Seeking Advice Concerning System "Hum"

I once thought I had a ground loop on my sub. It would hum when it was powered. Tried everything and it ended up being a poorly shielded sub cable. I got one of the directional sub cables (recommended on internet and in store). Not sure if this applies to your situation much. You have much better equipment than myself lol.

I may have missed this, but have you tried to isolate the components that cause the hum (you mentioned a little about unplugging some things etc.). The power supply at my parents place, which is a generator when its on, causes all the amps I've tried there to hum, which I suspect is because of a difference in frequencies of what the equipment is built for, and what it is getting. When the amps were plugged into the major grid in town, they didn't have a problem. Given that you are also getting power from a generally isolated source (local dam) it seems feasible that it might be the same problem especially if major grids homogenize their power supplies into something that the equipment is designed for. I haven't found a solution to my humming yet, but I don't know if it is a ground loop because one of the amps that hummed didn't have a ground wire (third prong on the power cord). Anyways, hope it helps.

Hum is generally present when different cables in your system are close together and not properly
grounded.
As you, I live far away from towns which actually provides you with "cleaner" electricity.
The easy solution is to take a 4 feet rebar rod , pound it in the ground, attache a clamp to run a wire in to your house , and properly ground your system, some components in your system will have grounding posts, if not , you can simply attache a ground to a metal (screw) in your system, and ground the cables if you can.

Hope this helps

Best Regards

Peter

Peter,

I have an existing grounding post just outside the wall of my system that is used to ground the electrical box containing breaker switches. Can this post be shared?

My kWP preamp and both voltage stabilizers have grounding posts. Should I use individual wires or can they share a single fixed grounding wire and be chained?

You mentioned grounding cables. Would it be worthwhile to invest in a plug adapter and a new AC cord for things such as the Apple TV which only have a two prong termination?

Thanks for your help.

Ironwood,

Hum, as I understand it can come from a ground loop; components in the system having different ground potentials.
You mentioned that some components are plugged into a different outlet or power strip. I would start by using a single power strip, preferably one without a switch or circuit breaker, this should eliminate a difference in ground potential (even your video game consoles, TV and or any of the equipment connected together, even networking equipment).

Being remote, I assume you are not using cable TV, which is a notorious ground loop, if you are using cable internet or TV, try unplugging it from your system.

If this still does not solve it, unplug each component one at a time and see which one causes the hum to go away.
Then check all of your cables and connections to that component, try swapping cables from another known good component.

If the cables don't prove to help, then you may have an issue with that component, esp. if it is older, capacitors etc, will decay over time.

You mentioned that you just installed some new components, I would work my way backwards and see where the hum began, was it a particular component, cable or change in location of cables?

It is best to keep signal cables and power cables separate, it you cannot, then have the signal cable cross the power cable at a right angle, to help to keep the power cable from inducing noise into the signal cable.

To comment on the grounding post outside, I would not use a steel rebar, most grounds are copper, and some soils require different alloys to work properly, and you run the risk of piercing a pipe or underground cable, definitely a job for a professional. I would not use a separate ground for your system, this again, could produce a ground potential difference from the rest of your house.

Hope this helps,

Jeff

I've had some luck isolating the problem by floating the ground. Use the three to two prong adapter on components until find the culprit(s). Then the real work begins. Hums can be hard to fix.

I use the one at a time method too. Start with something simple like a plain receiver and speakers. You can try a 3 into 2 plug, but it's generally not the best long term solution to defeat the grounds (if possible).

Then start changing and adding. Does it hum with the amp running? Then add the pre-amp. You might find it gets worse as you add more things. Move cords, run extension cord from other outlets. Personally changing the amperage would not seem to matter to my simple mind as a breaker is happy .... until it pops.

Now I'd definitely get rid of that dimmer if you are plugging into that. I'd also test unplugging other stuff on the circuit. Especially florescent lights.

And lastly I'd venture to say you have a lot of junk plugged into one outlet. Might be no other solution.

So, unplug it all and turn everything else possible off and slowly start re-assembly. You might find that several things contribute. Cheater plugs might help at the risk of ... death. Isn't this stuff fun!!!