A very bad idea :)

Greeny1994 · 5 Apr 2013 at 21:47

So my laptop power supply has been causing interference on my home theater system via the headphone jack.
Since then, on demand services on freesat etc. don't require me to plug it in anymore.
But I have been plugging it into my desktop to route sound to my speakers that are plugged into my desktop. The interference is so bad that I cannot hear anything.
Pull the power and no problems.
So, I put tape on the earth pin on the plug. AAAAAAH. Anyway, problem solved

Am I going to burn the house down....
Or should I rephrase that. Will the house circuit breakers be effective if a problem was to arise?

Milmar · 5 Apr 2013 at 21:58

depends what kind of tape you used if you used electric tape it should be ok

Greeny1994 · 5 Apr 2013 at 22:09

yeah, I did

Mr.Cookie · 6 Apr 2013 at 00:00

if you have an rcd on the house electrics then possibly as these work on a differential between live and live return, if the return is less than what came in it pops, and seeing as your removing the path for stray voltage it could cause issue like overheating if internal short. Obviously there's a fuse to protect from to much current draw (as long as you've not just popped a 13amp in

)but i wouldn't leave it plugged in unattended

garnhamr · 6 Apr 2013 at 12:45

rcd's aren't very reliant on the earth as a 30mA rcd trips with only 0.03 amps of difference.
that said, if you do have an rcd on your socket circuit then i wouldn't worry about shocks.
afaik the power supply for the laptop converts the 230-240v mains power to low volts dc so the earth is really only protecting the power supply itself. Therefore, if you don't have an rcd then theres a small risk that if the power supply draws too much current it may cause a fire or shock someone who touches it.

simply put, if there is no rcd protection it is a much higher risk.

SpaghettiOs · 6 Apr 2013 at 16:10

Just get a ground loop isolator. They're under a fiver, and for the sake of your own safety, you'd be foolish not to.