Hi Beep. Not that you are likely to ever do this but DO NOT open up a Kurzweil synthesiser and touch any of the Operating system or setup Eprom chips in that room you are in.. The static will blow them sky high and you will end up with a useless machine. (As I have found out the hard way) Can be fixed but a cost though. When you buy new system chips for a Kurzweil they give you a special anti static wrist strap that avoids all this.

Although it is unlikely you will be opening up a Kurzweil synth be careful opening up any gear in that environment. You wont even see a spark or feel anything necessarily but you can blow things up left right and centre if you are not careful with static and working inside gear doing maintenance.

I agree, it can't hurt to have an electrician check things out.  You can also use an outlet tester to check for proper grounding and installation (having one backwards could be deadly).  The last big house I had turned out to have most outlets ungrounded!  Scary stuff.

Here's what I was talking about.  I keep a couple around - they're cheap, but can save a life!

BTW it's been kind of damp here today and I notice a sharp decrease in shocks. I think the humidifier is really gonna lick this issue. It's rated for 2000 sq' and I think I've got about 600 here. Should be interesting to see what happens... well to me it's interesting anyway... yanno... cause I'm a dork. ;-p

Beepster


BTW it's been kind of damp here today and I notice a sharp decrease in shocks. I think the humidifier is really gonna lick this issue. It's rated for 2000 sq' and I think I've got about 600 here. Should be interesting to see what happens... well to me it's interesting anyway... yanno... cause I'm a dork. ;-p

That should make a huge difference.
Back in Denver, relative humidity in the Winter was usually around 7%. Throw in scorched air furnaces and synthetic carpet, and major static was the norm. Nylon blend socks really bring it on. We couldn't touch the cat without lighting her up. Man, she hated that.
If we boiled a kettle of water, it really took the edge off. Still, touching something to discharge the static was standard procedure.
Nothing against our coastal brethren, but living in Northern or high altitude locations has its peculiarities.
Since moving to Fort Worth, I rarely experience the static that was normal back in Denver.

Beepster

Ah yes... but isn't that just a more convenient version of the old two probe testers? I probably should snag one anyway but if my current tester does the same thing I'd like to use it if only to feed my brain with some old school electrical knowledge. I find that type of thing interesting. Cheers.

Those yellow stubby testers are great for checking incorrect wiring, but they won't tell you if you have a low voltage leak from Ground to Neutral.

The wife and I installed an exhaust fan in the main bathroom today. Oddly, nobody had ever done it ... but there is a switch in the bathroom that does nothing, so we assumed it was for a fan that never got installed. We were right.

We got up in the attic and right at the very end of the wall above the shower where the fan would logically go, there was a wire that was buried in the insulation. The wife gave it a tug, and the wire came up out of the insulation and the ends were bare, not a single wire nut. Just a bare 14 gauge wire jammed down in the 23 year old blown in insulation. It's amazing the place didn't burn down years ago.

I checked it with my meter and there was 2.3VAC from N-G, H-G, and H-N. I go flip the switch and check it again at the end of the wire and got 120VAC from H-G and H-N ... but still 2.3VAC from N-G. This would not have shown up on one of those little yellow testers.

I go kill the switch and verify the 120VAC was gone, and it was.

The ends of the wire were all bent and mangled so we cut an inch or so off, then stripped it back, installed the fan, ran the vent hose, and went to test it. Dead! No lights in the bathroom, no fan, no outlets. After running around in a panic mode and flipping breakers, it dawned on me to check the GFI breaker by the sink, and low and behold, when I cut the wires, even with only 2.3VAC going through them, it tripped the GFI. Reset it and everything worked perfectly.

Point is ... if there's a grounding problem, it doesn't take much of a voltage to really screw things up. Like I said before, 0.3VAC from N-G is the maximum allowance for copiers. There used to be a registration card I had to fill out with voltage readings, circuit amperage, install date, etc etc that I had to send back to the manufacturer. If they didn't get it, they wouldn't honor the warranty if something happened.

Sorry for the long post ... bored. Probably should just go to bed. Heh.

Not sure on the building your in Beep but another thing kinda along the lines Bub and John are talking about.

