A question about grounding wire

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Tristero, Jan 22, 2023.

  1. Tristero

    Tristero In possession of the future tense Thread Starter

    Location:
    MI
    My friend got a turntable a while ago and he hasn't been able to hook up the grounding wire because with the way he has things set up, it's not long enough to make it over to his receiver. The wire comes right out of his turntable and it isn't long at all. Is there a way to add an extension wire for this or does he just need to rearrange things so that his receiver is directly below the turntable? I know this is kind of a weird question, but for whatever reason, he's been willing to put up with the hum, but it drives me crazy every time I go over there!
     
  2. Big Blue

    Big Blue Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Sure, it can be extended. It’s only a single-conductor wire, nothing special.
     
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  3. BrentB

    BrentB Urban Angler

    Location:
    Midwestern US
    Of course. Just use a piece of 16 gauge wire ot thicker and a wire nut.
     
  4. Jim0830

    Jim0830 Forum Resident

    Just be sure to make a secure connection between the receiver and the extension wire and the extension wire to the existing ground wire.
     
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  5. Leonthepro

    Leonthepro Skeptically Optimistic

    Location:
    Sweden
    Perfect answers above.
     
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  6. timind

    timind phorum rezident

    Good solution, but 16 gauge?
     
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  7. BrentB

    BrentB Urban Angler

    Location:
    Midwestern US
    That is just what I used on my Project/One. It has a grounding jack on the TT and I doubled the length of it when I moved the room around. I have loads of extra wire and just grabbed it first. Probably overkill, but better than too small. I forgot to add that I used a little dielectric grease in the wire nut. Probably overkill too...
     
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  8. This,
    [​IMG]
    or this,

    [​IMG]
    Or this,
    [​IMG]
     
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  9. Pretorius

    Pretorius Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    More importantly the ground wire is traditionally the same length as your phono cables. How is your friend reaching the receiver with the phono cables? Extending the phono cable length will negatively affect his sound and may introduce hum.
     
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  10. Designsfx

    Designsfx Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    @Pretorius
    I’ve never heard that mentioned before- out of my own curiosity what would be driving that relationship?
     
  11. Oelewapper

    Oelewapper Plays vinyl instead of installing it on the floor.

    Very easy to get a longer ground wire.
    The neat way:
    Open up the turntable and solder in a longer ground wire.

    The easy way:
    Cut off the end, strip it and extend it using Wago splices, the inline ones are the easiest:
    [​IMG]
    this is Wago number 221
    Just two orange clips/levers you open, put the wire in both sides and close them again.


    And don’t bother with those wire nuts. They’re way too much hassle. People still recommend them, but they’re really a part of history.
     
  12. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    Any gauge wire will work, it's not carrying any current.
     
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  13. Jim0830

    Jim0830 Forum Resident

    If this was a long term solution I tended to try and get a green wire of at least the same gauge as the ground wire. This can help avoid confusion when you are looking behind your stereo equipment and can't see where the wire originates from. I would solder it where it joined the other wire there are other options shown above. I also installed a spade lug at the receiver end of things rather than wrapping bear wire around the grounding screw.

    You know thinking about this topic really makes me miss Radio Shack. In the places I have lived there was one or more in every town, even more in the city.
     
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  14. The ground wire can be extended. I extended my own on one of my turntables. I am a believer in soldering the bare wire connections and covering them with shrink tube. They will never pull apart .
     
  15. BrentB

    BrentB Urban Angler

    Location:
    Midwestern US
    They are simple, effective, and UL approved. I will stick with history.
     
  16. Grower of Mushrooms

    Grower of Mushrooms Omnivorous mammalian bipedal entity.

    Location:
    Glasgow
    Wow, bear wire.

    Here in the UK we get Gorilla Glue, but bear wire is new to me!
     
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  17. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    In North America bear wire is usually used around the parameter of peoples yards to trip bears when they try and enter.
     
  18. In this case it shouldn't.
    I have had a belt from 2 grounds of differing impedances, and it wasn't pleasant.
     
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  19. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    Two grounds at anytime is not a good thing.
     
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  20. Tell me about it!
    Being the flesh and blood conductor between them hurts.

    When I last got a belt off the ground it was between the plumbing and electrical grounds. In the UK they should be tied to the CMET (consumer main earth terminal), but in this case they weren't tied together.
     
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  21. Oelewapper

    Oelewapper Plays vinyl instead of installing it on the floor.

    Another funny thing is when signal ground from the turntable is connected to the case of a phono preamp that has its case connected to protective earth through an IEC connector, while various other components in the same system have a grounded IEC connection as well.
    In those cases it’s more or less inevitable that multiple paths to ground/earth are created.
     
  22. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    WOW ???
    The chassis ground the OP is installing should have no current what-so-ever, if there is there's a serious problem.
     
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  23. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    Chassis grounds shouldn't cause a 60hz ground loop issue even if they have a different potential.
     
  24. Absolutely!
    Mine was an unusual scenario, but it did occur.
     
    Tim 2 likes this.
  25. It was like a static belt with hobnail boots...
     
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