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Power Cord Ground

Hello,

I have had good luck using the Belden 14 awg shielded power cords to replace my stock cords. When purchasing a used amp a couple of years ago, I received a huge power cord with Hubbel hospital male/female plugs attached. This cord never sounded right to me (loss of dynamics) and I assume it may have been a home made cord. I decided to try replacing the molded ends on a spare Belden cord with the Hubbel plugs from the other cord. The Belden cord has foil shielding, three wires +,-, and ground, and another bare silver wire running between the foil and the other 3 wires. I sawed apart the molded plug from the Belden cord and the silver wire does not seem to be connected to either of the plug prongs. I assume it has something to do with shielding. My question is, what is this silver wire, and what do I do with it when I hook the Belden cord up to the Hubbel plug ends?

Thanks for your help,

Tim
mitch2

Showing 1 response by dbui1

dbui1
28 posts
 
Hi Mitch2
The silver wire is drain wire (foil shielded with drain wire). Drain wire is grounded at the wall plug end for superior noise shielding. Some people hooked the drain wire to the ground at both ends, but I and others preferred Drain wire is grounded at the wall plug end only.
Follow the color code; brown is line, blue is neutral and green is ground....
Good luck.
Don
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