that the power amplifier of a tube amp could be running thousands of volts and tons of current to the speakers. Anyone using tube amplifiers (particularly ancient ones)should be dead serious about getting the ground right instead of chopping off the ground leg on a plug. Just how does a tube amp work anyway? What are we amplifying and how?

Got noise? isolate it with a transformer or an optoisolator.
 
gcolbert said:
We have all gotten so accustomed to solid state devices that we tend to forget that the power amplifier of a tube amp could be running thousands of volts and tons of current to the speakers. Anyone using tube amplifiers (particularly ancient ones)should be dead serious about getting the ground right instead of chopping off the ground leg on a plug. Just how does a tube amp work anyway? What are we amplifying and how?

Got noise? isolate it with a transformer or an optoisolator.
Click to expand...

But those didn't have a ground on the cord! Just an old two pronger.
And back in the day all wall sockets only had two prongs .... no ground at all.







:cool:
 
moresound said:
But those didn't have a ground on the cord! Just an old two pronger.
And back in the day all wall sockets only had two prongs .... no ground at all.
Click to expand...
My house still has ungrounded 2-prong plugs in most of the rooms. It was originally built in 1956. In my studio room I've changed that, running my own grounds and changing the wall sockets, but I haven't bothered in the rest of the house yet. Frankly we've never had a problem with any of our appliances or TVs or anything like that.

G.
 
I got knocked to the ground one time singing into an SM58.

I didn't feel right for a couple of days afterward.
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
My house still has ungrounded 2-prong plugs in most of the rooms. It was originally built in 1956. In my studio room I've changed that, running my own grounds and changing the wall sockets, but I haven't bothered in the rest of the house yet. Frankly we've never had a problem with any of our appliances or TVs or anything like that.

G.
Click to expand...


Yeah Glen I grew up with electricity like that in fact in the barn and out buildings ..... they had the two wires running side by each from the fuse box to the oulets.








:cool:
 
moresound said:
But those didn't have a ground on the cord! Just an old two pronger.
And back in the day all wall sockets only had two prongs .... no ground at all.
Click to expand...

Back in the day seat belts were an extra cost "sport" option. Back in the day they used mercury in cavity fillings. Back in the day kids would run behind the truck fogging the neighborhood with DDT. Back in the day they put radium pellets up peoples' noses to help with sinus problems.
 
Most of those are extreme though. There are still many houses with no ground, you just have the brains to not step into the tub while turning up the volume on your radio. ground or not. :eek:







:cool:
 
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