Grounding, this ain’t no joke...

[Kingrex]

Originally Posted by bart

I think grounding is standard and mandatory here in my country, but I not tech-savvy.

Grounding is the backbone of any and all electrical intallation no matter the country you are in. Yet code minimum is not audio quality. And code minimum degrades significantly over time. You ever look at a piece of old wire sitting in the yard. The copper is pitted, green and white. Do you think it would conduct micro voltage to earth well? I don't. I use #2 THWN. I only open the case at the rod and I deox then wrap all connection points to reduce oxidation over time.

[cleeds]

Originally Posted by Kingrex

I am a friend of Eds and I installed his grounding per NEC 250.32. See Exhibit 250.19 in your NEC 2014 Handbook to see an image of my installation.

That's good to know! I've read about so many improper grounding installations in audio forums that it's really alarming.

Originally Posted by Kingrex

I always keep audio ground rods more than 10 feet away from other grounds to reduce the chance for ground loops through earth. See NEC 250.53. Grounding electrodes are required to have minimum spacing. They are not suppose to be near each other.

Yes, I think 6-foot is the minimum spacing for ground rods, 10 feet is better. What is hazardous is when a group of grounding electrodes is on one side of a house, and another group is 50 feet away.

[For The Love of Music]

Circling back to this, it got me thinking what is going on to realize this level of performance.

A while back I listened to what the Nordost QKore grounding system was accomplishing, then purchased one and while it contributed a positive difference to my sound, I needed to go back and read what they wrote to better understand this.

When we think electrical grounding, we think safety but here are the additional benefits Nordost spells out for Audio Junkies like us and points out their option is good for people who do not have their own dedicated lines that are grounded, and grounding my existing circuit at the sub panel is precisely what I just did.

“A great deal of the electrical noise in hifi systems is caused by imperfections in the power domain. These imperfections may be generated by airborne pollution on the AC line that are induced, in part, by increasing amounts of Bluetooth, Wi-Fi (I have 31 connected devices in my home according to my Eeros Mesh network), and cellular signals. Airborne pollution can take the form of high frequency interference, noise, and stray magnetic fields, which lead to AC line contamination. A poor, or “unclean”, ground causes more performance imperfections than most people realize. Without an effective ground point, the entire foundation of your sound system becomes jeopardized—and unfortunately, most listening rooms simply do not have access to a designated line, attached to a ground rod. In these instances, a simple, effective, and internal option is needed: Nordost’s QKORE Ground Unit.”

I am not pushing Nordost but I am am bringing the two ways this can be done, with both offering results, but grounding at a dedicated sub panel circuit breaker box makes a much more significant difference.

[djwhog]

great post! So very true... getting worse by the day.. smart meter noise too ugg..

[joe schmoe]

Originally Posted by cleeds

I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but it's likely that the installation of these additional ground rods is not safe and is in violation of NEC and possibly your local code.

Per NEC, all grounds and neutrals must be bonded together at the main panel and only at the main panel. That includes the grounding rods. The potential safety hazard issues apply even if you're not in the US and not subject to the code.

If your new grounding rods are separated by a substantial distance from the original rods, you've created an additional hazard. I encourage you to have an expert electrician assess your installation.

Exactly, you are setting yourself up for a very hazardous situation.

[For The Love of Music]

Originally Posted by joe schmoe

Exactly, you are setting yourself up for a very hazardous situation.

Here is a clearer picture on what was done

IMG_1509.jpg

[Kingrex]

Originally Posted by cleeds

That's good to know! I've read about so many improper grounding installations in audio forums that it's really alarming.



Yes, I think 6-foot is the minimum spacing for ground rods, 10 feet is better. What is hazardous is when a group of grounding electrodes is on one side of a house, and another group is 50 feet away.

That makes no sense to me and is not addressed in the NEC. Every house I do as well as commercial projects have multiple grounds. A house for instance is required to have all grounds attaches. In a house this would be the cold water pipe, the galvanized drain lines, ground rods, ufer ground. They are all over.
Commercial projects drop a ring or plate at the main. Usually just building steel now and the cold water supply.

The NEC encourages you to use as many grounds as available. Some inspectors enforce it. Others only look for the ufer. No inspector want to allow 2 rods with no other ground. Rods are not considered very effective.

[joe schmoe]

Yep isolated neutral works.

[clpetersen]

Since you are going through the effort, you might also consider a true isolated system (i.e isolation transformer).
In this case, you can bond the (electrically isolated) neutral to a separate earth ground.

link below.

https://www.schneider-electric.us/en/faqs/FA123947/

[oddeophile]

Ok, so what isolation transformer(s) are recommended and VA size? Like most of us non engineering types I’m dazed and confused.