washing machine puts junk on the ac

WerTicus · « **on:** 22 May 2005, 07:49 am »

I have an old piece of crap washing machine, and it sends 'pops' through the AC power to my speakers

its pretty bad

even when the amp is switched OFF i can 'just' hear the pops coming through -

I was wondering if i could put some sort of filter at the washing machines plug to stop this?

DSK · « **Reply #1 on:** 23 May 2005, 12:44 am »

Quote from: WerTicus

I have an old piece of crap washing machine, and it sends 'pops' through the AC power to my speakers

its pretty bad

even when the amp is switched OFF i can 'just' hear the pops coming through -

I was wondering if i could put some sort of filter at the washing machines plug to stop this?

Hi Werticus,
I had the exact same thing here in my room. It turn out that the power points at the front of my listening room were fed by the same circuit as the points on the other side of the wall in the laundry. I had some dedicated 20A, 10 gauge circuits wired into my room and the clicks and pops were gone!!

WerTicus · « **Reply #2 on:** 23 May 2005, 03:09 am »

hehe - yeah but thats not the easy fix is it!?

I am going to get a dedicated earth actually, so that may fix the problem if its an earthing one but i dont believe it is....

does anyone know a simple way to fix the problem? i guess a new washing machine is the easiest!

DSK · « **Reply #3 on:** 23 May 2005, 03:33 am »

Quote from: WerTicus

hehe - yeah but thats not the easy fix is it!?

I guess it depends on your house setup (access for wiring) and what you define as 'easy fix'. I have no crawl space under my listening room, but was lucky enough to have the intake vent for the ducted heating system near where I wanted the dedicated power points and this provided good in-wall access. The electrician and his apprentice had no problems feeding the dedicated lines under the floor, up through the floor into the wall cavity (behind the air intake vent's grille), through a stud and out through the plasterboard for the points. They were here for half an hour or so, and all fixed for $200 or $300 (can't remember exactly)! 'Easy fix' IMHO.

Is wiring access to the wall near your system a problem, WerTicus? If not, this seems an easier fix (and something you will likely do sooner or later anyway) than trying to find/build appropriate filters and cheaper than a new washing machine. Go on, those new WAR Ref's and Nuforces deserve their own arteries

WerTicus · « **Reply #4 on:** 23 May 2005, 04:19 am »

yeah your right my babies do deserve it!

but its a single cavity wall that was done when it was built and thats pretty much impossible to get around.

ill see what can be done!

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #5 on:** 23 May 2005, 04:41 am »

Quote from: WerTicus

I have an old piece of crap washing machine, and it sends 'pops' through the AC power to my speakers

its pretty bad

even when the amp is switched OFF i can 'just' hear the pops coming through -

I was wondering if i could put some sort of filter at the washing machines plug to stop this?

WerTicus... You might just scrap that washer and get one of these.....should solve that popping problem....

WerTicus · « **Reply #6 on:** 23 May 2005, 05:31 am »

my girlfriend is going to love it!

Christopher Witmer · « **Reply #7 on:** 23 May 2005, 10:10 am »

Be sure to unplug the washing machine while using it.

Seriously, you might consider scrounging for a used isolation transformer for your amplifier and/or washing machine. Please check out he "Felicia" thread and related threads for details.

Occam · « **Reply #8 on:** 23 May 2005, 12:14 pm »

Werticus,

It might be easiest to deal with the line noise induced by your applieances directly at the source. Corcom, Shaffner, etc... make hermetically sealed metal can noise filters -
http://www.corcom.com/catalog/filters/default.htm
These are available in plentiful supply on the surplus market here in the States, but I don't know about Australia. While I've found them not to my liking directly on audiovideo equipment due to their less than stellar quality capacitors and (common mode)inductors, the audio performance of your refrigerator is relatively moot. Single phase units are generally specified by current and rated upto 240V AC. Find an appropriate current rated +, and feed the offending appliace's power through it.

ctviggen · « **Reply #9 on:** 23 May 2005, 12:36 pm »

You might also try something cheap, like a choke around the cord to the washing machine:

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F011%5F002%5F009%5F000&product%5Fid=273%2D105

skrivis · « **Reply #10 on:** 23 May 2005, 01:19 pm »

Quote from: ctviggen

You might also try something cheap, like a choke around the cord to the washing machine:

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F011%5F002%5F009%5F000&product%5Fid=273%2D105

Used Tripplite Isobar Ultra power strips can also help and are inexpensive.

Another option is a used Powervar or OneAC power conditioner. They're basically an isolation transformer.

I chose to use just the Isobar for my stereo, but I have a 10 or 11 amp Powervar for my computer that I got for well under US$100.

The choke on the cord for the washing machine sounds like an ideal place to start.

BobM · « **Reply #11 on:** 23 May 2005, 05:01 pm »

This brings back memories. I never noticed a problem in my system when the machine was running, but I definitely noticed that the fluorescent bulb in the laundry room would pulse as the machine was running.

I plugged an Audio Prism Quiet Line filter into the outlet that the washing machine was plugged into and the pulsing light problem was significantly reduced. It's not gone, but it is only perceptible using perephiral vision. I would guess you could achieve the same results with a sufficiently large X-rated cap across the line too (that's essentially what the Quiet Lines are).

Enjoy,
Bob