Ground Loop?

Question

I need a Plain Jane explination of a ground loop.
I am a visual learner and have no visual to learn. so explain it to me for how it looks.

This is MECP study guide explanation:
Ground Loops result when all the components in an audio system do not see exactly the same ground. huh?

Differences in degrees of being grounded are called ground potential. huh?

Again please explain in how it looks to the eye, then explain the deffinitions I just gave you.

Also is a ground loop a bad thing?

(this is for car audio by the way)

i ment visual as in on the vehicle itself.

Answer 1

The metal parts of your car are ''grounded''. That is, they are all connected to the negative side of your battery. Problem is in real life all the metal parts are not connected that well (to be able to conduct electricity from part to part). So when you are adding components of say a stereo system and grounding them to metal parts here and there, slight differences of potential (the actual ability of each part to conduct successfully) build up capacitance, resistance etc. which will manifest themselves as static and distortion (or worse). The ultimate solution is called ''single point grounding''. To achieve this a ''ground buss'' of solid copper can be installed. Then each and every ground wire can be run to this same buss. In turn the buss will be connected to the negative side of the battery.
You can detect different ground loops in your system by using a sensitive (digital) meter and checking for resistance between different grounds you are currently connected to. Ideally there should be zero resistance. Remember this will only be a ''snapshot'', things may change as the vehicle is driven. With the single point ground it cannot change. One final note, if a component does not have a ground or you are not sure, add one by connecting a wire from the buss to the metal frame of the device.

Ground buss:
http://www.stormcopper.com/Ground%20Bars,%20Insulators%20and%20Brackets.JPG


Sta-Kons for making ground wires:
http://www.hi-line.com/images/products/catalog/thomasbettstermin_61.jpg

Answer 2

If you don't understand electrons, electron flow or resistance in a circuit, you will never understand ground loops.

A ground loop is what usually causes engine noise in the audio system.

The whole car chassis is the ground and the metal has electrical resistance.

If the ground from one piece of equipment is a little different potential (caused by resistance or just bad ground) of another piece of equipment with reference to ground, it will cause a difference in the ground potential between the two pieces of equipment or a floating ground. This allows the introduction of engine noise or other anomalies to travel through the audio system. A loose ground or improper ground can also do the same thing.

When an audio signal is supplied to the amp, it also has a ground reference. If this ground reference has a different potential than actual ground, it can pick up the noise mentioned.

A visual would be if I had a circuit of two lights in parallel and one of the lights had a resistor on the ground side, that lights ground potential is not the same as actual ground because of the resistor. This difference (across the resistor) is what audio equipment gets with a ground loop and the difference in potential of ground.

Answer 3

Well I've been an electronics Tech since I completed Radar School in 1956 and I can tell you right now, if you can't learn it with out being able to visualise it you'd better go into mechanics. Electronics is a lot of theory that can't be positively proven. We just that explanation until someone can positively prove it wrong and provide another reasonable theory to support what happens. Current flow, for example, can't be seen but we pretty well know it occurs. Ground loops are just what they say, when different circuits or components are not grounded to the same reference or to the same pontential. If a component has a bad solder joint to the chassis, for example, it will have a resistance between itself and the chassis. If a precision Volt Meter is placed between that component and the chassis it will read a very small voltage. That same small voltage will be read between that component and any other component's ground point. That is what a ground loop is. That small voltage is what causes hum and distortion in circuits. If an ohmmeter were used a very small resistance would be seen. In higher voltage circuits, such as house circuits ground loops can cause intermittent problems, interference between appliances and noise in audio equipment when electric motors are used. Hope this helped. Good Luck.

Answer 4

You can't see electricity :) that is why this is so much fun!

When one component (amp, stereo, eq,) has a weaker ground than the rest of the components, the power runs from the component with the weak ground through the RCAs to other components trying to find a better ground. This causes ground loop noise.

They don't all have to be grounded at the same spot, they all have to have a good strong ground. All ground wires should be the same size as the power wire, and they should be grounded to a clean bare metal spot on the car to avoid ground loops.

As for a picture? hmm
Let's say 40 people are waiting in line at the checkout of Wal-mart. There are 4 registers open, 10 people per line.
The people represent electrons, and they need to stay in the line they are in. The registers represent amps, radio, eqs..
When one line moves a little faster than the others, people start getting in the shorter line to get out faster.
Sorry, that is the best I can do.

Answer 5

I have taken many electrical and electronic classes from all the different manufactures. Only way to vary the different degrees of ground would be to have a resistor on the ground As for seeing the same ground they may be referring to different places it grounds. another words don't tie them all together but the simple laws of electricity is that all these grounds will ground to eventually the SAME PLACE! a battery has 1 positive post and 1 ground post.I love electricity and understand it. electronics are a little more complicated and not everybody refers to things the same way.

Answer 6

A floor loop is only a spin of the airplane on the floor, wherein it turns around to stand backwards, or a minimum of turns lots so as that that isn't any longer pointing the way it is going to. it particularly is often the fault of the pilot, who makes a mistake in steerage the airplane on the floor, or in coping with the rollout after landing. that is lots greater common in tail-dragger airplane (with 2 vast wheels in front and one tiny wheel on the tail) than in airplane with tricycle-form kit (one small nosewheel and a pair of vast wheels interior the back). because maximum airplane have tricycle landing kit right this moment, floor loops are no longer so common as they was. If the spin is violent sufficient, the airplane could tip to a minimum of one edge, dig a wing into the floor, or maybe turn over, so floor loops could nicely be risky. greater many times they're only embarrassing and in specific situations costly (if the airplane is broken).

Answer 7

Try: http://www.filmstotreasure.co.uk/Wiring%20audio.htm

Simple explaination of ground loop balanced and unbalanced