What Can I Do To Stop Mild Electric Shocks?

[Tom Kagai]

In my apartment, I keep experiencing mild electric shocks when playing an electric guitar through a small combo amp (really mild, but very disruptive to my playing!). This happens pretty much every time. The wall sockets have 3 pins, and so does the amp plug, so I thought it was all earthed adequately.

I know very little about 'electrickery', but I'd really like to resolve this so, any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[afp76]

Sounds like it is not properly earthed, but I'm no professional.

If you know an electrician he can easily determine it for you, if the problem is in the socket or your equipmemnt.

There are instructions on Internet how you can check it yourself using a "multimeter", but I recommend getting someone who knows.

[flying]

Is there also any static sounds when your hand brushes the pickguard?

If your sure your outlets are grounded & your playing a Strat like your avatar shows....You can try wiping the pickguard with an anti static wipe.

You know like bounce? The type folks throw in the clothes dryer.

Sometimes those plastic pick guards build up static electricity. Usually it just appears as static you hear but maybe your sensitive since you said it is very mild

[travelmann]

Rubber pants??? maybe your neighbours have removed your earth in the hope you get the hint???

[travelmann]

Is there also any static sounds when your hand brushes the pickguard?

If your sure your outlets are grounded & your playing a Strat like your avatar shows....You can try wiping the pickguard with an anti static wipe.

You know like bounce? The type folks throw in the clothes dryer.

Sometimes those plastic pick guards build up static electricity. Usually it just appears as static you hear but maybe your sensitive since you said it is very mild

Yes be careful tiled floors and rubber soled shoes wowser i sometimes get huge sparks in Seacon Square if I grab my wifes hand we both jump!!!

[soundman]

A shocking problem.

Short of spending big money rewiring the place and re-spiking another earth point, wear shoes indoors. If you are in sandals, and hot and sweaty, you may still experiance electric shocks.

[ableguy]

Take up the trumpet.

[Semper]

Rubber pants??? maybe your neighbours have removed your earth in the hope you get the hint???

[Tom Kagai]

Some good advice; thanks!

I can rule out the neighbours though, as I'm a model neighbour myself and usually use the headphone/D.I. socket.

[Soutpeel]

Some good advice; thanks!

I can rule out the neighbours though, as I'm a model neighbour myself and usually use the headphone/D.I. socket.

Almost certainly an earthing problem, just because you have 3 pin sockets, doesnt mean all 3 pins are connected. in the wall.....

Assuming the amp will be correctly wired.

[zzaa09]

Some good advice; thanks!

I can rule out the neighbours though, as I'm a model neighbour myself and usually use the headphone/D.I. socket.

Almost certainly an earthing problem, just because you have 3 pin sockets, doesnt mean all 3 pins are connected. in the wall.....

Assuming the amp will be correctly wired.

Correctly wired and earthed. Good luck pursuing that.

[Tom Kagai]

Yeah, I figure it's the wall sockets The amp has been sound as a pound (terrible metaphor actually, these days), plus on particularly humid days, I can get the same through the macbook's metal case.

[Member]

At shops that sell electric parts you can buy a few copper earth-pins, about 40 centimeter and 35b each, get also some 'installation cable' (the one with one thick center) and or either connect this with you equipment like guitar and computer, or connect it via extension cables with earth sockets/plugs and of course stick the whole pin into the ground. Important one is the water heater in the bathroom, very dangerous when it does not have an earth connection and tens of people get killed by this every year. In a previous condominium I installed my private earth cable all up to the 7th floor, lol.

[inthepink]

For a proper earth you really need a large spike driven into the ground (about 8ft long would be ideal). Living in an apartment makes it harder for you to sort out of course. Sometimes apartment buildings attach earth wires to the water pipes which is all very well unless some of it is plastic. Not a lot of help I know. I haven't played an electric guitar since I moved over here but now you mention it I can imagine it would be a problem. I get quite painful shocks from the computer, DVD player etcetera.

[Soutpeel]

Yeah, I figure it's the wall sockets The amp has been sound as a pound (terrible metaphor actually, these days), plus on particularly humid days, I can get the same through the macbook's metal case.

If you have steel or copper pipes in the wall you can get at run normal two core speaker wire from the chassis of the amp (steel portion) or from the PC metal case to the steel/copper water pipe and earth that way, not the ideal way but will work if in a condo, as I assume you have no intention of getting the place re-wired correctly

[Crossy]

OK, firstly, small electric shocks have an annoying habit of suddenly becoming large electric shocks !!

You're almost certainly seeing (feeling) the effects of poor earthing, something which is annoyingly difficult to deal with in an apartment.

Have a look here http://www.crossy.co.uk/wiring/2pin.html

Meanwhile, let's put this in DIY.

[inthepink]

---deleted---

Edited May 11, 2011 by inthepink

[happyrobert]

Yeah, I figure it's the wall sockets The amp has been sound as a pound (terrible metaphor actually, these days), plus on particularly humid days, I can get the same through the macbook's metal case.

MacBook? Definitely not grounded.

