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ELECTRICITY 101 ISOLATED GROUNDING - Sometimes we hear confusion from customers about the term "isolated ground". Here's some clarification. The term "isolated ground" is sometimes confused with "dedicated ground". Dedicated ground means the safety ground wires of certain equipment (e.g. audio equipment) are not tied to the grounds of any other equipment (e.g. computers or fan motors) in a facility. In these cases a dedicated ground wire gets its own grounding conductors and rod. Isolated ground (abbreviated "IG") refers to an electrical receptacle in which the third pin safety ground is not tied to the metal mounting bracket. In most cases IG duplex receptacles are orange. The purpose of an IG receptacle is to create a more controlled grounding path by not tying the grounds together at the distro chassis, but rather through a grounding bus or other means that is then tied to earth. IG receptacles are more expensive than the standard ones. Volumes have been written about the proper methods to avoid ground loops. We will leave it to the audio professionals to debate the pros and cons of using isolated ground receptacles. Some swear by it. In a standard duplex the third pin is tied to the metal mounting bracket as a means of connecting equipment grounds and the distro’s chassis. The distro’s chassis is connected to ground via a power cord or wire harness which is then plugged into a grounded outlet or connected via a ground bus to earth. In this way all equipment grounds are connected to earth as is the distro chassis. >Sid< |