Want to extent the ground wire of my TT

[peace_sells]

Greetings everyone.

I want to extend the ground wire of my turntable (the wire is quite brittle). I was thinking of 'soldering' another wire to it. Would that affect the performance? If yes then what would you recommend? Thanks.

Edit : Correction with the title : "Want to extend"

 

[Saket]

Or if you want to get it cosmetically perfect, open the TT, disconnect the older ground wire and solder a new wire from the source itself.

 

[peace_sells]

Or if you want to get it cosmetically perfect, open the TT, disconnect the older ground wire and solder a new wire from the source itself.

Ah i dint think of that but say i want to extend it by adding to the existing wire (much easier that way since it'd save me the trouble of opening it up)..would that add any sort of noise?

 

[G401fan]

No problem in extending it, either by soldering the two, or by making a tight twisting contact on the bare wire ends. Scrub off any rust or oxidation that might have accumulated on the original exposed wire.

 

[stevieboy]

Peace sells,

Should not be a problem at all. If you have heatshrink to cover the joint so much the better. Else good ole electrical insulation tape should do.

Regards

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I used to use some old lamp cable. I used both cores, as it seemed a shame to leave one hanging.

 

[reubensm]

Absolutely no problem extending it. I you are looking at it theoretically, then use a thicker gauge wire for your extension. The joint should be soldered and isolated. Opening the TT and wiring up a new ground wire may be a little more complex as in most cases, the ground wire is wired to the tone arm assembly using the tonearm cable connector. These are usually factory sealed plugs and cannot be opened (this may vary from model to model, for example the el-cheapo turntables have a plastic connector which fits to tags on a small tag board). IMO, the simplest approach would be to do a physical extension of the existing ground wire.

 

[reubensm]

Peace sells,

Should not be a problem at all. If you have heatshrink to cover the joint so much the better. Else good ole electrical insulation tape should do.

Regards

Great point, an exposed joint invites corrosion with open arms. Slip thick sleeving onto one of the wires, make a good soldered joint. Then slip the sleeving over the soldered joint and seal the open ends with super glue. That would create a sealed joint (i usually do this for all joints that I have to make for electricals at home)

 

[peace_sells]

Great point, an exposed joint invites corrosion with open arms. Slip thick sleeving onto one of the wires, make a good soldered joint. Then slip the sleeving over the soldered joint and seal the open ends with super glue. That would create a sealed joint (i usually do this for all joints that I have to make for electricals at home)

Thanks! However there seems to be a problem. Like i said..the ground wire is very brittle. Seems rusted. If i try to squeeze it i'm pretty sure the exposed wire would simply break So..i have a feeling that if i solder that wire to a fatter one..it might just break at the solder joint :sad: what do you think?

 

[Saket]

Basically the ground wire has to be connected to some metal part on the chassis/ plinth of the TT; mostly that is the tonearm. Most tonearm connections include a ground connection through the construction metal.
There will be no issues in using an extended ground wire, connected by simple means to the old wire. Without a ground wire, there can be a constant buzz in the output or worse, a loud hum, similar to acoustic feedback, esp. at higher volumes.
I say you go ahead with simply extending the old wire. If it breaks or anything like that, you can always skim off some outside insulation to gain access to fresh conductor metal.

 

[jls001]

Buy 18 AWG multi core copper wire, preferably something flexible, and re-wire the whole thing as you said it is brittle. I bought teflon shielded multi core copper wire which is tinned, at Rs 20 per meter yesterday. Buy green since this is for earthing.

4 mm copper lugs, or tinned brass lugs if you can't find copper, is recommended. Bare copper tends to darken with oxidation, and loses its conductivity.

 

[peace_sells]

Basically the ground wire has to be connected to some metal part on the chassis/ plinth of the TT; mostly that is the tonearm. Most tonearm connections include a ground connection through the construction metal.
There will be no issues in using an extended ground wire, connected by simple means to the old wire. Without a ground wire, there can be a constant buzz in the output or worse, a loud hum, similar to acoustic feedback, esp. at higher volumes.
I say you go ahead with simply extending the old wire. If it breaks or anything like that, you can always skim off some outside insulation to gain access to fresh conductor metal.

That's the problem..the wire seems to be brittle throughout! I have already peeled off the outer insulation a couple of times..the so called fresh conductor that shows up..even that is rusted.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Is it possible to twist-connect this wire to the extension? If it just breaks, then obviously not. You'll have to rewire.

Don't sweat the materials or the method. This is not carrying sound, and won't affect the sound. It's just an earth cable. In fact, if you do not get that hum that Saket speaks of, then you don't even need it and can forget it.

 

[reubensm]

Thanks! However there seems to be a problem. Like i said..the ground wire is very brittle. Seems rusted. If i try to squeeze it i'm pretty sure the exposed wire would simply break So..i have a feeling that if i solder that wire to a fatter one..it might just break at the solder joint :sad: what do you think?

You can trace the ground wire back into the TT cabinet. If its originating from the tonearm base, you can probably cut it short, use a tag-board, screwed to the chassis, solder the cut ground wire to an isolated tag on the board to which you can then solder your extension wire. If the ground wire originates from a tag, screwed to the chassis (as referred to by Saket), just to a swap with your new ground wire. Its as simple as its gets.