[Matt_Stevens]

Is there any way to eliminate a ground loop? I have separated everything in this place and no matter what outlet anything is plugged into, I am getting the visual affects on my RPTV of a ground loop. With some equipment it is worse than with others.


Right now I want to bomb this house, but I rent, so that's out. As is help from the landlord. He cannot even see the problem. He doesn't know what HDTV is and doesn't care about picture quality. Messing with the circuity and outlets in this place is not an option.


I've researched and every thread I have found here ends with zero solutions.


Equipment I own includes a PS3, SA8300 HDDVR, Panasonic 47WX49 RPTV, JVC DH40000U DVHS deck, Pioneer VSXD811S and more.


Believe me, I have tried hooking up one single item direct to the TV. I have done every possible hookup in the world and no mater what, I get those rolling kind of bars. Basically, bars that are slightly brighter than the picture should be and they scroll up the picture.


Frustration is not even close to describing my state of mind at this moment.


By the way, sometimes there is a slight hum and sometimes there is not.

 

[BeachComber]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt_Stevens /forum/post/15500120


Is there any way to eliminate a ground loop? I have separated everything in this place and no matter what outlet anything is plugged into, I am getting the visual affects on my RPTV of a ground loop. With some equipment it is worse than with others.


Right now I want to bomb this house, but I rent, so that's out. As is help from the landlord. He cannot even see the problem. He doesn't know what HDTV is and doesn't care about picture quality. Messing with the circuity and outlets in this place is not an option.


I've researched and every thread I have found here ends with zero solutions.


Equipment I own includes a PS3, SA8300 HDDVR, Panasonic 47WX49 RPTV, JVC DH40000U DVHS deck, Pioneer VSXD811S and more.


Believe me, I have tried hooking up one single item direct to the TV. I have done every possible hookup in the world and no mater what, I get those rolling kind of bars. Basically, bars that are slightly brighter than the picture should be and they scroll up the picture.


Frustration is not even close to describing my state of mind at this moment.


By the way, sometimes there is a slight hum and sometimes there is not.

So you cannot by the process of elimination determine which equipment is the issue?


If plugging only one piece of associated electronics in at a time and you have it on everything, then it sounds as if its a difference of ground from the TV itself and all the other equipment. I HAVE seen this happen if you have a coax from the cable company connected directly to the set and that sets up a secondary ground (and thus loop) on all devices.

 

[Matt_Stevens]

The coax line from the cable company goes direct to the SA8300DVR box.


Right now I am going to unplug everything throughout the entire house and I mean everything not even related to the living room and theater area and start one by one in hopes of finding something. Maybe I can get a clean looking blank screen on the TV and go from there.

 

[Speedskater]

It's probably the co-ax to the SA8300! Disconnect that said co-ax. Power everything up through one nice surge suppressor outlet strip. Use plain Jane co-ax audio cables. See if the problem is gone. If so run the SA8300 in through the outlet strip co-ax connector. If the problem is still gone, it's a co-ax ground problem.

 

[budwich]

when did your problem start???? As suggested remove all your equipment, then plug in your TV. Then plug in a thing that will play nice... ps3 maybe (although I would say a basic dvd player)... plug into the same outlet. Connect it to the TV using standard video cables or svideo cables. Check the picture. If there is a problem with this basic setup odds are you have an equipment issue.... I suspect poor grounding in your TV. Further checks, if the initial setup doesn't work, is to try another video cable just in case your luck would have a bad cable. Keep the cables short. Once you get one setup clear, you can remove that source and try another. Repeat until you eliminate things.

 

[Matt_Stevens]

OK, this is interesting.


The problem occurs anytime any 3 prong plug is plugged into any outlet in the living room. No 3 prong plugs and no problem whatsoever.


So that means no PS3 and no HD-DVD player.


Tomorrow I'll see if I can but two 3 prong to 2 prong adapters.


But what the heck is the issue here? How does this happen?

 

[AuroraProject]

Sounds like it may be an open ground, how old is the place? Maybe pick up an electrical tester and see what results you get.

http://www.acmehowto.com/howto/homem...outlettest.php

 

[BeachComber]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt_Stevens /forum/post/15502607


OK, this is interesting.


The problem occurs anytime any 3 prong plug is plugged into any outlet in the living room. No 3 prong plugs and no problem whatsoever.


So that means no PS3 and no HD-DVD player.


Tomorrow I'll see if I can but two 3 prong to 2 prong adapters.


But what the heck is the issue here? How does this happen?

