buzzzzz, where did i go wrong?


The setup:
spectral monoblock amps
spectral preamp
theta front end

The NEW DEDICATED CIRCIUTS
4 separate circuits each with fuses jumped off the main box and grounded to the main box
one circuit for each monoblock
one for the preamp
one for the digital front end (MIT power conditioning)

the amps and preamp each share a supplemental grounding rod. The digital end has its own supplemental ground rod
The outlets are all FIM880. These do not have an isolated ground (could that be the problem?)

I still have a buzz.low but audible; it goes away when I lift the ground from my amps. I assume I have a ground loop but I am not sure how or what I do about it. I assume I have made some awful basic error but not sure how.
I know for instance from the posts that Garfish uses three supplemental grounding rods. Maybe I should have tied all those together? any other ideas
jdwek
JD, i'll drop you a line in the morning, kind of late and i'm beat now : )

To start off, try grounding ALL of your ground rods together. That should get rid of your hum. If it does, you either need to replace the FIM's with outlets that isolate the grounds, leave all of the ground rods tied together or move the ground rods to within a few feet of each other.

If tying all the rods does correct the problem, you can also try removing the connection from one rod at a time and see which rod has different potential from the others. It is possible that each rod is different and that you would need to leave them all tied together to solve the problem. Once again, the only way to get around this is to isolate the audio grounds from the house grounds via different "floating" outlets. Sean
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one other supplemental thought. the three dedicated circuits should ideally be on the same bus in the panel to minimize ground differentials. also, if possible, this bus should be the one with the fewest amount of large 'noise' contributors from i.r.,dimmers, fridge, etc. this could involve some rewiring in the panel but is usally worth the effort.
Hey JD.......Bob here.The reason I asked you about the neutrals or white wires is that these are also referenced to the same grounding nuetral bar in your main panel.You should have a grounding neutral bar in your sub-panel.Tell me if you fed your sub-panel with hot ,neutral and ground or if you just ran the hot wire to your fuses and did you install a breaker in your main panel to branch from.Back to the neutrals,the grounding bar in your sub panel has a bonding screw through it to ground the enclosure itself.This bond is NOT USED for sub-panels.Also one other very important item is your metal conduit connection if its functioning as your ground consider that the point that it connects to your main panel is likely inches away from the grounding neutral bar and being connected directly to the panel enclosure you will certainly pick up stray voltages.The best way to accomplish your outlet grounds is get the Hubbells or Leviiton Hospital outlets with isolated grounds and run separate wires back to your panel.You can then use your conduit as a shield by connecting it to the panel end only and using a plastic washer on the outlet box(if metal) to isolate it.One more great thing to finish off the grounding job is if you have room in your main panel install an additional grounding bar(these are readily available and designed to attatch to your existing bar) and connect all your new outlet neutrals and grounds to this bar.If you can install the bar as close to your service ground as possible(also you should connect your rods right next to the service ground) this gives your audio circuits the most direct path to earth and minimizes the reaction from the rest of your house wiring.I used to wire houses in my younger days and was close to becoming a journeyman electrician before deciding on another career.Hope this helps and feel free to email me if you like....