| Columns Retired Columns & Blogs |
March 10, 2017 - 10:22pm
#1
Static driving me nuts
| Loudspeakers Amplification Digital Sources | |
Analog Sources Accessories Featured | |
Music Columns Retired Columns | |
Show Reports | |
Features Latest News Community | |
Resources Subscriptions |
© 2024 StereophileAVTech Media Americas Inc., USA
All rights reserved
[quote=Ivor Darcy]Hello again folks,
I got my turntable ( VPI Scout ) set up and playing but I am having a terrible problem with static. No problems when the record is playing but as soon as I touch the tonearm lever...snap, crackle and pop!
First of all, you should have a ground wire from the turntable to the phono preamp. I assume that is the case. There should also be a wire from the phono preamp to the grounded metal chassis of the amplifier. That should protect the cartridge and circuits.
Your body can build up a static charge of several thousand volts just by walking across the floor, and then a large discharge will occur when you touch anything grounded. This depends to a great degree on whether you have leather or rubber soles on your shoes, and what type of flooring and rugs you walk on. Do you also get a spark if you touch a metal doorknob? Leather soles are usually very bad.
It should help to touch some metal area of the turntable away from the tonearm first, for a second or so, before you touch the tonearm. Or just touch anything that is grounded near the turntable, such as the grounded outer part of an RCA connector.
A conductive anti-static mat can be used to get the charge off your body by standing on it before you touch anything. It needs to be connected to the power line ground at a receptacle or a metal water pipe.
There should be no continuous hum, though, when you touch anything. This indicates that the turntable is not grounded well. You may need to run a wire from the turntable/phono preamp ground connectors to the 3rd pin ground at the wall receptacle.
Thank you.
I just now noticed the ground connector on the phono pre-amp. Don't know how I missed it. There is a ground wire running from the bottom of the tonearm mount to the back of the TT and obviously that is not sufficient on its own.
Ok...have some Monoprice speaker wire that I never got around to using ( use Audioquest Type 4 instead ) and have used that as a ground wire from the TT to the Phono Stage and problem seems to be solved. There is a tiny bit of static when I touch the tonearm lift lever but I think it is the static from me now. No loud snap, crackle and pop though.
I have laminate wood floors and in the summer I am barefoot but in the winter I wear rubber soled slippers or sometimes just a pair of socks. I wonder if I am picking the static up from the rug? It is made of Nylon, I believe, and is only there to protect my floor from the casters on the coffee table. Maybe I need to ditch the rug and find one that is made of a different material. Or, as you suggest, find an anti-static mat.
Thanks again commsysman. Much appreciated.
David