cab grounding/earthing - lets put this to bed.

Something that came up again at aussie-arcade and is brought up here occasionally without any real definitive answer.
http://www.aussiearcade.com.au/showthread.php?t=19911&page=5

Ref ng.com thread http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2643849#post2643849

Comments below.

"You lost me at FG "
Frame Ground (FG) is a common chassis grounding reference point for electrical appliances; the mains earth and any exposed metal components of the appliance must connect to this common reference point. These are Toddies words not any regulatory body -not copy/paste from wiki but rather my understanding which I believe abides with the rules/laws of countries that take this seriously - edit: as in this part of the world at least..

This is a good safety feature and practice imho and can also help in screening RFI or other external/internal interference sources. This screening may also improve the performance of the equipment.

In some countries such as the US where there seems to be no mandatory regulation concerning earthing of electrical appliances (This maybe a State and not a Federal issue? Please clue me up on that US members))
Being more familiar with UK/Australia/NZ/SE Asia and PNG regulations; PNG have adopted the Australian rules, which I think is a good thing. In fact stricter than most. Srict =safe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_outlet
I have a hard copy of the Electrical SAA (Standards Association of Australia) filed somehwere, could not find the regs on line, but will get the link. Would really appreciate any US and/or UK links to their reg sites.

Appliance mains cords often have no polarity. Alternating current has no polarity but neutral and live/active connections may be important given certain applications. Countries that have mandatory earthing on non isolated equipment use the earth pin as a keyway to properly locate live/active and neutral.

US FCC regulations refer to RFI (Radio Frequency Interference). This is a completely different issue.

Electrical safety issues are a major concern, and this topic may be worthy of debate.

For peace of mind please ground your cabs. For the kids sake.

Just my 2 pennies

Couldn't agree more. Any electrical appliance with a metal chassis that is not grounded is nothing but a safety hazard.

Hewitson said:

Couldn't agree more. Any electrical appliance with a metal chassis that is not grounded is nothing but a safety hazard.

Click to expand...

Absolutely!

Grounds are there for a reason.

If you are popping fuses/breakers or are still getting shocked when plugged into a grounded outlet then spend the $5 to $10 on a 3 prong outlet tester. These are funny looking plugs with 3 lights in them. They will tell you if your outlets are miswired.

Those miswired outlets are a safety hazard and can lead to shorter equipment life. How? If you have a surge protector on the outlet you may be missing out on some of its protection.

Any US intended cab made in the last 10-15 years has had a 3 prong cord...

But Not all buildings are wired up with 3 prong outlets.... Especially older residences...

Most building codes are on a municipal basis... And the unions have some pull to pretty much universalize standards.

all new work since the 60's has required 3 prong polarized grounded (fg/earth) outlets in the us. most small appliances are polarized but not grounded (small tvs, toaster, etc.) many larger appliances are grounded (bigger tvs, computers, etc.) usually ac/dc adapters (console power, cell chargers, etc.) aren't polarized.

every american cabinet i have came with a 3 prong cord.

what i want to know is, is FG and Neutral the same (theyre connected together in the breaker panel) everywhere else like in the US?

Many other countries use 2 hot wires for 220/240v AC instead.