Help. Home Electricity Experts!

[Andrew Jones]

Hi


I recently moved into a house in Portland Oregon.


The landlord claims to have "completely redone the electricity" true enough the allot of the outlets look new.


Here's the thing I'm getting funny noises through my gear.My practice amp in the living room does a funny .5 - 1.5 seconds worth if Crickets/static noise and right at the same time the TV gets a subtle but wavy distortion of the picture. This gear is pluged directly into the wall The same but subtler audio sound comes through may studio monitors attached to my digi 002 but not through my computer.This Stuff is all running off a APC battery backup regulating power supply.

Obviously I've got some toys and I'm scared of damaging them


Ideas?


Tear it apart and move?



Andrew

[Depth_Charge]

I would check there are no local sources of interface interference (radio, repeater stations, neighbour with a whopping great CB antenna or satellitle etc) then, failing that, have the landlord call in a qualified electrician to make sure everything is tikkedy-boo.

In the meantime, if I had the money I'd also get some powerboards with ciruit breakers/shock protection for my gear, just in case

[stabbicus]

Originally Posted by Andrew Jones

The landlord claims to have "completely redone the electricity" true enough the allot of the outlets look new.

Replacing outlets does not mean he "completely" redid the electricity. He would have had to tear down walls and the ceiling to do so. Short of completely remodeling the residency, this isn't really possible IMO. Talk to the guy. Definitely get an electrician to come out and check everything.

[Andrew Jones]

Thanks for the help guys

[JeffreyG]

It sounds like you may have ground problems. Go to a hardware store and get a ground fault indicator. This will tell you if the outlets are wired correctly. It should be less than 10 bucks.

[mward69]

You may not be able to get rid of it. More that likely the Living room is sharing the same circuit maybe 2 circuits depending on the age of the house. With that said, the grounded conductor {neutral} are shared with other electronics {tv, dvd player, stereo etc} to a central ground in the panel, then out to a grounding rod and maybe grounded to the water pipe. In short.....{no pun intended} the grounding system......
Unless it really bugging the crap out of ya, try other outlets, or try unplugging other devices from the wall, or call an electrician to run a dedicated outlet with an isolated ground for your gear.

[BillMason]

It may not be a problem with the building's wiring, it may be a problem with the electricity coming into the house - "dirty" power. Just buy a $40 power conditioner, problem solved.