HK 330b chassis measuring 120 volts
- Thread starter bubbletrou
- Start date
Yes, that's annoying as hell..
even though it is just a "tingle".. Look closely at your power cord and you will notice a stripe or two embossed the full length of one conductor only. That conductor is supposed to be the Neutral conductor. The non-embossed conductor (HOT) should be going through the power switch. If it was wired correctly by the assembly worker that is. Anyways, plug it in with the Neutral conductor to the neutral in the receptacle. In modern 120v outlets that are polarized, it is the wide slot. That is also assuming the electrician wired the receptacle correctly. In units with non-polarized plugs, there could be full AC on the chassis if plugged in reverse.. That is why the "death caps" were used to bleed off the stray voltage. They were referred to as a "hot" chassis. So check your power cord to be sure if the non-embossed conductor is indeed going through the power switch. If so, put a white mark (I use paint) on the side of the plug where the embossed conductor is to eliminate that "factor". That can also eliminate strange "hum" issues in some units.
bubbletrou
New Member
Thanks, all for the input.
Update for anyone interested: I replaced the capacitor with a safety rated one and got the same results as I did with the original one in there. I am very tempted to leave the capacitor out and make the AC section of the circuit look like the US only version does (only a resistor without the cap).
Update for anyone interested: I replaced the capacitor with a safety rated one and got the same results as I did with the original one in there. I am very tempted to leave the capacitor out and make the AC section of the circuit look like the US only version does (only a resistor without the cap).
Ylli
Super Member
Current available from a 0.01uF cap is 0.45 mA (with a 120VAC 60Hz source). That is without adding in any body resistance to ground, so you are feeling perhaps 0.4 mA. That is definitely on the low end of the normally perceptible range. From http://www.highvoltageconnection.com/articles/ElectricShockQuestions.htm
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Ylli
Super Member
People are different in many aspects. I think bubbletrou is just more sensitive than most to small electrical currents. I had a chemistry teacher in High School that could put his thumb and finger directly across the 120 VAC line and feel nothing more than a slight tingle.
bubbletrou
New Member
Haha I feel the same way...does anyone else have this variant? It would be nice to see if this is just the normal behavior of the receiver.
I do have a US-only variant as well that I was planning to pull out tonight and do some testing on.
Ylli
Super Member
Would be interesting if you would actually measure the leakage current. Preferably with the standard circuit I posted earlier (the resistor would not need to be 10W, with your currents 1/4 W would be fine) or just with the DMM set to AC current and connected between the receiver chassis and the ground pin of a three pin power socket.
Binkman
Lunatic Member
I haven't seen anything like that ac configuration in many sm's read. Often we see grounds off misc pcb's from the low v end of pcb circuits, i.e.a central centered pcb main board like a star.. sony uses a chassis ground off their main boards.. sansui uses a lug type of mount. Never could figure out Onkyo touch knob tuning deal.. certainly a new cord would assure that the plug is plugged in the proper orientation. I just don't like it. 
jhjove
Well-Known Member
If the line cord is OK but the plug is unpolarized I just trace the neutral and use wire cutters to center split the plug blade. Then pry the cut wider to only fit polarized outlets. (NOTE: I came upon this idea on another forum [don't remember where] and it works swell.)