Here is our setup
Outlet in older house that was replaced with a GFI last year. (no issues until recent)
The GFI doesn't have a ground wire running up from the basement. Just the white and black wires. (From my understanding this is an acceptable configuration)
The outlet reads 119.0v when checked with my multi-meter.
The outlet reads less than a volt when the "positive" line and the ground are checked with the multimeter. Same with the "negative" with the ground.
A (real) surge protector plugged into the outlet
A large tv plugged into the surge protector
A cox cable box plugged into the surge protector
A coax cable (run by cox) from the outside of the house, split and sent to a modem and the cable box. The coax reads 0v (no leakage at all) when a multimeter is placed on the inner coax wire and the outer shielding. I tried this on both DC and AC settings on multimetter
The problem:
When either a coax cable or HDMI cable is run from the cable box to the TV, an Arc appears. This has already fried one TV.
My theory:
The coax cable is improperly grounded. I just need a way to prove it. The basis for this theory is the coax cable in a separate apartment tests with an AC voltage of 1.5v. The cable technicians are somehow less informed about circuitry than me. This is a hobby for me so I am lost in the sauce. Any Ideas?
Update
So I took the time to diagram what I have observed. This further supports my theory that the cable isn't grounded properly. I'm not 100% sure how coax is supposed to be run from a telephone pole though so I could be incorrect.
Just in case there is confusion, no the neutral is not plugged into the ground. I was just demonstrating that there is only two wires going to the GFI.
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