Outside gig - shock????

We are getting ready to perform a party outside on the lawn. I heard that there is a concern about electrical shock if you are not properly grounded. That someone once died from a shock through the microphone like back in the 70's.

You don't need to be outside to have problems with grounds.

People die or are injured from poorly or improperly grounded gear all the time.

NO MUSICIAN SHOULD EVER, EVER, EVER PLUG ANY DEVICE INTO ANY POWER SOURCE THAT HAS NOT BEEN TESTED WITH A GROUND FAULT TESTER!!

We will be playing on grass, on top of rugs. Is there any special precaution we should make with regards to grounding to protect from shock?

Yup. Buy a ground fault tester and use it.

People die or are injured from poorly or improperly grounded gear all the time.

NO MUSICIAN SHOULD EVER, EVER, EVER PLUG ANY DEVICE INTO ANY POWER SOURCE THAT HAS NOT BEEN TESTED WITH A GROUND FAULT TESTER!!

Watch the neon sign on this one (language alert!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OJTI3ESF2k

If you don't own one, go buy one right away:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000WS7M6/guitarnutdo02-20

They're less than $15 and will save your life. I use it every place I play just to check if the wiring is correct (and more importantly) and that it's grounded.

I use it every place I play just to check if the wiring is correct (and more importantly) and that it's grounded.

I feel foolish. Never thought about proper grounding and I've had my son in his bedroom playing his bass on a circuit I dont think is grounded. I'll get getting one of these soon. A outlet has to have three prong to be grounded, correct? His is two prong, and I have since purchased the stuff to make it a three prong but I know I still have to make sure its grounded.

Sorry to high jack the thread. Its just something I never thought about.

Jim

I feel foolish.

Don't feel foolish, just be glad that you learned about it.

However, don't waste any time getting a tester.

Honestly, it is a matter of life and death. A kid in my high school died in his garage due to this, and someone in my son's 8th grade class this year died as well. It's not common . . . but it happens often enough and the testers are cheap enough that it's a shame that it happens at all.

1) See above regarding an outlet tester.

2) If you see any of your bandmates with a power cord which has had the ground pin removed, confiscate and destroy (or repair if you have the ability) that cord immediately.

Thanks for all of the feedback! We had a practice outside tonight, so I picked up a tester on the way over. It cost just a few bucks, but I appreciated the piece of mind in knowing that the outlet we were playing from was properly wired and grounded.

This is one of those things every guitarist should know before they ever pick up an instrument.

If it only has two prongs, no, it's not grounded. Some people use those adapters that you put on a 3-prong wire that converts it to 2-prongs. That effectively makes it ungrounded so not a good deal.

grounding is dangerous. I have occasionally ripped out the ground plug before while running sound to kill a hum. The only time you do this is if the venue is not grounded appropriately. You can fix a hum that way. Also helps for hum problems is make sure amps and board are on same circuit.

As far as if its three prongs its grounded... NO not all three prong outlets are grounded they are installed but not wired. So check all plugs.

Funny Story:

in FOH magazine there was this article (this is the short version)

A man needed a microphone for a speech and wanted to practice. His wife ordered one and a cable from a local store went picked it up everything was fine. A few weeks later the woman calls and says, This microphone isn't working and you're trying to kill my husband. It keeps shocking him when he even goes to pick it up. So the manager after talking to her about it for a minute sent out a service man to see what the problem was. Upon arriving he walked in and immediatley found the problem. It was plugged into the wall outlet. THey cut the end off and wired it two a 3 prong plug and plugged it into the wall. So pure electricity was going through the cable to the mic (thus the shock on touch) The man was frantic that they had done this. he asked if they were stupid. The woman replied. " but isn't that how it works you just plug it in and the sound comes out" What a SHOCKER!....

grounding is dangerous. I have occasionally ripped out the ground plug before while running sound to kill a hum. The only time you do this is if the venue is not grounded appropriately. You can fix a hum that way. Also helps for hum problems is make sure amps and board are on same circuit.

While that can fix a hum when a venue has bad wiring, it is extremely dangerous to do so and can result in electricution . . . since the reason you're getting a hum is that there's a ground fault to begin with!
As far as if its three prongs its grounded... NO not all three prong outlets are grounded they are installed but not wired. So check all plugs.

Yup. Always always check your outlets!

1. Okay, you've tested the mains wiring with a ground fault tester and everything looks good.

There's still a potential danger: Your equiqment can still be dangerously miswired -- especially old or used amps, as these often have been "modified" or customized.

Here's the second step

2. Buy and use GFCI power strips. Plugged into properly wired AC mains, a GFCI (Ground Fault Condition Interrupter) will shut down power if improper ground return of current occurs -- think of that as "you getting a shock." These are the same devices that come standard in all new up-to-code bath, kitchen and outdoor wiring in the US, and also are built into bathroom appliances such as hairdryers. Again, to put it simply, if a GFCI detects current going the wrong way (what went out does not equal what is returning), it shuts off the power.

grounding is dangerous. I have occasionally ripped out the ground plug before while running sound to kill a hum. The only time you do this is if the venue is not grounded appropriately. You can fix a hum that way. Also helps for hum problems is make sure amps and board are on same circuit.

While that can fix a hum when a venue has bad wiring, it is extremely dangerous to do so and can result in electricution . . . since the reason you're getting a hum is that there's a ground fault to begin with!

Related to this, some equipment (like my DI box) has a "ground lift" switch. Is engaging this switch essentially the same as removing the ground plug?

Related to this, some equipment (like my DI box) has a "ground lift" switch. Is engaging this switch essentially the same as removing the ground plug?

That's an implementation question. It depends on how the ground lift is achieved.

Greg, would you recommend a specific GFCI strip?