Why am I getting sparks when I try & hook up cable to my PC?

[nsafreak]

Ok folks this one has me baffled and I could use some help. I have a Pinnacle PC TV Studio card in my PC that I want to hook up to cable. I have the cable split by a splitter with one end running to my home entertainment center where my regular TV is at and another running (not connected now though) to my PC. Yet when I try and hook it up to my PC I got this really large spark (luckily it didn't hit me) that actually burned part of the F connector on the cable. The PC is fine (thankfully) but until I figure out what's going on I'm not going to hook it up again. Even then I'll try hooking it up to an old VCR that I don't care about before the PC. The other cable run from the same splitter which has the same source does not produce any sparks. The cable is grounded as far as I can tell and the PC is grounded as well. It's hooked up to a Tripplite SMART 1400 UPS which shows as grounded on its status lights. I have even had an electrician out a while back that checked the electrical outlets and they are grounded. I've used a multi meter to check for voltage on the line but it detects nothing at all. Any ideas?

 

[So]

Static....or ghosts....damn tricky ghosts!

 

[amdskip]

Is the cable pinched somewhere in your house with an electrical cable or something? Something isn't right.

 

[Eli]

I'd just call it a fluke and try again.

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Hmmm.... sounds bad. Call an electrician.

 

[So]

If he's using his multimeter right, there is no voltage on the line. Why don't you just try touching the cable to ground?

 

[So]

Originally posted by: DevilsAdvocate
Hmmm.... sounds bad. Call an electrician.

No! Call the Ghostbusters!

[Ghostbusters theme]Who ya gonna call?[/Ghostbusters theme]

Or Jesus...he knows how to fix everything! He has an Associates degree in life!

 

[dquan97]

jumper cables from your car?

 

[ThaGrandCow]

is the splitter plugged into an outlet or is it passive? It sounds like a static buildup. I'm assuming of course that the cables are hooked up right and not on the wrong outlets. Try touching the cable directly to grounded metal, then pulling it back for a second, then touching it again. If you see the spark the first time but not after you ground it you're probably ok to hook it up. If you see the spark both times then I'd check the splitter and possibly replace it.

 

[narzy]

do you have an amplifier anywhere on your cable lines? some are powered through the cable, others increase the signal a bit much, not somthing to be to concerned about.

 

[shimsham]

my cable has sparked. no great bolt or nothing, but i can see some blue/white when i fool with it putting it in.

 

[Brutuskend]

I don't know, but it CAN'T be good!

 

[nsafreak]

This is a brand new splitter and I find it hard to believe that it's the problem. The splitter is a passive splitter and I don't have any amplifiers on any of the lines. I'll check into touching it to grounded metal but I find it hard to believe there can be THAT large of a discharge.

 

[blahblah99]

It's a grounding issue.

If your tv is plugged into an outlet with its ground reference far from your computer's outlet, then you will get grounding problems.

Try moving your computer to where your splitter/tv is and run a short-as possible cable from the splitter to computer.