[Elecraft] Was Grounding negative side of power supply? - CORRECTING A SERIOUS ERROR

[Jim Brown]

NO, NO, NO!

Joe, who rarely ever gets it wrong, has led us down a VERY wrong path, 
and you, who also rarely get it wrong, have followed him. :) 

It is the NEUTRAL that must be bonded to EARTH and SYSTEM GROUND at the 
main panel/service entrance, and ONLY at that panel. An additional 
NEUTRAL connection to ground (or the green wire) is what causes an unsafe 
condition. 

Multiple paths to earth for the chassis of equipment are a GOOD thing, as 
long as they are all bonded together. in fact, safety codes and good 
engineering practice all say that you can have as many connections to 
EARTH as you want, that more connections are better, AND that all of 
these earth connections MUST be bonded together by a low impedance path. 

On Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:46:54 -0500, Don Wilhelm wrote:

>Joe and all,

>I would also like to point out that the situation Joe presents can be 
>the source of "sneak ground path currents" which can contribute to noise 
>at your station. 

I suggest study of my power point on Ham Interfacing to understand what 
you are calling "sneak ground path currents" -- indeed, they are nothing 
more than leakage currents from the hot side of the AC power line through 
capactance to the chassis of equipment. This capacitance includes bypass 
capacitors (including those in line filters) and the stray capacitance 
between the power transformer primary and its frame, which is bonded to 
the chassis. 

http://audiosystemsgroup.com/HamInterfacing.pdf

For more on power and grounding, see

http://audiosystemsgroup.com/SurgeXPowerGround.pdf

>By all means, connect any ham related ground rods to 
>the AC mains entry point ground rod.  I don't care how you accomplish 
>that - just "do it".  If it reduces noise in your receiver, that is a 
>benefit, but if not, be assured that your shack will be a more safe 
>place to inhabit.

YES! 

>73,
>Don W3FPR

>Joe Subich, W4TV wrote:
>> This creates a situation that is potentially hazardous 
>> to your equipment.  The AC "third (green) wire" is supposed 
>> to be connected to ground only at the main panel/service 
>> entrance.  

WRONG. See above. 

73,

Jim Brown K9YC