I wonder how the load is distributed throughout the building.  As these places get older and maintenance does things, loads become unbalanced with improper installation.

Example is adding more items to one side instead of equally across the box.  Thats the advantage of running things on 220 vs 110.  Makes you keep it balanced.  When the unbalanced occurs, the current will try and find easier ways to the neutral or ground wiring.

Just a thought on the balancing within the building.

hmm... You guys are worrying me a little. I don't think I'm really gonna have the time or resources to mess with this to the extent suggested.

Couple of questions... I've mentioned the Belkin power bar which as I said is supposed to condition the power but I also spent the extra dough and got a fancy Coolermaster 700w PSU for the DAW. I seem to recall it has proctection features as well. I mean if something is actually out of whack with the power in here should those two things just cut the power before something nasty happens? 

  Also my humidifier got here today. Stupid thing says I'm supposed to replace a filter all the time which is annoying me because I can't afford to constantly be dumping cash into it. I pulled the filter out and it looks like it something I might be able to rinse out however it also mentions that hard water will make the filter clog up faster. Water is definitely hard in here. Maybe I should run the water through my Brita first. 

Meh... I'm sure everything will be fine. I think the power in my old place was worse than the power here. Lights were always dimming and stuff there. Haven't had any of that here. 

Cheers.

Beep... open your sockets (with the main breaker OFF) and check to see if your ground wires are tight. All of them, the circuit is all connected and even a couple of loose ground wires will make noise and cause other problems. You may also need to do a new ground outside at the power meter. If the one you have is not deep/long enough it wont ground well... and I imagine your soil could make a difference in how well your circuit is grounded. Also, power provider may come out and help you. I know Georgia Power will because they have come to my house to help me solve electrical noise... no charge either.

J

Although I do have access to my own unit's panels I think I'd be breaking my lease if I started yanking off the faceplates.

I'll see how the humidifier does and re-read the info on this power bar and my PSU.

The care instructions for this humidifier are ridiculous. It has a DAILY maintenance section as well as a weekly maintenance section. If I did all that crap I'd be spending a few hours a week just screwing around with the thing. Forget that shiz... lol. It'll get rinsed and wiped when I can see it's getting dirty.

I'm just hoping this will go away when spring comes.

  It's gonna be a real pain trying to keep this thing full with my Brita though. The water compartments on this thing add up to 2.2 gallons. I should probably invest in a tap mounted one anyway. 

I will be keeping it clean but seriously the amount of fiddle faddle they recommend is just ridiculous. I'll just wipe the bugger down with some vinegar every now and then and call it a day. Maybe a teaspoon in the actually filter wanter every couple of cycles might keep things clean too. Not sure what harm that would do aside from make the place smell a bit but it might cut down on the cigarette smell. Haven't smoked inside for a few years and I'll tell ya... I'm not digging it. Gotta quit.

I am a bit worried about my dog. I am feeling a bit emotional about her right now. She is 14 but seems to have got old suddenly. She is very blind and deaf and her back legs are failing and her toilet training is going out the window a bit. Time is getting near I suppose. She still wags her tail and is pleased to see me first thing in the morning and keeps me company in the studio.

Back to static. I hope it all works out well for you Beep. I find the little shocks annoying too. But luckily no static issues here. Or well in my studio at least. Not so lucky on the bench though with that Kurzweil. It has become worse now and I think I have blown what is called the engine board which is a lager part to replace actually and a little costly.  ($150 or so)

But the good news is I have got three Kurzweils and two of them are very happy little vegemites and just keep on powering away. Maybe Bit might give me his engine board! It's alright Dave I have got two so I can still live. 

You have given me an idea Beep. I might throw a Lucy party after she passes. It would be a cracker. Many of our friends know her and have done so all her life. Many of them are musicians and there would be some serious jamming at that party. I have got a great PA and all the backline gear too. Thanks for that.  

I am almost as sad about my third Kurzweil though! I might throw a Kurzweil party when that passes. And it will. 

Yeah, man. Puppy wakes are good for the soul. Even better is when it gets close to that time have all her friends over to hang out with her and shower her with love and her favorite foods. They love that. Cheers. :-)