# 60 Cycle Hum when sound connected.



## Rycon (Jul 16, 2007)

Alright this is an easy one, I have a server hooked up to my 36 inch TV in my living room. 

Out of my onboard sound card I am using a 3.5mm to RCA wire to go to my TV, this works great but there is a annoying humming sound which I believe is called 60 cycle hum. I did alot of messing around and when I unplug the cable tv from the wall the humming stops. Im guessing this is the interference problem, it doesnt seem that the coax cable being NEAR the RCA cable makes a difference (Although its hard to test because they pretty much meet behind the TV)

My question is there any solution to this problem without having to remove the cable every time I use the server on the TV? I mean I CAN do this easily but you know its a pain and im lazy.

My Technical Experience: IT Professional

Thanx.


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## Wozer (Oct 3, 2004)

I've had this happen a couple of times in my life...

the first time was an easy determination...flourescent lights...

the second time took what seemed like forever to figure out...I finally determined there was a fault in the grounding of the electricity in the apartment I was living in, and said hum went away only when I plugged all devices associated with my sound system and TV into the same outlet...

the fact that you describe a long set of cables makes it obvious that the devices are plugged into a separate outlet/breaker combination...I guess you could plug your server into the same outlet as your TV system (still use the same long cables) and see if that stops the problem...


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## Rycon (Jul 16, 2007)

Well they are connected to the same outlet, I even moved the plugs around and tried to get rid of outlet splitters and such for proper grounding. It wouldnt surprise me one bit that this apartment isnt grounded correctly. 

So what your saying is even though the cable TV seems to be the culprit, it can still be related to bad grounding of the electrical system?


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## Wozer (Oct 3, 2004)

here is exactly what I had happen....

I had the RCA sound outputs of my VCR plugged into my mixing board (which I used for audio work), the mixing board was of course connected to my amplifier, and was running the sound through my good speakers...the coaxial cable of the VCR was of course going to my TV...I actually never had problems with the sound from the VCR while using my TV...but I did have problems (intermittent of all things..which is what made figuring it out a real PITA) when recording my guitar work...since VCRs are still active even when turned off, there was still 'connectivity' as it were at all times....the TV and VCR were plugged into one outlet, and all of the recording stuff (mixing board, power amp, guitar amps, effects...everything associated with audio work) to another outlet...*finally* one day I figured it all out (when I finally needed to use the inputs I had my VCR plugged into for some serious multi-source [multiple mics and use of pickups direct]recording...i.e. I had to unplug the RCAs from my VCR from the board), and tried to solve it by running a cord plugged into the same outlet as the recording equipment to the TV/VCR...no go (OK, I forgot this little fact in my first post)...if I remember correctly I looked at the whole setch and figured out I only had one item that had a 3 prong cord...my 1960 Echoplex...I said what the hell, and used an 3 prong to 2 prong adaptor at the outlet (not the Echoplex) and broke off the ground prong on the extension cord...THAT solved it finally...so I guess what I'm suggesting you try is to disable the use of the ground pin in your system and see if that stops your problem...

I had mistakenly thought you had the server in another room and were running long cables (which in of itself could be picking up the hum), but apparently you aren't....

I'm not an electrician by trade, but in my years of being a tradesman I have seen electricity do some mighty weird things...and I have seen electricians do some unbelievably stupid things...the above story is the best I can relate to your problem, and perhaps it is correct...I believe the problem (if yours is like mine was) is caused by a faulty ground, and I theorize that by totally bypassing the use of the ground my problem was solved....


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## Rycon (Jul 16, 2007)

Interesting.. so you broke off the ground pin on your extension cord and it solved the problem? Cause i AM using a small extension cord to reach the TV/Server. But like i said i tried plugging the computer directly into the outlet and it didnt help.


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## Wozer (Oct 3, 2004)

at that time I only had one 3 prong to 2 prong adapter, so I 'had' to remove the ground pin..it probably didn't matter as those components connected to the cord had no ground pins, being double insulated....

as noted, the only device in the whole system that had a ground pin was my echoplex...now, since at that time it was a 25 year old device (this setch occurred ~1993) I decided to not remove its ground pin and used the noted adaptor where I had my power strip plugged in at the outlet....

in your case I would say to buy an adapter and try using that on your computer....I've never known a computer to have anything but a 3 prong end, and if there is a ground problem perhaps it will eliminate the noise...since of course you would want to ground your machine it might warrant calling an electrician out to solve the issue if the above method works....

for all I know even having any part of any cord plugged into the ground it what caused it all....:4-dontkno and don't remember exactly as this occurred years ago and is kind of a dim memory...I do remember having a riff crawling around in my head that I just had to get down...I do remember finally solving the issue after I 'figured' it out after totally disconnecting the vcr from the sound system, and I do remember (after a little thought on the subject) having 'solved' the problem my totally eliminating the use of the ground....


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