Why do mics...

J

Jose_Man

New member
Hey guys, Something I've always wanted to know is:

Why do mics sometimes eletrocute you when you put your lips on them ???


Peace
Jose
 
I can only imagine that you are using the Mic on a stand and that you ocasionally go to the Mic with a static charge on your body ( Like when you get out of your car).
As soon as your lips get close to the Mic then the static will discharge to earth and give you the feeling of an electric shock.

If this is not it, get all you gear connected to the Mic checked out ASAP

Tony

ps we can all be electrocuted many times but it is not to be recommended, sometimes a visit to the pearly gates gets laid on.
 
LOL haha, that made me laugh. I myself have never gotten electrocuted by a microphone, but a vintage bass and an OLD amp. I don't know what it was, but whenever you touched the strings on my friend's vintage Fender bass it would COMPLETELY electocute you!! Gah, I couldn't get myself to touch that godforsaken bass even if I knew it would shock me beforehand.

:)
 
That usually indicates a grounding problem.... happens often in live situations where the venue's electrical system is faulty or poorly installed.
 
Yeah, its usually a grounding problem, especially when different parts of your gear are on different circuits. Like when you decide to switch electric guitars with your buddy, he's on a different circuit and it ain't grounded.

Minor physics here: grounding = a path for the electricity to follow. Electricity always seeks to follow the path, or complete a circuit. If there is a charge without a proper ground and you come along and "hand" it one....!
 
If it's always in the same location / setup, have an electrician look at your wiring. If it is a bad ground then it's worth your time to have it fixed. I had a similar problem in a an apartment I used to live in. Everytime I used the mic I was fine. But if I was playing the guitar and grabbed the mic, a big spark would jump out of the mic.
If it happens when you move your setup, then it might be a piece of gear. It's probably a good idea to fix whatever it is. Otherwise you'll electrocute yourself in a bad way, or something will catch fire, or other bad things.
 
Good point -- it can manifest itself in various ways, with different gear and different occurrences, but it's ALWAYS a sign of an electrical problem that needs addressing!
 
If you're using an amp with an old style two-pronged power plug, you can replace it with a grounded cord. The green wire ties the chasis to ground and drains away those pesky leaky voltages, instead of your lips.:eek:
Wayne
 
wilkee said:
ps we can all be electrocuted many times but it is not to be recommended, sometimes a visit to the pearly gates gets laid on.
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Electrocute means to kill by electricity, so sweetnubs is right - it can only happen to you once (unless of course you're Hindu or believe in reincarnation.)

The only time I've ever been shocked is when I'm touching another piece of equipment at the same time - especially a guitar. This indicates that one or both pieces are not grounded properly and
Originally posted by Dethska
Otherwise you'll electrocute yourself in a bad way
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If you're getting shocked by the mic alone, wear rubber soled shoes. But get your equipment checked out or you might check out.
 
also...

i was setting up my amps and plugged in my mesa (150 watts aka alot of power!) and i must have forgotten to plug a speaker cable going from the head to the cab... well the next day i realized it was still on and was like plugged into it, strummed, no sound ? then realized the speaker cable wasn't fully into the cab... i plugged it in and got a shock like no other... stupid me for not turning the amp off before plugging it in ...basically all that power just sitting there building up having no output is very harmful to your gear...and when you go to release it (as i did hooking the head to the cab) it bursts out so powerful that it will shock you.. moral is do you leave your mixer on and then plug your mic into it while turned on? is your cable bad?
 
Re: also...

OnTheBlackRock said:
...basically all that power just sitting there building up having no output is very harmful to your gear...and when you go to release it (as i did hooking the head to the cab) it bursts out so powerful that it will shock you..
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NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

That wasn't the cause of the shock, and it won't hurt your amp a bit to have the head on and not plugged in to the speaker. However, when you do plug it in, turn it off first or you can short the amp output as you plug it in and damage it that way.
 
"and it won't hurt your amp a bit to have the head on and not plugged in to the speaker".

That's no problemo for transistor amps, but a tube amp must always be connected to a speaker, or you might burn your trafo.
 
Han said:
That's no problemo for transistor amps, but a tube amp must always be connected to a speaker, or you might burn your trafo.
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How so? If there's no load on the transformer it shouldn't bother it. Like plugging a wall wart (which is just a transformer, sometimes with a diode) into the wall without its device connected. It can sit there for years unharmed, just adding a little to your electric bill.
 
in the mesa boogie mark i resissue manual (tube head), it states specifically to NEVER turn on the amp without a speaker cab plugged in, because of the loading requirements of the amp or something.
i'm assuming it's similar to mismatching the impedance of the head with the cab in a bad way... the loading does something bad... that's about the extent of my knowlege though :)
 
every tube amp i have come across (that i can remember) has a warning stating the speaker should be pluged in before it can be switched on.
 
There may very well be something I am not aware of that precludes the amp from being on without a load - maybe a tendency to high frequency oscillation or some such. Or maybe it's just that they don't want you to turn it on unplugged, and then short the transformer by plugging the amp into the speaker with it on. I can't think of a good reason to have it on without being plugged in anyway, besides just forgetting to hook it up before you turn it on.
I've had Fender Bassman and Bandmaster amps for 30+ years that seem to have suffered no damage by occasionally having them on with no speaker hooked up.
 
Jose_Man said:
Hey guys, Something I've always wanted to know is:

Why do mics sometimes eletrocute you when you put your lips on them ???


Peace
Jose
Click to expand...

That's a grounding problem..... everything needs to be on the same ground. And remember electricity ALWAYS takes the shortest path to ground.

While holding an electric guitar never walk up and grab a mic until you know it's safe to do so...... or you could die. While holding the guitar by the wooden body only..... touch the tuning peg to the mic... if you see a blue spark or hear the sound of corona (zap or cracking type sound) you have a grounding problem that needs to be fixed right away.
 
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Tube amps need to have a load present or the tubes and/or output transformer will be damaged. I won't pretend to know the technical details of why this is, but a quick search on the web showed this to be true of almost any tube amp design (something to do with biasing of the tubes, I think). Solid-State amps are fine without a load present.
 
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