Is this an apdapter?

[cameron paterson]

Not sure what these are called. But I used one on my amps power cord going to a surge protector. Its a Parasound Halo A21 amp. Without the adapter the hum is rather loud from the fronts its powering. But with the adapter in the mix barely any hum. Is this a good idea or hard on the amp? Or could it cause a fire? I shut off amp every time I stop using it. What about if I go from an amp to an extension cord to the adapter to a surge protector? Thanks guys!

 

[j_garcia]

Technically, yes, it is a bad thing. You've removed the ground and the risk, while perhaps minimal, is that the amp could short internally and cause a fire OR create a condition where you touch it and YOU become ground. I was looking for a simple explanation, but the first response I saw on the internet was simple: Death is permanent.

Found this one though:

Beware the Ground Lift! - The Solid Signal Blog

This little chunk of plastic could be the most dangerous thing in your house.... or not.

blog.solidsignal.com

 

[highfigh]

Not sure what these are called. But I used one on my amps power cord going to a surge protector. Its a Parasound Halo A21 amp. Without the adapter the hum is rather loud from the fronts its powering. But with the adapter in the mix barely any hum. Is this a good idea or hard on the amp? Or could it cause a fire? I shut off amp every time I stop using it. What about if I go from an amp to an extension cord to the adapter to a surge protector? Thanks guys!

That's a ground lift adapter and it should only be used for testing, or to connect a grounded device to a two prong outlet but these usually have a tab on the end with two prongs, used for fastening it to the existing outlet and providing the ground connection THAT ISN'T OPTIONAL!

I assume your audio cables are connected to the balanced jacks, right? Ditch those and use the unbalanced connections.

 

[mono-bloc]

It also comes down to the chassis IEC socket on the back of the unit being powered, Many only have a two pin socket. Really providing the power lead is removable any sort / form of adaptor is unnecessary simply use a lead with the correct plug. If it's a fixed lead, simply cut the plug off and attach the correct plug.

 

[TLS Guy]

Not sure what these are called. But I used one on my amps power cord going to a surge protector. Its a Parasound Halo A21 amp. Without the adapter the hum is rather loud from the fronts its powering. But with the adapter in the mix barely any hum. Is this a good idea or hard on the amp? Or could it cause a fire? I shut off amp every time I stop using it. What about if I go from an amp to an extension cord to the adapter to a surge protector? Thanks guys!

Your problem is that you have a ground loop, which is a resistance between grounds in your system, so that there is a voltage between the grounds which is causing current to flow between grounds and causing the hum. The problem is that when you use that two pin plug, you are lifting a ground, which should not be lifted and creating a safety issue.

So what you need to do is find the ground that has the offending potential. This is frequently cable systems and Ethernet connections.

Your power amp should be grounded. So unplug everything except the power amp, which should be plugged in with a three pin plug. Now connect your receiver. pre/pro or what ever it is driving your power amp. And then connect your units to what ever it is that is driving the power amp one by one. Note which ones cause the hum. When you find the aberrant grounds, I will then advise you further.

 

[cameron paterson]

TLS Guy? I have 5 power amps. 3 of them hum very loudly without the adapter! One of them is my 2 front speakers powered by a Parasound Halo A21. One of the subs is so loud where I could hear it with the tv at normal volume. What do I do? Can the humming effect the subwoofers or my front speakers? Or does the humming not bother the subs and speakers?

 

[TLS Guy]

TLS Guy? I have 5 power amps. 3 of them hum very loudly without the adapter! One of them is so loud where I could hear it with the tv at normal volume. What do I do?

I just told you what you do. You have to find the offending grounds creating the potentials between the grounds. Good ground plane design is one of the basic essentials in assembling audio and AV systems.

I would bet none of those amps hum if nothing is connected to the inputs of the amps. Is that correct?

 

[cameron paterson]

Not sure what you mean by "I would bet none of those amps hum if nothing is connected to the inputs of the amps. Is that correct?" And you want me to unplug everything in my whole theater system? I have like 20 things plugged in on 5 different surge protectors.

 

[cameron paterson]

Can humming hurt a sub or speaker? And why are the adapters so dangerous? What can happen with them? I shut off my amps every night after I use my home theater system. Can anything happen with everything shut off with the adapters still in the mix overnight?

