# Cable sparking!



## Confused1 (Oct 4, 2008)

ok so i have a tvtuner card that can do cable tv. it was working "fine" until a couple days later i smelt burning. i looked behind the computer and saw the coax cable melting. so i disconnected it. but if i try to hook it up it will spark if the power cable is plugged in and/or my DVI monitor. nobody i know has been able to help me.. can you?

my computer is hooked up to an UPS. but i have no coax cable hookup. When TVS are hooked up its fine. i was thinking about a surge suppressor but doubt it will help.


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## bomberboysk (Oct 4, 2008)

You prolly have a short circuit between the card and the cable... card is prolly no good now, check to see if it has a frayed cord sitting on a contact perhaps.


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## luckyedboy66 (Oct 4, 2008)

uuuh, i'm pretty sure regular coax doesnt carry the voltage necessary to spark, so you may have AC jumping through the cable from something. does the card/computer still work?? if you recently bought it, i would most definitely send it back!

Welcome to Computer Forum, by the way


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## bomberboysk (Oct 4, 2008)

^Thats what i was referring to, as in the power supply within the computer. It sounds more like the tuner card has something causing the coax to spark.


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## Confused1 (Oct 4, 2008)

Here's the thing, I've tried a PCI tuner card AND a usb tuner card.. both do the same exact thing. I'm going to try it in a different computer later. My computer works fine. i can also check to see if the tuner is still working, but i am pretty sure it is fine.

and thank you. I've been on a couple times too look stuff up. I am fairly decent with computers but i haven't messed with Cable or tuners in my computer much.


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## thermophilis (Oct 4, 2008)

Try another coax outlet. It could be faulty wiring in your house, a power line crossing the cable line or something like that.


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## Confused1 (Oct 4, 2008)

well i found out it is something to do with the outlets because i unpluged my UPS from the wall, and there was no sparking when i connected the cable to the tuner card. i think the outlets have ground because there are three prongs.. but who knows.

edit: well the outlets are grounded. but ive also noticed that what is causing the sparks is the outside connection of the coax cable. it even sparks if i strike it up against my metal case. so i dont know if my case is being used as a ground or something.


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## bomberboysk (Oct 4, 2008)

Your case acts as a ground, i would recommend getting out a multimeter and putting one prong on the shield of the coax and another one onto your case, see what kind of reading you will get, and set it to AC as your household wiring is probably crossing over the cable somewhere.


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## Confused1 (Oct 6, 2008)

i have found that the house grounding is bad (i figured as much).

thanks for the suggestions


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## bomberboysk (Oct 7, 2008)

No problem, feel free to come back with any other problems/questions you might have!


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