Question Earthing distribution amp

Thanks for all the advice guys. I've put it all back together minus the return from living room for distributing sky as dont do that now with sky q. Cannot get earth down to under stairs like I wanted so will probably get a bit of 6mm and a pipe clip and go to the pipe work by boiler.
Thanks.
 
Why can't you use the earth connection of its mains plug?
 
Thanks for all the advice guys. I've put it all back together minus the return from living room for distributing sky as dont do that now with sky q. Cannot get earth down to under stairs like I wanted so will probably get a bit of 6mm and a pipe clip and go to the pipe work by boiler.
Thanks.

I'd be much more cautious of just adding an earth because you've found 100v (AC?) to earth.

Right now it sounds like it's just floating on all your unearthed media gear common chassis ground & av screen & unlikely to be going anywhere (atm) hence why you can feel it & get that reading on a test meter, if you did have any gear with an earth that would pull it through that peice of gear.

Once you add an earth it is then 100v* going to earth. (10 or 20v would be nicer)

* If it is 100v, if it's rouge AC from a switch mode it could be something different to 50Hz (eg higher) so there's no guarantee a test meter will measure it accurately.

Before doing that earth, I'd check your media gear to try to establish you don't have a failing PSU (or 2) somewhere & if you do & it goes worse which it will, you'll have it belting through all your gear en route to that earth.

Old sky box's psu's are No.1 then old TVs then any old stb & even new but cheapo Chinese boxes like a cheap IPTV box with even cheaper SMPSU. Check gear regularly & avoid keeping old or used gear.

To earth or not to earth on media gear / systems has become a major headache (on single dwellings) not least because of issues like this - but neither is ideal, we've just gravitated to everything being double issolated / without an earth now but no one's thought it all out or what happens when lots of av equipment is all effectively connected together via aerial & sat leads AV leads wired lan etc & then stuff gets old & no longer at the spec it was new ?

Btw.. I think 50v is the max allowed, for safety re electric shock, but that's including the resistance path (you) so shouldn't be that but you could measure it (with you touching the rf amp meter between your other hand & the boiler . But thats for shock levels not av gear interference / damage so its just amusing to see what's left.

Oh, pipes might not always be earthed now because of the advent of plastic fittings. That whole bonding thing got in a mess several times with knee jerk lehislation based on one postmortem rather than national data.
 
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I thought that with a PME system there is multiple earthing of the neutral at every house.

Earthing a mast causes it to discharge high electric fields associated with lightning so reducing the chances of it getting hit by lightning. That is how lightning conductors work.
 
Hi guys went back in loft to look at this again. Just a thought, would fitting isolated diplex plates stop any voltage going back up coax cable to loft ? I currently have 6 screened but not isolated plates.
Cheers Mike
 
Wow, 2 years since you were recommended to earth that amp. Did you?
Isolated plates should stop leakage. Make sure they are double screened or you could have other problems.
Much cheaper to earth the amp than change all the outlets.
 
I know , been using Sky but going back to freeview and streaming, looking at the mk plates which say isolated and screened. Got six all together.
Can i use a single plate in each room if i only require tv or fm or do they still need a diplex plate on
Cheers Mike
 
Possibly can use a single plate. But I still don’t understand why when all you need to do is earth the amp.
 
So bring a 6mm earth out of the plug and connect to amp ? Wouldn't that be a little cowboyish ?
Thanks mike
 
So bring a 6mm earth out of the plug and connect to amp ? Wouldn't that be a little cowboyish ?
Thanks mike
What 6 mm? The earth wire in 2.5mm twin and earth cable feeding your socket is 1.5mm. That is all you need for your amp. We are talking about leakage here not lightning protection.
 
So bring a 6mm earth out of the plug and connect to amp ? Wouldn't that be a little cowboyish ?
Thanks mike

What 6 mm? The earth wire in 2.5mm twin and earth cable feeding your socket is 1.5mm. That is all you need for your amp. We are talking about leakage here not lightning protection.

Its earth connector is supposed to be a 4mm earth connector not via the ring mains to meet the spec that I posted on the page.

Clearly taking it off the mains would give you an earth but not meet the spec.

However, thinking about this a quick Google suggests the amp is already earthed anyway so I doubt connecting an additional earth would actually resolve the issue.

1655419105261.png
 
The spec you quote is for lighting protection. Not what we are talking about. An earth via the ring will solve the problem we are talking about and is clearly better than no earth.
 
The spec you quote is for lighting protection. Not what we are talking about. An earth via the ring will solve the problem we are talking about and is clearly better than no earth.

It's not for lightning protection, it's too small, if you can provide a link that states differently would appreciate it. It's for earth bonding particularly in bigger distribution systems to stop any dangerous voltages

If you unplug at the socket you remove any earth protection, that's partly what's its for too. Often they are combined with

1655456615936.png

These so even if you need to temporarily disconnect a connector it is still earthed.

Coming back to this device it is already earthed, check the above photo it will be class 1 which means that any external surfaces, including the connectors will be already earthed. An easy check for the OP will be to test continuity between the earth pin on the plug and the metal chassis and outer bit of the F connector.
 
Lightning/lighting?!
 
For some reason this topic has become way overly complicated over its two plus years life...

Given that @cantillon is way out of his/her depth, perhaps a more professional 'on site' eye is required, in the form of a qualified electrician!
 
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Coming back to this device it is already earthed, check the above photo it will be class 1 which means that any external surfaces, including the connectors will be already earthed. An easy check for the OP will be to test continuity between the earth pin on the plug and the metal chassis and outer bit of the F connector.
Why do you think that? I can see nothing in that (poor) photo to indicate it is class 1. I possess a Labgear dist amp (not that one) and it only has a 2 core mains lead and has no indications on it such as double insulated.
 
Why do you think that? I can see nothing in that (poor) photo to indicate it is class 1. I possess a Labgear dist amp (not that one) and it only has a 2 core mains lead and has no indications on it such as double insulated.
It’s got a metal prong for earth on the plug which may mean it's earthed.

However, reading the instructions again it does mention it doesn't need an earth if you change the plug.

Does yours have a full metal-earth prong out of interest, a lot of the smaller plastic ones either.
 
It’s got a metal prong for earth on the plug which may mean it's earthed.

However, reading the instructions again it does mention it doesn't need an earth if you change the plug.

Does yours have a full metal-earth prong out of interest, a lot of the smaller plastic ones either.
It is a standard re-wirable mains plus, so yes it has a metal earth pin.
 
Cheers for replies again guys. Ive managed to bag 10 MK isolated and screened diplex plates off ebay for £20 brand new. Ha e got everything co e ted to amp but all tvs disconected and no voltage. Will let you know how i get on.
 

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