Zap!

[Danilixo]

Word of warning to you all, watch out when you're using a 110v and a 220v amp.

I'm an American, and all US electricity runs off of 110 volts. I recently moved to South Africa, where electricity is 220 volts. The amp I was using at the time is 110 volts only, so I bought a transformer to change the 220 electricity I was getting into 110, no problem, works great, nothing blew up.

One day my guitarist came over and brought his amp, 220 volts since he bought it in South Africa, and we started jamming. We were doing great, so we gave each other a high five, guess what happened .

From one arm to the one where our hands met got electrocuted, and you could feel it going all the way through you. It's an understatement to say it hurt a bit. We had no clue what the issue was at the time so we settled on not touching one another for the time being.

Fast forward a while, I brought the amp to my school (I began running a music room). I brought the 110v amp over and someone else brought their 220v one. Stupidly enough, I put the two right next to each other. The same day, I had two guitarists come in and decide to play, unknowingly they had plugged into the wrong amps. So they unplugged their guitars and handed the cord to the other guy.

Kind of feel bad for the guy.

As soon as the one guy grabbed the top of the cable, while holding the other, he suddenly jumped back and layed still on the floor, grasping the cables hard. I immidiately shot up and turned unplugged one of the amps, but for a good 15 seconds this guy was getting electrocuted between two arms. In the end he was fine, got a bump from hitting his head but he says it was the most painful experience of his life lol.

I being stupid again decided to just keep the amps farther away from one another. A few days passed and only minor electrocutions followed.

One day a guitarist bumped my bass while it was plugged in, just on the neck (luckily while neither of us were holding it), and as the strings touched I literally burned through 4 of their strings, completely scorching them off. I checked my bass immidiately and not a single string had a mark .

I finally decided to stop using that amp and got myself another one that was dual voltage.

Moral of the story, don't mix 110 volt amps with 220 volt amps.

 

[two fingers]

There is voltage to ground somewhere in this circuit. My first thought is your transformer.

When dealing with things like this, always remove as much as possible and then start adding back until you find the problem.

Here's what you do. Borrow someone else's transformer. Recreate the amp setup in your house. Get a volt meter and touch one lead on your bass bridge and one lead on the guitar bridge (wedge it into the parts so you don't have to physically hold it there). Set everything up using the borrowed transformer. See if you get voltage across the two guitars. Then run the same setup using your transformer. I bet you will see a different result than the first setup.

 

[dbase]

Word of warning to you all, watch out when you're using a 110v and a 220v amp.

I'm an American, and all US electricity runs off of 110 volts. I recently moved to South Africa, where electricity is 220 volts. The amp I was using at the time is 110 volts only, so I bought a transformer to change the 220 electricity I was getting into 110, no problem, works great, nothing blew up.

One day my guitarist came over and brought his amp, 220 volts since he bought it in South Africa, and we started jamming. We were doing great, so we gave each other a high five, guess what happened .

From one arm to the one where our hands met got electrocuted, and you could feel it going all the way through you. It's an understatement to say it hurt a bit. We had no clue what the issue was at the time so we settled on not touching one another for the time being.

Fast forward a while, I brought the amp to my school (I began running a music room). I brought the 110v amp over and someone else brought their 220v one. Stupidly enough, I put the two right next to each other. The same day, I had two guitarists come in and decide to play, unknowingly they had plugged into the wrong amps. So they unplugged their guitars and handed the cord to the other guy.

Kind of feel bad for the guy.

As soon as the one guy grabbed the top of the cable, while holding the other, he suddenly jumped back and layed still on the floor, grasping the cables hard. I immidiately shot up and turned unplugged one of the amps, but for a good 15 seconds this guy was getting electrocuted between two arms. In the end he was fine, got a bump from hitting his head but he says it was the most painful experience of his life lol.

I being stupid again decided to just keep the amps farther away from one another. A few days passed and only minor electrocutions followed.

One day a guitarist bumped my bass while it was plugged in, just on the neck (luckily while neither of us were holding it), and as the strings touched I literally burned through 4 of their strings, completely scorching them off. I checked my bass immidiately and not a single string had a mark .

I finally decided to stop using that amp and got myself another one that was dual voltage.

Moral of the story, don't mix 110 volt amps with 220 volt amps.

Or... don't leave the United States ... just sayin

 

[Hoochie Coochie Man]

I have just copied part of the following text that I posted in your other thread:

DI boxes

Warning: Electrical shock can result in injury or death!

Please don't risk your, (or worse yet) someone else's life by using faulty equipment.

I suggest that you have a competent technician check out your setup before using it.

 

[filmtex]

It only took you THREE electrical accidents to finally decide to "stop using that amp"? That's funny.

 

[Hoochie Coochie Man]

Only the first instance was an accident.

Sorry Danilixo, but any subsequent shocks are an act of negligence on your part.

Your equipment has been shown to present a serious hazard.

I know you would feel very bad if someone lost their life due to using your absolutely defective equipment.

I know that you will accept the seriousness of the situation, and refrain from using your setup until it has been rendered safe to do so by a qualified technician.

Thanks.

 

[Sneakypete]

Electrocution by definition means a fatality so there's no such thing as a 'minor' electrocution. No such thing as a 'minor' shock either. In your shoes I'd remove the fuses/power cable or whatever of the 110V amp to make it unuseable and stow it somewhere safe until returning to the US.