 

[everettT]

Can humming hurt a sub or speaker? And why are the adapters so dangerous? What can happen with them? I shut off my amps every night after I use my home theater system. Can anything happen with everything shut off with the adapters still in the mix overnight?

The danger part has been explained thoroughly, you're lifting a ground that shouldn't be lifted (some amp manufacturers have a switch to lift the ground properly but are more commonly found with pro audio) I'd highly recommend you put in the work and start the process of determining which piece of gear is the culprit, it takes times and is the correct way to eliminate the nuisance. There are pieces of electronics that are sold that may or may not help, but finding the offending piece is the proper way to move forward.

 

[highfigh]

It also comes down to the chassis IEC socket on the back of the unit being powered, Many only have a two pin socket. Really providing the power lead is removable any sort / form of adaptor is unnecessary simply use a lead with the correct plug. If it's a fixed lead, simply cut the plug off and attach the correct plug.

If it's a fixed plug, it's not a recent model because the IEC has been mandated by the CE for a couple of decades. Also, changing to an un-grounded plug can be lethal as mentioned before.

Do it right and address the actual problem, don't cobble this stuff together.

 

[highfigh]

Not sure what you mean by "I would bet none of those amps hum if nothing is connected to the inputs of the amps. Is that correct?" And you want me to unplug everything in my whole theater system? I have like 20 things plugged in on 5 different surge protectors.

No, just unplug the signal cable from the sub. If the hum stops, you need to address the problem of resistance on the ground and/or neutral wires. You can do this by using an isolation transformer and by reading the many threads here about ground loops, where this has been discussed many times.

Also, use one surge protector for one system- using more can introduce problems that will completely frustrate you.

 

[cameron paterson]

These are the surge protectors I have. Are these surge protectors grounded so I can use the adapter plugged into it and not worry about not being grounded?

https://www.amazon.com/Belkin-BE112230-08-12-Outlet-Power-Protector/dp/B000J2EN4S/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=2BZUOY14AKDXR&keywords=belkin+surge+protector&qid=1678463652&sprefix=belkin+surge%2Caps%2C2505&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzNUU3Mk5BRklJMjFXJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMjI1MTU3MUFKQjRQS0QyUkJJMyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNTA1ODg4M042WUk3RzlKNlNRTSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

 

[highfigh]

Can humming hurt a sub or speaker? And why are the adapters so dangerous? What can happen with them? I shut off my amps every night after I use my home theater system. Can anything happen with everything shut off with the adapters still in the mix overnight?

It's not the hum, it's the voltage on wires between equipment where there should be no voltage.

 

[cameron paterson]

What do you mean it can be lethal? You mean shock me and kill me? How would that happen? Can you answer my question? Can anything happen with everything shut off with the adapters still in the mix overnight?

 

[everettT]

What do you mean it can be lethal? You mean shock me and kill me? How would that happen? Can you answer my question? Can anything happen with everything shut off with the adapters still in the mix overnight?

Yes, like, as in, DEAD.

 

[cameron paterson]

So how would I get shocked? Touching the prongs while plugging it in?

 

[cameron paterson]

Did you read this post?:


These are the surge protectors I have. Are these surge protectors grounded so I can use the adapter plugged into it and not worry about not being grounded?

https://www.amazon.com/Belkin-BE112230-08-12-Outlet-Power-Protector/dp/B000J2EN4S/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=2BZUOY14AKDXR&keywords=belkin+surge+protector&qid=1678463652&sprefix=belkin+surge,aps,2505&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzNUU3Mk5BRklJMjFXJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMjI1MTU3MUFKQjRQS0QyUkJJMyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNTA1ODg4M042WUk3RzlKNlNRTSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

 

[cameron paterson]

The surge protector says "protected" on it. The light that says "not grounded" is off. With the adapter plugged into it.

 

[everettT]

So how would I get shocked? Touching the prongs while plugging it in?

Did you read the posts above? Touching the gear itself can cause *you* to become the ground. If it's in a rack and the rack is metal, everything touching metal is potentially deadly. If you're gonna use a cheater plug, use it for it's intended purpose which is not to remove ground loops.

Why not just do the troubleshooting?