Hi everyone,

I understand exposed metal parts are usually connected to Earth in a 3 prong AC applications. What happens when Earth is removed?

The exposed metal I'm thinking of is a shielded RJ45 jack.

My first guess would be to connect through a capacitor to low voltage circuit ground. But perhaps this isn't a great idea, especially if high voltage ground is connected to low voltage ground through a capacitor as well.

Any thoughts on this? Much appreciated.

 

On a 2 wire AC setup one side is neutral, which is also ground in that setup.

The capacitor is probably a good idea.

 

Earth ground isn't useful for shielding, the connection you want is to chassis.
Shielding is like an extension of the enclosure around your cables.

 

Hi everyone,

I understand exposed metal parts are usually connected to Earth in a 3 prong AC applications. What happens when Earth is removed?

The exposed metal I'm thinking of is a shielded RJ45 jack.

My first guess would be to connect through a capacitor to low voltage circuit ground. But perhaps this isn't a great idea, especially if high voltage ground is connected to low voltage ground through a capacitor as well.

Any thoughts on this? Much appreciated.

The jack shield side / terminal may already be tied to the internal chassis ground of the equipment in question. You haven't explained exactly what your concern is, the nature of the equipment and/or why you want to complete the earth path connection.