@jea48 : The difference in ground voltage potential between the two halves of an ungrounded AC cord is usually trivial and not a cause of sudden hum!
Audire Diffet 1 hum
My Audire Diffet 1 preamp recently developed a hum audible through the speakers. Still sounds very good at volume, but probably like all of you, it bothers me. Could it be a transformer, capacitor or otherwise?
PS Audio had a nice article on isolating a hum, but didn’t mention the possibility of equipment. I guess my question is it probable that the problem is external to the preamp, like interconnects, or line voltage? (My other system doesn’t have a hum). Oh, and it produces a thump when the amp and preamp are turned off together (I don't do this anymore).
PS Audio had a nice article on isolating a hum, but didn’t mention the possibility of equipment. I guess my question is it probable that the problem is external to the preamp, like interconnects, or line voltage? (My other system doesn’t have a hum). Oh, and it produces a thump when the amp and preamp are turned off together (I don't do this anymore).
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roberjerman2,090 posts True. Except the OP said the hum sounded like a 60HZ hum and not that of a 120HZ hum. I assume the equipment has full wave rectification. Also as a rule electrolytic caps don’t fail all of a sudden. . roberjerman2,090 posts True if we were dealing with an AC balanced power system where both AC lines to ground were 60Vac each. We are not though. Or an isolated power system where both AC lines were floating above ground. But we are not. We have a hot to ground potential that measures 120Vac nominal to ground and a neutral conductor that is at ground potential. The way the primary winding around the core of the equipment power transformer is wound is one lead of the winding is closer to the core than the other. The proper AC polarity orientation will yield a lower capacitance coupling voltage to the secondary winding than the other. As for the voltage readings from the chassis to ground I have seen the voltage as high as 90Vac when the polarity is reversed. Current is quite low though. (In reality you are actually reading from the chassis to the neutral conductor. The branch circuit equipment grounding conductor is connected to the main electrical service neutral conductor in the main service electrical panel. Or service equipment panel.) I tried to find a wiring schematic diagram for the amps with no luck. Depending on how old the amps are it was not uncommon to install a capacitor between one of the AC power lines to the metal chassis of audio equipment back in the old days. In the 1970s Marantz for one installed a resistor from one of the AC power lines to the chassis. In either case the chassis voltage to ground would be lower if the capacitor or resistor was on the AC mains neutral conductor. IF,.... a capacitor was used the cap could be going bad and leaking,passing, AC voltage to the chassis. In this case we may not only have an AC voltage but current as well. It won’t cost the OP a dime to preform the AC polarity test, other that a little bit of his time. . |
Make certain the power cords are plugged in polarized. The Half of the cable with the grooves is the negative; the smooth one, the positive, i.e. small hole. I had a Diffet 1 and a Model 2. Hum can be caused by nearly invisible corrosion on the internal wiring, especially at the neutral. Don't ever run an input to this Amp more than 3 feet long. It picks up RF waves from radio broadcasts. As a real Rocket Scientist for the Apollo missions, Julius did not originally owner misuse. That is why the Model 2 got clipping indicators added. He also did not consider that people could plug in things backwards, and added the three prong, grounded plug with the Forte. |
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