Author Topic: Interferences from washing machine  (Read 5238 times)

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Offline meteolarissa

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Interferences from washing machine
« on: March 17, 2019, 09:27:03 AM »
Im owner of LD-250 lightning(9yrs) and last months i have interferences from my washing machine. I get 400-500strikes/min and more and sometimes nexstorm crashes and i need to open in again.
I used squelch at 15 but no difference. After 1,5 hour that w/machine finishes the programme all working properly again. Any suggestion /solution?

Vassilis
Larisa-Greece

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MeteoLarissa PWS,Thessalia,Greece.VP2 6153 with Heater and Solar Sensor.Camera Creative Live+ Logitech pro9000+ +Weatherlink+WD10.37+VWS+VP+Wxsolution++++ etc

Offline miraculon

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Re: Interferences from washing machine
« Reply #1 on: March 17, 2019, 11:45:24 AM »
I can make a few suggestions to try to isolate the problem.

Either the noise is what is called "conducted" and coming out on the power cables for the washing machine, or it is "radiated" and emanating from the motor.

What is the distance between the Boltek antenna and the washing machine?

Is the washing machine grounded? I see that Greece uses 230V 50Hz power. Are there only two power wires that supply the washing machine? (in the US we have a "neutral" and a "ground" (called Earth in UK). Is the washing machine housing completely surrounding the motor or is it exposed? What is the material of the housing, steel?

Does the motor have "brushes" and can you see small sparks if you can look inside the motor while it is running?

The only things I can think of at this time are:

  • Increasing the distance between the washing machine and the Boltek antenna.
  • Some kind of filtering added to the washing machine to suppress the noise at the source. If you are not an electrical/electronics expert I would recommend finding someone who is. Maybe you have some local Amateur Radio operators that could help. They help people with interference from the radios, and this problem has some similarities.
  • Improving the grounding of the washing machine. Perhaps a ground wire from the washing machine to a good ground like a metal water pipe or ground rod. Also, adding a flexible ground wire to the motor of the machine might help.

Maybe some others have additional or better ideas.

Greg H.







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Offline meteolarissa

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Re: Interferences from washing machine
« Reply #2 on: March 18, 2019, 04:50:42 AM »
Unfortunately i have no idea about materials inside w/machine.
Antenna its about 8m away from w/machine. I will try put antenna to all corners on the terrace and hope i will be little lucky.

Today in the morning i just noticed that something happened in the morning from other source and not from w/machine. Nexstorm crashed again and i just opened it again.
Maybe its antenna problem after 9yrs of use or is detector. I don't know what to buy of these two  :grin:
omg
Vassilis
MeteoLarissa PWS,Thessalia,Greece.VP2 6153 with Heater and Solar Sensor.Camera Creative Live+ Logitech pro9000+ +Weatherlink+WD10.37+VWS+VP+Wxsolution++++ etc

Offline JohnAx

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Re: Interferences from washing machine
« Reply #3 on: March 13, 2023, 09:51:53 PM »
[Ignoring "antique post" warning] When an appliance suddenly starts triggering your lightning detector hundreds of times per minute, the appliance needs urgent professional help. Something internal is making and breaking a circuit path at that rate, each time giving out enough energy to be noticed by the lightning detector.

Alas, I don't know how much energy is involved each time, and if it's something as 'expected' as a brush wearing out it's not going to start a fire. But even that needs to be attended to, to keep the machine running well. "Unexpected" events can be more damaging.

[A 'brush' in this context is a conductive element placed between the stationary part of the motor and the rotating part, in the kinds of motors that have some wiring on the rotating part that needs power. It's often a short graphite rod with a spring that pushes it toward the rotating part. ]