# Should I use a stabilizer with my home theater equipment?



## varun.luthra51 (Mar 29, 2015)

Hi guys, 

This is my first post on this forum. All through the registration process, i read a lot of rules that are to be followed here. So, i'll be trying my best to stay in the barrier, take help from you all and definitely help everyone else with whatever i know. 

So i had been using this equipment since around 2 years now:

Harmon Kardon AVR 134 A/V Receiver
JBL SCS 140 5.1 Channel Speakers w/ Sub-woofer
Sony KDL 32EX520 Full HD Bravia TV
Sony Disc/ DVD Player BDP-S380
(all above attached) to Belkin Ultimate Series 8-Socket Surge Protector

Right after sometime I bought all this equipment, I was facing this problem of current flowing through my amp as well as blu ray player. My electrician fixed it with a little tweak of changing the polarity of the terminals behind the main socket. Though it worked but i was aware that it'll bounce back someday to me as the Grounding LED in the Belkin protector never worked really. That's right! It's cuz there is no proper earthing done for my house. So recently the problem occurred again and i ended up loosing the display of my LED TV. I'm not very sure that this happened due to the current flowing in all the apparatus, but this is the only possible reason i can think of as of now. So now I'll be getting the display repaired from Sony or there might be need to change the whole panel of it. 

But for future what i need to know is whether connecting all the equipment to one stabilizer could curb this issue of fluctuations in power supply and current flow or not ? Is there any way i can keep my equipment safe from such blunders ? Due to some reason i can not get grounding done for my overall mains. So that solution is simply not applicable. Please let me know if a stabilizer can fix all this ?:help:


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

I am not familiar with the electrical system there, but not being able to ground the system is probably more a matter of cost and effort than technical limitations. If you have any external system connected to your equipment as a source, such as internet, cable, satellite receivers, phone, etc. you likely have an effective ground path that is present already. The problem occurs when the neutral side of the electrical supply is at a different potential than the signal grounds. If you have inconsistency in the wiring this can be dangerous and damaging to the equipment. It sounds like you had this kind of issue, and you may have already damaged some of the equipment.

Earth ground is the reference, and something is referenced to that somewhere. You need to find a way to make that so for your electrical system as well, or you are bound to have problems. You could isolate and balance the power and any grounds but this is tricky and can be dangerous, particularly if any of the equipment is already damaged and has any leakage current or faulty grounding.

Does your electrical service get a ground where it comes off the transformer, at the entrance to the home or anywhere else? What signal sources are connected to your system?

As for the rules, just treat other with respect and don't use any language that might be even considered to be profane in the least and you will be fine. We don't make the rules to be difficult, but so that everyone feels safe in asking for help or sharing understanding.


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