The electrical ground is at a different place than the Cable Ground - so when you plug in a 3 prong AC adapter, you open a second ground connection.


What you need to do is disconnect the ground on the cable coming in and use the 3 prong plugs with no adapter.

 

[Angelo M]

I had a nasty ground loop problem on my set. I put an adapter plug on my tosh hd-dvd player and it went away. I had the loop even when the player was turned off or the tv was on a different input.

 

[Matt_Stevens]



Quote:
Originally Posted by BeachComber /forum/post/15504006


The electrical ground is at a different place than the Cable Ground - so when you plug in a 3 prong AC adapter, you open a second ground connection.


What you need to do is disconnect the ground on the cable coming in and use the 3 prong plugs with no adapter.

Sorry, not sure I follow. Where exactly do I disconnect the ground?

 

[toms89]

I agree with AuroraProject. There is a possibility that the issue is with the apartment wiring. With the ground being open you can get potential voltage on it thru inductive currents in the wiring or of course any ground faults on the circuit. This can create issues with equipment plugged into the circuit that use this ground leg.

 

[burnsniper]

All you have to do to fix this is to run a ground line from the cable ground block to your house's grounding rod and the problem is solved. I just did this earlier this week. It cost approximately $15 dollars to buy the copper grounding wire and ground rod connector at HD/Lowes.


The problem at my house was that the cable ground block was grounded to the electric feed pipe (which was conveniently located next to the cable ground block) and not the house ground (which was about 15 ft away). My ground loop was so bad that lines would appear on the TV and that the hum would still be present when filtering it through a surge protector. I can't believe I waited 6 months to fix the problem.

 

[Matt_Stevens]

I'll have to try and convey this infiormation to my landlord, who just doesn't think there is a problem. He's a real nice guy, but he diesn't see it. His old TV is in torch mode with facial tones being akin to red paint, so that tells you what his tsand on TV PQ is.


If he doesn't see it, he won't fix it.

 

[burnsniper]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt_Stevens /forum/post/15510253


I'll have to try and convey this infiormation to my landlord, who just doesn't think there is a problem. He's a real nice guy, but he diesn't see it. His old TV is in torch mode with facial tones being akin to red paint, so that tells you what his tsand on TV PQ is.


If he doesn't see it, he won't fix it.

The cable company may fix it if you call them and tell them about the problem.

 

[TJ7]

I had the same issue and a good surge protector that everything, including cable and ethernet, runs through fixed it. This is the easiest way to get a common ground for all yer stuff.

 

[BeachComber]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt_Stevens /forum/post/15505504


Sorry, not sure I follow. Where exactly do I disconnect the ground?

You put a device like this in your RG6 before the cable goes to your STB or TV.




This is one I have had for over 20 years and was made for the high end audio market. It breaks the ground going to back to the cable feed. I am sure (reasonably) this specific one is not available any longer, but other units are certainly available to correct the issue.


Some surge protectors with an RG6 connection running through them might do the same thing. Go to Home Depot and pick one up. You can always return it if it does not work.

 

[bhlonewolf]

I just read this thread and need to clarify: Is it the cable coming in from the cable company? Try disconnecting the cable from the cable box (or wall), and see if the problem goes away. If it does, it's a relatively easy fix: you can get a ground loop isolator (say, from Jensen -- they make great ones) and it will eliminate the ground loop. Or, more permanently, the cable should be connected to the house ground where it enters the house/dwelling. Each setup is different, but if you look at the electrical meter outside the home, it should be connected with large, 6 gauge wire to a ground rod. The cable line should be connected to that ground as well, from the cable box. If it is, there shouldn't be a ground loop.


Sometimes, dimmers and other "noisy" electronics can pollute the line enough to cause problems. I had a similar problem and it took a long time for me to realize it was coming from a dimmer.

 

[Speedskater]

Or it might just be:

Swapped Neutral and Safety Ground wires in one or more wall outlets.

 

[Matt_Stevens]



Quote:
Originally Posted by bhlonewolf /forum/post/15513612


Sometimes, dimmers and other "noisy" electronics can pollute the line enough to cause problems. I had a similar problem and it took a long time for me to realize it was coming from a dimmer.

This place has five such dimmers, three of which are on the Living Room circuit breaker. Interesting.


Here's one for ya... I removed the cable line from the system and the problem went away. So I need to get one of those adapters mentioned above. Hopefully this will be the end of things.

 

[jvernon]

 http://www.jensen-transformers.com/datashts/vrd1ff.pdf