Sears silvertone 1481 - Shocking sound!

[jmaf]

Well, I tested it with the multimeter. Turned off, 1 end of my multimeter and other on the chassis ground.

I get a voltage reading of 40volts AC.

Is this good or bad? Will i get shocked?

On my line now I get 6 VAC on ground and neutral, 179 VAC on hot between me holding the voltmeter lead and the other lead on mains pins(220.4 VAC).

I'm not wearing a shoe, barefoot on concrete. I don't like the sound of 40 VAC, I don't think you've got proper grounding there.

[Rubbersalt]

Ohms out from the ground cable to the chassis,no resistance. This is odd, im going to try another outlet - maybe it's just dumb?

[Rubbersalt]

Alright, i went to 1 of the new outlets we had put in last year. Voltage dropped to .6 instead of the 40.

Sounds like that outlet doesn't have a ground. Im still scared to touch it lol

For the split second of touching, i did NOT get shocked - was is this still scary lol


Playing my guitar through it, sounds great.

[jmaf]

Alright, i went to 1 of the new outlets we had put in last year. Voltage dropped to .6 instead of the 40.

Sounds like that outlet doesn't have a ground. Im still scared to touch it lol

For the split second of touching, i did NOT get shocked - was is this still scary lol


Playing my guitar through it, sounds great.

Yep, it sounds like you don't have a ground on the other one. Getting up to a few volts is ok, it's normally just a ghost voltage(whatever the term is) because you and your body aren't precisely at the same spot as the ground(shoes, tiles, etc), and you're also a huge virtual capacitor that picks up all sorts of energy, but that won't shock you.

Having a 3rd pin on amps sometimes gives folks a fake sense of security, when most households and older installations have nothing attached to the 3rd pin in the wall wiring.

[Rubbersalt]

Sounds like my house, nothing behind these older outlets. I got shocked at the buddys house, not mine - shouldn't change anything though. Dunno why i got shocked either.

It got me through the end of the cable even. Amp off.

[Tom Phillips]

For safe and operation you need proper wiring in both the amp and the supply (Wall outlet) It is worth carrying an outlet tester to verify that the wiring is correct before you plug in your amp. Reference Receptacle tester - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . They only cost about $5. You will probably be surprised how may incorrectly wired outlets you find.

If the outlet tests good AND your amp is wired with a grounded cord per the description provided by seglectric in post #10 then you are good to go.
Note that you could still get shocked if your band mate's amp or the PA has a problem and you touch one of them.
Cheers,
Tom

[kg]

dry skin usually conducts around 40v, which is a threshold for "low voltage" wiring. (LV such as ethernet/telco/etc and line voltage cannot be mixed in the same conduit, for example.)

wet skin, electrolytes, or cuts into the dermis will lower this breakthrough voltage.

fwiw
ken