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Post subject: Mustang II Power Cord Questions
Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 1:47 am
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Sorry, I dont have enough knowledge about electricity. :oops:

My amps power cord is this.
Image

and is it safe to use this?
Image

both of them are 10A 250V

is it true that the power cord in the 2nd image eliminates hum?
and another question.

What does it mean when a power cord is FUSED?
that looks like this where you can open the plug.
Image


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Post subject: Re: Mustang II Power Cord Questions
Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 10:45 am
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As long as the amp is getting the correct voltage it should be fine.

That cord simply has a fuse built into it. Again, as long as the amp is getting the right voltage you should be fine.

O.


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Post subject: Re: Mustang II Power Cord Questions
Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 1:34 pm
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The first picture is a mainland Europe mains plug. They have no fuse, they do have an Earth connection - which isn't necessarily always connected, in either the plug or socket. (NB for American viewers, Earth = Ground :) )

The second and third pictures are UK mains plugs. They always have a fuse. Again, these plugs have an Earth pin that may or may not be connected. The socket always has an Earth connection. A fuse is an important safety device to stop overloads, fire, electric shock, etc, in the event of a fault.

You should use the correct power cord for the mains sockets in your country. Which country are you in? I'm curious how you're planning to use a different type of mains plug - do you have an "international adapter?" In general, you shouldn't use a non-earthed mains plug/socket if the device requires an Earth, which I believe the Mustang amps do.

Hum is a complex topic - just using a different plug (with an adapter?) isn't necessarily going to make a difference. What else are you connecting to your amp - eg a PC connected via USB can cause hum under some conditions. Changing the amp's mains lead probably won't affect that. Or if you have a noisy mains supply to the amp causing the hum, then again just changing the lead won't fix that.


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Post subject: Re: Mustang II Power Cord Questions
Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 4:43 pm
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Thanks guys! :D

so if i use a fused plug it will avoid electric shock? because sometimes when i connect my amp to PC i can feel the electricity in the strings it feels tingly and sometimes i can feel the electricty to my shoulder. it feels like vibrating or something :shock:

But i managed to avoid it. it seems it only occurs when i touch the steel parts of my guitar and a different metal thing together.


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Post subject: Re: Mustang II Power Cord Questions
Posted: Sun May 12, 2013 8:11 am
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A fuse won't stop the tingly sensation. That is symptomatic of an electrical fault somewhere, and you're being electroctuted. At best, the fuse will blow and then nothing will work until you fix the problem. Or the fault won't be big enough to blow the fuse and there will be no difference.

There are always fuses in mains electrical circuits. In UK, there are additional fuses in the mains plugs too. Just using a different type of mains lead won't on its own fix the problem.

As before, what country are you in? What are the normal mains sockets in your country? You should use the correct mains lead for your country. You should make sure the mains lead, plug, socket and house wiring all have good earth/ground connections. Also check that whatever fuses, circuit breakers, etc, are in your wiring, are all in fact present, of the correct rating, and fitted/working correctly.

Actually, re-reading your post, I'll go further: there appears to be a significant mains leakage in your equipment somewhere (if it's enough to send a tingle right up your arm to your shoulder). You should stop using the equipment immediately until you can get this fixed. If you don't have the expertise to do this yourself, you should get it checked by an expert. If you continue using the equipment, you run the risk of a potentially fatal electric shock - now I don't know that for certain and don't want to scare-monger, but I'd rather point out the risk, than not say anything and then read about a dead guitarist. Just changing the mains lead won't change any of that or reduce the risk. You need to fix the underlying problem.

The fault could be in the amp or house wiring or anywhere in between. I'm not going to suggest what I think the likely sources of the fault might be, as I don't want to encourage anyone to mess with mains electricity if they're not completely certain what they're doing.


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Post subject: Re: Mustang II Power Cord Questions
Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 12:43 am
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I live in the Philippines and the outlets here in the house is the ungrounded one.
Image
The house is prettly old. it was built in the early 90's.


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Post subject: Re: Mustang II Power Cord Questions
Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 5:32 am
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OK, so you have non-earthed, USA-style mains sockets. None of the mains leads in the pictures in your earlier post are suitable, and none of them will solve your problem. You should use an appropriate USA-style mains lead.

Also, the amp should be appropriately constructed ("double insulated") for use with a non-earthed mains supply: that basically means it is impossible for any mains voltage to be present on the outside of the amp, including the guitar socket. That doesn't appear to be the case with your amp - the 'tingling' is a high voltage coming through to your guitar via the guitar lead and the amp's guitar input socket. Was the amp supplied by Fender within the Phillipines, or did you import it from another country? If the former, it should have the correct insulation. If the latter, and it was originally designed for a country and mains supply with an Earth connection, it may not. (I'm talking generically and simplistically about 'insulation' here; I don't actually know if Fender make different amp models for different territories with earthed vs non-earthed supplies).

I think I can only repeat my earlier advice: if there is a voltage leak sufficient to cause 'tingling' in your shoulders (ie you're getting an electric shock), this suggests there is a fault somewhere - either in your amp, house wiring, whatever. You should get this checked by an electrical expert, to avoid a potentially more serious (fatal) electric shock.


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Post subject: Re: Mustang II Power Cord Questions
Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 5:30 pm
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i bought my amp in a music store here. :)


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Post subject: Re: Mustang II Power Cord Questions
Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 7:22 pm
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pet415 wrote:
Thanks guys! :D

so if i use a fused plug it will avoid electric shock? because sometimes when i connect my amp to PC i can feel the electricity in the strings it feels tingly and sometimes i can feel the electricty to my shoulder. it feels like vibrating or something :shock:

But i managed to avoid it. it seems it only occurs when i touch the steel parts of my guitar and a different metal thing together.



Hi Pet415

If you only feel it when connected to your computer through USB this is what is most likely happening:
-I'm guessing your PC power outlet is not grounded wither and/or you PC power cord does not have a ground connection either
-it is VERY frequent that on cheap PC power supplies without ground connection, there's some induction from the power supply to the PC chassis, and , in your case from the PC chassis to all connectors that use the chassis as ground, including your USB connection, and from there eventually to your fingers.
-when you touch enything metallic connected to ground you are closing the electrical circuit through your body. DON'T DO IT!!!!

I would strongly recommend to NOT connect your PC to your guitar or amp in any way until you fix this as this may give you some serious (even fatal) shocks depending on how bad you PC power supply leaking gets over time. If you can not fix your PC and/or outlet I will recommend to use a laptop running on batteries instead.


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Post subject: Re: Mustang II Power Cord Questions
Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 11:53 pm
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Quote:
on cheap PC power supplies without ground connection, there's some induction from the power supply to the PC chassis

Wow, I didn't know that, that's appalling. I'd missed the 'PC' part of earlier posts - I'm inclined to agree with jedi's assessment if the problem is only appearing when the amp is connected to the PC. If you can't get a better PC power supply, other options are either a mains isolator or a USB isolator (that is, a USB cable with a 'magic box' in the middle of it that allows the data through, but blocks any high voltages; you may seem them advertised as "USB opto-isolators" and they may come with cable attached or with normal USB sockets to which you attach a cable each side, one going to the amp and one to the PC; they aren't common, but they are available).

Quote:
I bought my amp in a music store here

It might be worth asking the store if they have any suitable accessories; you can't be the only person with this problem, they might have seen it before. However, if you bought the amp locally, I'm slightly confused why it came with (according to your original post) a mains lead with a European plug, if the sockets in the Phillipines are USA-style?


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