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SAC · 7th April 2010

If I may make a suggestion.

Go through the defined troubleshooting steps one by one. Cherry picking and guessing will NOT do it! The procedure was developed by the best in the industry for a reason! *

Also, my first guess is that you have much more connected then your diagram indicates.

AC lines are NOT the only signal paths in play here. Telephone, satellite TV, cable TV/Internet ALL have ground paths.

And as you will find in the troubleshooting steps, ALL of those signal sources MUST be common bonded at the same point.

Begin by having your electrical company respond and verify their ground. Also have them show you where the AC service ground is attached. This will be THE reference point.You will need to know this for the other services as they will need to relocate their grounds (as necessary) to attach at the same point.

You may as well begin by getting your your service providers out there now and verify that their services are common bonded. Have them remove the additional ground rods or separate grounds straps, etc and MAKE SURE that each service is common bonded (the ground attached to the same point) as that of your AC service.

They may balk a bit depending upon who you talk to, but it is a code requirement and they will if you stand your ground. Rather than call them and tell them they need to check their ground, you may just want to use another less explicit reason to get them out, as they may try to solve the issue over the phone or save the trip by symptom resolution instead of verifying the ground. And when they show up, accompany them and have them show you their ground and walk the service to verify that there are no other grounds.

If they have separate ground paths, you have a ground loop whether it is resulting in apparent signal degradation or not. And note, lifting grounds with a cheater plug is NOT the answer - but it is a great way to get electrocuted - especially during a storm while talking on the phone!

*Pin 1 issues are to be examined AFTER all ofthe AC and additional service ground paths are examined! It makes no sense to jump to pin 1 issues without completing your due diligence regarding the other service providers. Pin 1 issues (& SCIN issues) are with regard to balanced lines - and your computer and many other peripherals are not balanced!

7th April 2010	#13
SAC Registered User Joined: Dec 2009 Posts: 2,622	If I may make a suggestion. Go through the defined troubleshooting steps one by one. Cherry picking and guessing will NOT do it! The procedure was developed by the best in the industry for a reason! * Also, my first guess is that you have much more connected then your diagram indicates. AC lines are NOT the only signal paths in play here. Telephone, satellite TV, cable TV/Internet ALL have ground paths. And as you will find in the troubleshooting steps, ALL of those signal sources MUST be common bonded at the same point. Begin by having your electrical company respond and verify their ground. Also have them show you where the AC service ground is attached. This will be THE reference point.You will need to know this for the other services as they will need to relocate their grounds (as necessary) to attach at the same point. You may as well begin by getting your your service providers out there now and verify that their services are common bonded. Have them remove the additional ground rods or separate grounds straps, etc and MAKE SURE that each service is common bonded (the ground attached to the same point) as that of your AC service. They may balk a bit depending upon who you talk to, but it is a code requirement and they will if you stand your ground. Rather than call them and tell them they need to check their ground, you may just want to use another less explicit reason to get them out, as they may try to solve the issue over the phone or save the trip by symptom resolution instead of verifying the ground. And when they show up, accompany them and have them show you their ground and walk the service to verify that there are no other grounds. If they have separate ground paths, you have a ground loop whether it is resulting in apparent signal degradation or not. And note, lifting grounds with a cheater plug is *NOT* the answer - but it is a great way to get electrocuted - especially during a storm while talking on the phone! Pin 1 issues are to be examined AFTER* all ofthe AC and additional service ground paths are examined! It makes no sense to jump to pin 1 issues without completing your due diligence regarding the other service providers. Pin 1 issues (& SCIN issues) are with regard to balanced lines - and your computer and many other peripherals are not balanced!