AC Wiring - Earth Grounding the cab?

hindered

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I've done some reading on this but would like a more definitive answer -- what, if anything, do I need to have connected to earth ground in my cab? I had a cab that was completely hacked up, a total rats nest of wires, cut wires, splices etc etc and took everything out. I now have it wired for AC again but nothing is connected to ground except the metal plate on the back of the cab where the AC cord enters the cabinet. I plan to run ground from another screw on that plate to the monitor frame, control panel and coin door. What about anything on the power distro block? I have a switcher for +5v, another component that puts out +12 and -5, and an ISO xformer.
 
I would say run the earth ground wire to the switcher, to the iso transformer, and anything else metal in the cab.
 
I would say run the earth ground wire to the switcher, to the iso transformer, and anything else metal in the cab.

Bingo!

This includes the coin door and the control panel (if it's metal)...

Also, don't forget grounding the EMI/RFI filter if you have one on it. If you don't, I'd suggest installing one.

RJ
 
Bingo!

This includes the coin door and the control panel (if it's metal)...

Also, don't forget grounding the EMI/RFI filter if you have one on it. If you don't, I'd suggest installing one.

RJ

No filter, I'll look into putting one on. What does it do? Found some braided ground on the ISO so I attached that to the plate. I'll probably daisychain everything else on the power supply brick off of that w/heavy gauge stranded green wire. So:

Control Panel
Coin door
Power switch I ran to the front for easy power on/off (in a galvanized steel electrical outlet box)
All components of the power supply brick
Monitor frame? (G07)

Andykmv, game doesn't matter -- not looking for specific advice about any single game cabinet and more so general advice to always follow. If you really want to know, it's a generic cab that will be a 60 in 1 for my collection.
 
An EMI/RFI filter blocks filter out noise from the power lines that can affect game play and display.
 
the filter is not a necessary part but i have found that they are good to have

in my house i have a newer fuse box and the naborhood is less than 12 years old

i never have any problems with interference
but i brought a few games to a buddys huse that had old wiring in the house and you could tell

the games without the filter would get waves on the screen and the monitors would pulsate with the power in his house

it was really funny when ever he turned on a light switch the monitor would get darker and as we turned them back off the monitor would get brighter (ps his house still used thoes old screw in fuses in his breaker box )
 
the filter is not a necessary part but i have found that they are good to have

in my house i have a newer fuse box and the naborhood is less than 12 years old

i never have any problems with interference
but i brought a few games to a buddys huse that had old wiring in the house and you could tell

the games without the filter would get waves on the screen and the monitors would pulsate with the power in his house

it was really funny when ever he turned on a light switch the monitor would get darker and as we turned them back off the monitor would get brighter (ps his house still used thoes old screw in fuses in his breaker box )

Ahhh okay, I can see the benefit. I probably won't go to the trouble right now though, because I have a new panel and new wiring in my finished basement -- all my games look good, even when they're all on at the same time. :)
 
earth ground and logic ground arent the same thing

logic ground is for the voltages on the game board PCB and are grounded on/in the switcher
earth ground is for the metal parts so you dont get shocked if theres a problem with the wall A/C etc.

screwy things can happen if you tie these together after the switcher
screwy readings can be seen with your multimeter if you use one ground while measuring the others' voltage
 
the filter is not a necessary part but i have found that they are good to have

in my house i have a newer fuse box and the naborhood is less than 12 years old

The age of your housing or neighborhood doesn't stop transients (voltage spiking) from happening. They occur when the A/C kicks on, or the someone's air compressor, fan, etc. Unless there isn't anyone in your neighborhood that owns an electrical motor of some kind, the filter still is usefull.

Granted, you probably won't see a difference unless the power lines are really poor, but spikes can shorten the life of the electronics.
 
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