"Michael Daly" wrote in message
...

On 28-Nov-2005, "miamicuse" wrote:

If I unplug the cable to the VHS player but plug it into the TV
directly,
there is no current.

No current where? - at the TV or out of the short coax coming out of the
VCR? If the latter, it might be the current is coming in the cable from
outside. Otherwise, you might have a problem inside your VCR.


Well that does not compute either. Because I have the cable feed coming in
from the outside and into the splitter. If I hold onto the outside cable
and splitter, I do not feel this mild voltage spike. Now this splitter
splits into four cables which connects to four TVs. Let's say we have cable
A, B, C, D.

I take cable A, and connect to splitter. Nothing, no voltage. Repeat for
cable B, nothing. Repeat for cable C, nothing. Now I go grab the last
cable, cable D, and I feel the voltage. I only feel it when I have outside
cable + splitter in one hand and cable D in another. I let go of cable D,
nothing. I let go of the splitter and only hold cable D, nothing either.

Does this mean it might not be the outside cable grounding since cable A, B,
C do not have this problem?

Now I go to the other end of cable D which is connected to the VCR which
then feeds to the TV. I disconnected that end. Go back to the attic.
Touch both the splitter and cable D. Nothing. Then I went back down and
connect cable D directly to the TV bypassing the VCR player, then back to
the attic and try again, nothing. Then I wired it back to the VCR, repeat -
yes I feel the voltage.

Does this experiment conclude the problem is VCR player?

Try grounding the cable at the splitter - the case of the splitter should
be grounded so you just have to connect a line to a good ground. See if
that draws off the current you feel. It could be that the outside cable
is not at the same ground potential as your house. If you have wiring in
the attic that is grounded at a junction box or box for a switch, you
could
attach to that - I don't know if that is acceptable as far as electrical
codes go, but would be suitable for a test. The power in the cable should
be pretty low, so codes might not be a problem - someone who knows will
probably chime in.

BTW - the other stuff you mentioned suggests it isn't a problem with
your electrical system and VCR/DVD/TV hardware having different polarities
or that your electrical outlets are wired backwards.

Mike