Mains hum

So this

and this

aren’t a 12v 1A wall wart, they’re just a figment of my imagination.

Phew, that’s a relief :roll_eyes:

Ah, didn’t realise they replaced the Connect or ZP with a new Port thing.

Tried the Connect years ago but it had issues locking to the DAC, convenient but the builtin DAC was shit.

I’ve got a Bluesound Node 2 if you want to try that (has a 2pin fig8 power cable)

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Ought to work. Personally I’d find an older style mains plug where you can pull the earth pin out completely. I’d connect the green/yellow wire to that and push it into the correct hole in the mains socket. That way if the wire should get yanked it will probably just pull the pin out of the socket. If, instead, the wire does come out from under the screw on the pin it won’t have bare live metalwork in quite such close proximity.

If you want to use both the input and output phonos on the Sonos then you could just earth one of the outers using a small croc clip. It’s not a safety earth so it doesn’t need to be very robust.

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It’s always worth bearing in mind that once a system is wired together, the possibility always exists (no matter how tiny) that a fault anywhere in the system might render every metal surface in the whole system Live. 0.1A can be fatal, even at just a handful of volts, and as the old saying goes - it’s going to hurt the whole time you’re dying…

Others may read this and decide to try something similar in their system, and in doing so provide a nice new shiny low-impedance shortcut to Earth for a fault state anywhere in their system. The possibility then exists that fuses, RCDs &c may be bypassed, increasing risk exposure.

For this mildly-neurotic reason, may I suggest a current-limiting resistor be included in any system-ground-to-mains-earth strap-on as a matter of general principle. I’d agree that in this instance it’s almost certainly never going to be justified, but should a fault state occur where decent amounts of current are finding their way to Earth undetected, a current-limiting resistor limits potential exposure and means conventional safety features are much more likely to do their job.

This is why I (and others) suggested ESD plugs - 1M is mighty, but still effective for this purpose (problems usually underlying system noise are typically in the milli- or even micro-volt/amp range, so don’t need a low impedance connection to Earth IME), and should something ever go tits-up, insurance investigators are a whole lot less likely to fuck you off than if they find a lashup bodge…

And yes, I’m aware that every generalisation I’m making has a suite of exceptions - but if in doubt, choose safety every time.


Personally, I’d also fuck-off the wallwart and replace it with a quality linear PSU. Switchmode PSUs are much, much better than they were 20 years ago (thanks to EU ESD legislation…), but they are often still crap - too often underspecced and prone to short lifespans.

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Yes, I looked at the usual suspects.

The linear PSUs all cost more than the original component.

I’m struggling to think of a scenario where that could generate an electric shock risk (pretty much by definition the low-impedance short will short out the voltage which would otherwise have shocked someone) although I think I might just about manage it, given long enough. But it’s very easy to imagine that it could short out fire risk protection. In some ways fire is a more serious problem. It can kill lots of people (Grenfell, dear God) and it can happen with no-one there and perhaps late at night.

Of course any significant mains current flow in an earth conductor should trip either an earth leakage detector or, these days, an RCD, assuming the consumer unit’s got one.

Indeed it’s hard to envision - you might, not-unreasonably, say impossible - if you assume that all kit left the factory compliant with modern regs and painstakingly-designed with safety foremost in mind, and if you also assume that none of the sometimes long chain of owners and bodgers haven’t done something incredibly bloody stupid to it (like lifting the Earthing) at some point, never mind the many and various excursions the various tin boxes may have had being bounced-around in shipping containers, rail cars, courier vans, postal depots &c. ad naus.

And then there’s assumptions about the quality of domestic mains installations…

The Horror… The Horror…

Personally, I prefer to avoid as many assumptions as possible when sicking-up the Furball of Advice. No implied criticism in any of this, BTW, just expressing personal preferences to a general audience.

First Google for “ESD plug” pointed me at a device that enables me to earth my sheets.

No, really, bedsheets, earthed.

:man_facepalming:

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Too many sparks there?

Anyway, this thread needs moar Entreq.

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I’ve got a boxfull of the cunting things somewhere - bcos stupid idea reasons - if I can find 'em, £5 each posted, about half what the Chinese are wanking them all over thiefbay at (and about 100% of what it’ll cost to actually post em); better made too. Downside: bright yellow.

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If you find them then I’d like two at £5 plus (not including) postage.

Meanwhile, no thanks to @MrKettle I made the mistake of googling Entreq. £100 bean bags? YES PLEASE. £400 chopping boards? TAKE MY MONEY.

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Are they trying to tell me something? Like “it’s made of wood, innit”.

Are they the ones with one or two points on the front? I’m up for anti spark custard plug.

Me too, please. Same terms as Guy.

If you find 'em, I’m up for one.

PM me with yer addresses please chaps, and as soon as I a) find the fuckers and b) can be arsed to drag my arse to the PO. We’ll worry about £ later.