disconnecting ground (remove third prong) from DAC

[Laika2]

I used a cheater plug to convert a Outlaw 7 channel amp from 3 to 2 prong. It did end the hum. Always got a slight static like shock when I touched the amp. Well after the cheater I touches it, could actually see the spark jump to my finger and a heck of a shock. The whole system shut down. Lucky, protection circuits saved it all. Removed the cheater, ran two grounds from amp to preamp, one normal, one from a case screw on the back of the amp to same on the back of the preamp and almost no hum, only heard 2 feet from the speaker cranked. Lesson learned. Mess with ground wires not power wires, thought I lost a 4 grand preamp and 3 grand amp. Thank God for protection circuits.

 

[mhardy6647]

You might tell the families of those that were electrocuted by those death traps, that they were safe.

Never said they were safe -- but they were popular.
Cigarettes, too, were popular.

 

[Laika2]

Amazon can sell them legally because their intended use is a fixed install *with* protective earth connected to the socket. The problem is this connection is not automatically enforced by the design and thus almost everybody uses these adapters incorrectly, also the correct install is basically never pictured in the product description and photos.
View attachment 457133

And unless you have metal conduit I don't think the screw works, I have PVC conduit and pvc boxes. (Unless the ground screw grounds to the 3rd wire inside the outlet somehow) I could be all wet but was told you need a metal path from the screw to the ground, as in earth, not wire or screw

 

[Speedskater]

You need a conductive path, either wire or metal to the main breaker box Neutral/Safety Ground point.
Not to Planet Earth.

 

[Laika2]

You need a conductive path, either wire or metal to the main breaker box Neutral/Safety Ground point.
Not to Planet Earth.

For their standard use, a two wire outlet with a 3 wire adapter will not have that 3rd wire to the outlet and with a PVC box and PVC conduit the adapter screw would do nothing. Thanks for the correction and I realize the topic is not about a old 2 wire house and thus more for my education.

 

[EERecordist]

I did this to solve a ground loop issue. Is it safe? Will it compromise quality?

You will get a better solution on ASR if you take a picture of your system, and all the cables connecting things, and with a drawing of the system.

It is a common audio problem with known solutions.

Hahaha, maybe we need a ground loop AI?

 

[olds1959special]

You will get a better solution on ASR if you take a picture of your system, and all the cables connecting things, and with a drawing of the system.

It is a common audio problem with known solutions.

Hahaha, maybe we need a ground loop AI?

Both my SMSL DAC's buzz on the left channel when I use them in this setup. I even tried it with a Mackie Big Knob instead of my tube pre amp and the buzz was still present. Everything is plugged into the same wall outlet. But when I use my tube pre amp I only hear the normal tube hiss but I don't hear the buzz in the left side, I don't think.

 

[olds1959special]

both my SMSL DAC's buzz in the right channel on both my speaker systems, when connected directly to the amps.

 

[olds1959special]

In my bookshelf setup the buzz stopped so I'm running direct now with no ground lift.

 

[olds1959special]

Both my SMSL DAC's stopped buzzing. I'm not sure what I was doing wrong. I am able to run direct from my DAC with no noise now.