How to earth my T5 light set?

[|squee|]

Hi,

I bought a light set 2nd hand recently, and when I went home I realised the set wasn't earthed. Now I can't have that... I touch my light set a lot. I was getting 2V on the casing via voltmeter.

So I opened up the ballast and found absolutely shoddy hand-soldered workmanship.

I couldn't find any connection for ground/earth at all, so I'm hoping the electricians at AQ can help me out. What can I do to ground my light set? The power connector is a 2pin...

Or should I be looking at the aluminium light casing instead?

[tawauboy]

change the wire to a 3-core wire.
and connect the ground wire to the casing.

[|squee|]

Hi Thomas,

I've tried that... I still get the prickly feeling when I touch the casing. I've just connected a wire to the casing, and then to the ground of the 3-pin plug, which is connected directly to the mains. What am I doing wrong?

[tawauboy]

use your volt meter to check the casing at various points, especially the metallic parts.
maybe the ground connection is not contiguous.

[|squee|]

I checked... I get a continuity signal with my multimeter when I touch the ground wire end to end, and from the earth pin of the plug to the other end of the wire. I also tried pressing the earth wire directly on the casing and then touching my finger to the casing nearby... still get the "shock". Weird isn't it?

[tawauboy]

you need to check for contiguous ground connection for your casing; unless your casing is a single piece construction.
ther may be oxidation between joints thus parts of the casing may not be grounded.

and try pressing the eart wire to a particular part of the casing and then touching the particular part of the casing. still getting the shock?
if you do, try using another electrical socket.

try using ohm-meter instead of continuity meter.