I had a "licensed" electrician try to convince me that my shower did not need a copper grounding rod--let alone three, 3 meters apart, nor a Safe-T-Cut.

When I insisted, he quit.

Darn.

The good luck part comes in finding an electrician who will do the job right.

[travelmann]

Some good advice; thanks!

I can rule out the neighbours though, as I'm a model neighbour myself and usually use the headphone/D.I. socket.

Good man, there are so many inconsiderate people in the world with the <deleted>*k you attitude these days, hope you sort out the shocking problem, ps 3 pins means nothing here take a socket off the wall and see if you have 3 wires for starters. How olds the building newer ones should be earthed.

A good earth would be the buildings lightning conductor BUT only until the first storm hahhahaha

Edited May 11, 2011 by travelmann

[painterscabin]

A shocking problem.

Short of spending big money rewiring the place and re-spiking another earth point, wear shoes indoors. If you are in sandals, and hot and sweaty, you may still experiance electric shocks.

Yes, wearing shoe, I was always shocked by a ceiling fan, in a rental we had, the wife would scold me about not wearing shoes, well after a few shocks I learned my leason. Not to many things truely grounded I'm discovering.

[Beardog]

You definitely have a poor ground probably on your whole house. I am pretty sure Crossy has the correct amount of acceptable leakage in his site notes. Our old house was incorrectly grounded. Shocks off the stereo case- Bass amp & computer.

The new house has beautiful ground. The sparky new his stuff. You should be able to find the tale of the bad grounding with a multimeter & Crossy's great guide he has set up.

[transam]

Perhaps buy a cheap volt meter. Test live to neutral and live to earth, should get a similar volt reading IF earth is present. Open your three pin plugs to see if an earth wire is actually present, if not just run a wire from the metal chassis of your amp to the earth pin in the plug or buy a 3 pin plug to do this.

[trogers]

Staying in an apartment? Meaning the whole building belongs to one owner. My advice - switch to a classical guitar.

[electau]

Earthing (if implemented) in Thailand conforms to Thai wiring practice and can be defined as;

1. Earthing is direct from the point of utilisation or exposed metalwork to an electrode in the general mass of earth,and/or;

2. The earthing conductor may be terminated in an approved manner to conductive material within the building that is in contact directly or indirectly with the general mass of earth.

It forms a very basic earthing system by the fact of equipotential bonding by minimising the touch voltage. However if this touch voltage in the event of an earth fault rises to above 50VAC automatic disconnection from supply must occur within less than 0.4secs. An RCD will achieve this.

Max earth resistance for a 30ma RCD so as not to exceed 50V is 50/0.03 = 1666 ohms.

An 30ma RCD must trip between 15ma and 30ma. 20ms is a typical operating time for an RCD.

　

[David006]

Curious to understand how a leaky 240v system could find it's way back to the pickups (mic) in an electric guitar. (don't know how the electric guitar is wired but the pick ups are just that and I would not have thought that they have any physical metallic contact with the strings?)The amplifier would have a transformer which effectively would isolate from the domestic supply yes? Similarly the laptop power supply. This being the case maybe static should not be ruled out?

.. the dielectric "shield" ground on the mic cable could well be the culprit, but that would probably cause a ground hum in the phones?

Edited May 13, 2011 by David006

[transam]

Curious to understand how a leaky 240v system could find it's way back to the pickups (mic) in an electric guitar. (don't know how the electric guitar is wired but the pick ups are just that and I would not have thought that they have any physical metallic contact with the strings?)The amplifier would have a transformer which effectively would isolate from the domestic supply yes? Similarly the laptop power supply. This being the case maybe static should not be ruled out?

.. the dielectric "shield" ground on the mic cable could well be the culprit, but that would probably cause a ground hum in the phones?

Before l put earth wire to 3 pin plug and chassis on stuff with 2 pin plugs, used to get belts, even the karaoke microphone .

[bangkokumpalumpa]

I just had the same problem in a bar, after earthing still the band were getting shocks, in the end the problem was simple, the amp did not have an earth pin this allowed the plug to be put in the wrong way round, the result was that the guitar was live and the shock would come through earthing on the mic.

try reversing your amp plug, better yet if you get a 25 baht test lamp screwdriver you can then check if the socket is wired correctly.

[anterian]

The concept of earthing in Thailand is pretty minimal, the first thing I did when i rewired my home was to fit an RCCB. leakage current below the trip level can be irritating, but with 2 pin plugs I simply plug them in the other way around when this happens

[bangkokumpalumpa]

I think this is the basics

it is to do with the system being set up to have nuetral/earth as anything metal, with a 3 pin plug this cant be reversed, but with a 2 pin plug you can find that you can now have a phase going to the body/metal parts. add a mic on a different system and you now have a phase nuetral circuit with you as the load.

if you get a tingle of anything try putting the plug in the other way round.

in saying that try sorting out an earth system!

[electau]

You may have a split mode power supply in your electric guitar and amplifier and there may also be capacitors connected to earth. This may be where you are getting your mild shocks from.