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>Boy, if you still have that much hum, and bypassing standard grounding
makes that much difference, I'd suggest that you take another look at
the ground wiring in your house. If you have a voltmeter, check the
potential difference between ground and neutral on one >of the outlets
in the vicinity of the computer or the VCR (check one on each circuit,
if >you have more than one in that vicinity). Neutral is the wider of
the two slots on a >standard outlet. The difference shouldn't be more
than 1-2 volts AC - anything much >higher indicates that your grounds
and neutral aren't properly tied together somewhere in >your electrical
system. They should all come back to a common neutral bar in your
>circuit breaker box, and that should tie both to the ground rod and the
Consumers neutral >wire. You may also want to test the difference
between the outside conductor of your >>cable service, and the
electrical ground.
>That should also be less than a couple volts AC.
The hum to me is expected because I have a Stereo that I use for my
computer speakers, a set connected to the TV/VCR, and then another set
connecting back. That makes a total of 3 sets of RCA cables going in and
out of my TV/PC. The TV/VCR and the small Mini HiFi system are all 2
prong outlets and my PC is the only thing with 3 prong. Getting rid of
the PC ground would get rid of the minor video noise, and hum on the
audio. It wasn't until I got the Monster strip that all of that went
away. This also happened at my parents house as well.
>If you really did have a loose neutral wire in the past, you would have
set yourself up >for some possibly large voltage spikes throughout your
house. What normally happens is >that the incoming 220 volt power is
split half and half, from the neutral wire to each >"hot" wire, giving
you the 110 volts that most equipment expects. Half of your 110 volt
>circuits are tied to one "hot" wire, and the rest to the other.
Without the neutral, >you end up balancing the load on the one half of
the circuits against the other half, and >if the loads are uneven, the
voltage level on the side with heavy draw goes way down, >and the
voltage on the other side could go way above 110. You would see that
especially >in incandescent light bulbs as a significant dimming or
brightening of the bulbs when >you use a high-current appliance (e.g.
toaster, microwave, or laser printer).
I normally wouldn't have noticed it as anything wrong with my electrical
actually, I stumbled across an FAQ for the NEC (National Electrical
Code) and it mentioned lights getting brighter when an electrical motor
starts. http://www.faqs.org/faqs/electrical-wiring/part2/section-9.html
My dryer receptacle had mysteriously fried, and I had an electrician out
to check things and it all tested good. I turn on my garbage disposal
later and I notice the lights got brighter. Apparently, the mains were
welded together up on the line, and it should have been sparking
(according to what I overheard by the crew). They told me that was also
effecting some of the other houses in my neighborhood. I'm not sure how
long it was like that either, as I really didn't pay much attention to
it.
>If all of this fits the past or current symptoms, you may have
partially fried your >Linksys router. Once you have cleaned up the
electrical system, you may want to replace >the router.
Makes me wonder if I can file a claim on that one?
Tim
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