Its a Ground Loop question

Hello
I have a tpa3118 amp fed by a laptop running Daphile music server. Quality from the headphone output is just tolerable into amp and wharfedale 9.1s.
Problem came when I tried to use the same PSU. for both amp and laptop. Now I have got ground loop noise as laptop boots.
The question is will a ground loop noise isolator filter for 3.5mm aux cable help and will it sap the quality even further.
why would you have the amp on and passing signal while your source device is stating up....???

yes there's a noise problem which is hard to resolve but that it's a ground loop is totally erroneous.
 

jitter

What I think you measured was leakage current in the µA range through a MΩ resistor (your body).
This could be caused by X or Y class caps used for RFI suppression in the wall wart or PC PSU. This is normal and in a low impedance path would not elevate the measured voltage appreciably.
If I power my laptop from its wall wart from an unearthed socket, I measure about 36 V between the case and my body which drops to less than 0.5 V when connected to an earthed socket. You can imagine that this voltage would be a good source to feed a very noisy groundloop should you indtroduce one.
if when you touch the metal case the noises (a 60 Hz peak with its multiples) in REW are reduced grounding will be a good solution. I think the noisy measurement in REW or other software is due to this inductive voltage or as you said a leakage current. The problem gets worse when the leakage flux of a power supply with a transformer is coupled with the PC power supply. Is it logical to reduce it with a magnetic shield? Watch this video, please. a magnetic shield seems to have a very noticeable effect on removing the noises.
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Mu metal is a good shielding material although it wasn't introduced in this video. It seems that this transformer uses Mu metal as a shield.
https://www.jensen-transformers.com/transformers/line-input/
In summary, I think combination of a good grounding and shielding comes to removing all the noises.
 
Inductive to what? Your body isn't inductive.
IMHO those leakage currents are highly likely capacitive currents from the CY-caps to earth of an input filter which a PC PSU or wall wart should have (but probably not as elaborate as the example below).

Mains filter.png


And at 1 nF they have a capacitive reactance @ 60 Hz of 1/(2*πf*C) = 1/(2π*60*1n) = 2.7 MΩ resulting in a current of 45 µA @ 120 V.
You might try to shield that wall wart, but my guess is that it will not make much of a difference, maybe even no difference at all.
 
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jitter

Inductive to what? Your body isn't inductive.
If you have a transformer connect one of the probs of your multimeter to its metal core and another to your hand (disconnect the ground wire). Measure the voltage. It is a pure inductive voltage that your body absorbs.
You could connect your simple RCA connector to an inductor and move it closer to the transformer. you will see the noises will be increased.
 
Note that a human body often acts as a 100 to 200 pF capacitor to Planet Earth.
So holding one lead of a high impedance modern Digital Multi Meter and measuring something that is not at Planet Earth's potential will show a voltage.
Also measuring between a wire that is not connected at either end and Safety Ground/Protective will show what electricians call a Phantom Voltage.
 
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Speedskater

Note that a human body often acts as a 100 to 200 pF capacitor to Planet Earth.
So holding one lead of a high impedance modern Digital Multi Meter and measuring something that is not at Planet Earth's potential will show a voltage.
Also measuring between a wire that is not connected at either end and Safety Ground/Protective will show what electricians call a Phantom Voltage.
How do you explain induced flux near high-voltage electricity? (voltages over twenty kilovolts). Even getting close to these wires is a risk of death. Do you say that is due to the capacitance property of our body, that we receive voltage?
 
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I don't think that has anything to do with flux but with the fact that a dielectrcum has limits to what voltage differential (potential) it can withstand.
Air is a dielectricum that can withstand about 1 kV per mm of distance, but there are degrading factors like moisture, so in practice we must take a safety margin of 1 cm (10 mm) per kV into account.

If you get too close to (e.g.) a 20 kV source then the conductive properties of your body may create a path for an arc to form because the air ionizes and all of a sudden becomes a good conductor.

Electrical model human body.png
 
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Note that a human body often acts as a 100 to 200 pF capacitor to Planet Earth.
So holding one lead of a high impedance modern Digital Multi Meter and measuring something that is not at Planet Earth's potential will show a voltage.
Also measuring between a wire that is not connected at either end and Safety Ground/Protective will show what electricians call a Phantom Voltage.
Yes, and it's why there are testers and DMMs that can apply a load to identify if you're dealing with a phantom voltage.
The 36 V I measured on my laptop drops to a mere 1.5 V when I measure it with my Agilent U1232A in LowZ mode. At work I use a Benning Duspol that can load the circuit up to 550 mA @ 1000 V.
 
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I don't think that has anything to do with flux but with the fact that a dielectrcum has limits to what voltage differential (potential) it can withstand.
Air is a dielectricum that can withstand about 1 kV per mm of distance, but there are degrading factors like moisture, so in practice we must take a safety margin of 1 cm (10 mm) per kV into account.

If you get too close to (e.g.) a 20 kV source then the conductive properties of your body may create a path for an arc to form because the air ionizes and all of a sudden becomes a good conductor.

View attachment 1275915
You mean a capacitive coupling flows a current in the RC circuits and makes a voltage? I mean the voltage between our body and a small transformer core.
 
You mean a capacitive coupling flows a current in the RC circuits and makes a voltage? I mean the voltage between our body and a small transformer core.

You mean a capacitive coupling flows a current in the RC circuits and makes a voltage? I mean the voltage between our body and a small transformer core.
What I meant is that the body is some sort of conductor that a high enough voltage can form an arc to should you get close enough to the conductor with the high voltage (when the earth connection is left floating). This breaks down the dielectricum, ionizes the air and strikes an arc between it and you. This has nothing to do with a transformer core. You have to become part of the circuit, though, so this would happen in a situation in which the source is connected at one side to earth, which is normally the case with mains power.

The current "leaked" by the CY caps in the mains filter part of the power adapter is what creates the voltage through a high impedance part that is you AND the multimeter. At 10 MΩ this tiny current creates an impressive looking voltage (U = I * R) but when you lower the impedance in a LowZ meter (something like 1 kΩ) then the voltage collapses.
 
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