Grounding the Aleph 2

[Bakmeel]

Hi all,

The Aleph 2 incorporates a 5 ohm NTC thermistor to connect chassis and circuit to ground.

Grounding chassis via a thermistor is in fact not allowed by European regulations, and I also prefer not to. I can easily isolate connector shieldings from the chassis, so for ground loops it should not be a problem.

It gives me the choice of grounding the circuit perhaps by an other means. I can leave the NTC, or maybe put a more fancy solution with a little switch or relay, or perhaps paralleling such a relay with a high ohmic resistor just to keep circuit ground properly referenced to ground, without allowing ground loops.

Does anybody have a suggestion?

Thanks,
Bakmeel

 

[MEGA_amp]

You can also connect your circuit ground through the ac side of a bridge rectifier as shown below which would eliminate any possibility of ground loops.


(as taken from ZV4)

 

[Bakmeel]

That seems like an interesting alternative, yes...

What is your opinion about manually switching ground?

 

[GRollins]

I don't remember the Aleph 2 using a thermistor to ground--I thought it used a resistor. In any event, a fixed low value resistor, say 3 to 5 Ohms, would be one alternative.
Manually switching ground can give you options when dealing with ground loops. Guitar amps routinely have exactly that sort of thing.

Grey