Electrical Interference

rx2 · **7th July 2008, 11:01 AM**

Hi,

I was not sure which forum to post this but this seemed the most appropriate.

I am having issues with electrical interference of some kind. I have a relatively cheap Pansonic hi-fi unit connected to the AC outlet in the upstairs of the house. When I switch the lights on and off from anywhere in the house it causes a pop/crackle on the hi-fi unit. I am no electrician but I think it is strange mainly because the AC outlets and the lights are on different circuits. However I have lived with it, putting it down to my cheap panasonic hi-fi not having a good filtering / isolation circuit. My reasoning for this is because my Yamaha Amp doesn't pop or crackle at all and it is plugged into the same AC circuit.

Recently though I have setup my HTPC with Vista Media Center. It is connected to my router which also has a NAS connected to it. All my music and videos are stored on my NAS. So the HTPC plays contents from my NAS via fixed wired ethernet. The HTPC is connected to my yamaha amp via digital coaxial. Now I have the problem that everytime I switch lights on / off it upsets the network connectivity between the HTPC and the NAS, thus a piece of music being played would pause in silence momentarily when lights are being switched on and off. The HTPC, Router, NAS, Yamaha Amp are all connected to the same AC circuit as the cheap panasonic hi-fi. I have isolated it to the network connectivity because when the AMP is playing the radio it is fine. When the HTPC plays direct from local disk it is OK.

Now I am thinking that there is something wrong with the electrics in the house - but I have no idea what it could be? Any thoughts or suggestions on how I can go about diagnosing the issue / problem?

Thanks in advance

Robert

DDH · **7th July 2008, 11:13 AM**

Robert,

I think your analysis of there being something wrong with the electrical setup in your house may be spot on. Based on that I'd suggest getting in a professional, mains power can hurt - somethings permanently! Having said that you may well have some dodgy wiring, ultimately all circuits come back to a single feed for a house on a single phase of power. If you have wiring where neutrals are being switched and some dodgy stuff in the lighting circuits with loops, etc you can get this sort of nonsense.

You may spend a few $ with an electrician to try and fix it simply because they will have to test and map out each circuit, that takes time. A quicker (but not as technically correct) may be to simply get a small filter or even UPS for this equipment for around $200 - $250. This should stop all this nonsense on your sensitive equipment and protect your MCE from short power failures too.

rx2 · **7th July 2008, 09:02 PM**

Thanks DDH for your reply. Based on your feedback I think I will try and see if I can get the wiring sorted out. Planning to be here for a few years so might as well get it done properly.

However finding a sparky who wants to tackle the problem is not trivial! Spoke to a couple today and neither really knew where to start, or what to do! Worrying. If anyone who lives on the Northern Beaches Sydney, can recommend a good electrician please let me know.

Cheers

Robert

TheRob · **8th July 2008, 05:06 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rx2

However finding a sparky who wants to tackle the problem is not trivial! Spoke to a couple today and neither really knew where to start, or what to do! Worrying. If anyone who lives on the Northern Beaches Sydney, can recommend a good electrician please let me know.

Can't give any recommendations, but I've always been meaning to use this guy when I wanted some work done 'cause I like the name. Sounds applicable to your problem

:

Faulty Powers Electrial Services
14 Maralinga Ave ELANORA HEIGHTS NSW 2101
0413 838 848

davidgol · **9th July 2008, 08:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rx2

When I switch the lights on and off from anywhere in the house

Are they halogen lights? If so, I get the same problem - though mine affects the TV signal, not the network. I spoke to a sparky once who said that the transformers in the halogens can cause lots of interference. What you can try (if they are halogens), is to unplug the globes one by one, and see if you can isolate which halogen transformer is the offender - then just get that one replaced. That's what helped me.

rx2 · **9th July 2008, 09:22 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidgol

Are they halogen lights? If so, I get the same problem - though mine affects the TV signal, not the network. I spoke to a sparky once who said that the transformers in the halogens can cause lots of interference. What you can try (if they are halogens), is to unplug the globes one by one, and see if you can isolate which halogen transformer is the offender - then just get that one replaced. That's what helped me.

Your right I do have halogens. The whole house is covered with them - about 28 in total. And the transformers are non-electronic, I think they are called ferros-core or something. I am trying figure out the logic of going around unplugging each halogen - maybe I am having a brain meltdown. See the problem I have is any light switch in the house causes the inteference - are you saying that flicking the light switch for a halogen in one room may well cause a transformer for a halogen in another room to send out a spike/inteference?

nayfen · **10th July 2008, 10:06 PM**

light and power are generally on different circuts. if there is no faulty halogen transformer. maybe a previous weekend worrior has cut a corner and run a powerpoint or light of the wrong circut. someone that is likely to do that is likely to stuff up and create further problems.