Help with electrical problem

[David F]

David F - Has anyone else who lives near you had the same problems?

Not that i know of but i can check quite easily, everyone on our road had the wiring/heating done at the same time.

Damocles, the cable went in before everything else was done so it could be, but i dont honestly remember and interfearence at the time. Is thsi some thing that can get worse over time as it never affected the tv when i noticed it on the pc, but obviously it's getting worse to now show on the tv. I switched my pc refresh to 60hz to get rid of the lines when i first noticed it, now even that doesnt work, it's getting worse by the month now

 

[Damocles]

Does that mean the filtering capacitor on something is knackered, and getting worse? don't know, just what came to mind that might fit.

 

[David F]

What do you get filtering capacitors in?

 

[breezer]

most electical products have capacitors, some are for filtering but some are for power factor correction, either way they are irelevant in your case since you mentioned you have turned almost everthing off and you still get the problem.

why not take your tv and pc to a friends house (i am being serious) and see if you get same problem, if no problem cause is at your house / area, if problem goes to your mates house then you have tv and pc problem

 

[David F]

Way ahead of you Breezer, it aint the pc as it is crystal clear at my sisters house.

Just wish i could roughly find were it's coming from, someone said use a shortwave radio and walk around the house looking for signal noise, good idea?

Failing that i think i'll take a pic of the junction box and see what you guys think, there's a lot of wires in there, maybe something looks fishy. I'm reaching but this is winding me up bad.

 

[breezer]

so we know its not the pc, you can not find out what it is , so find out what it isnt, what ever is left must be the casue.

Does it happen 24/7 or at "odd times" if odd times then note those times / duration it may be usefull at a later date.

if it is 24/7 see first option

 

[David F]

It's on 24/7, So it cant be naff wiring or fuses? no offence to sparks of the world but the guys who put the wiring in were a bunch of monkeys, they damaged the walls and ruined floorboards putting it all in, half the sockets in the house aint straight!! I despair.

 

[fubar]

Have you tried moving the PC to another floor in your house (assuming that upstairs and downstairs rings are seperate), then turning off all the other circuits again?

This would help proove that the thing causing the interference is on the same circuit as your PC was.

--
Michael

 

[David F]

Well i used an extension cable to power the pc from the downstairs sockets while turning off the upstairs. literally everything had been shut off except the sockets being used by the pc be it upstairs or down and still the interference. Only thing i haven't tried is shuting the power off completely and using the extension from next door. I shall try this tomorrow.

 

[David F]

Ok i have turned all the lecky off and fed my comp from next doors with an extension. Still get interference!! bare in mind all our street was done by the same guys who did my house, could substandard wiring or the way they have routed it cause this? they would have wired all the houses the same so..oh i dunno
Only other two things done around the same time are the central heating and having broadband installed. Suggestions guys?

 

[securespark]

It's not something stupid like a recently installed phone mast?

 

[fubar]

Ok i have turned all the lecky off and fed my comp from next doors with an extension. Still get interference!! bare in mind all our street was done by the same guys who did my house, could substandard wiring or the way they have routed it cause this?

Very unlikely. Substandard wiring does not explain the interference on its own. If it was routing, the interference would have disappeared when you got the supply from next-door. They didn't touch anything outside the house (did they?). I guess it is just about possible that both houses have a source of interference in the same place and therefore if both houses were wired the same way, then interference could be injected into the wiring in both cases, but this seems pretty unlikely.

You could check to see if the interference was coming from the wiring. Find a friendly radio amateur and ask them to construct an interference supressor for your mains lead.

Thinking about this logically, the interference is coming from either:

a) something that has been plugged in every time - most likely something to do with your comuter setup. Perhaps a pair of power speakers, a new printer or a new piece of hardware inside your computer.

b) something with its own power source - perhaps connected to another service such as the telephone system or cable TV/telephone; or perhaps battery-power telephone, mobile 'phone or other battery-powered thing

c) external influences such as local CB or amateur radio enthusiasts, a new open-channel radio user such as the (very) local supermarket, emergency services, cab or taxi company, school, bus or railway station; or a mobile 'phone mast

d) something changed with your PC, such as a loose or worn out connection for the earth shielding or something failed in the monitor

Keep asking yourself this question: if XXX is the cause of the interference, how does this explain symptoms A, B ... Z ? The cause with the least assumptions and conditions is most likely to be the true cause.

 

[David F]

To securespark:
Nope, not that i know of, this has been going on since they installed the wiring which was about 18months ago, it's steadily getting worse too.

 

[David F]

Thanks for the suggestions fubar but as i've stated in previous posts even with the pc turned off(and everything connected to it) i still see the interference on the downstairs tv

 

[fubar]

Thanks for the suggestions fubar but as i've stated in previous posts even with the pc turned off(and everything connected to it) i still see the interference on the downstairs tv

Okay, but that still leaves b, c, d and fitting a supressor on the mains lead. You may want to try the supressor on the mains lead to the TV first. You can also get supressors for ariel leads.

If you can't find a friendly radio amateur try your local college (most run evening classes for amateur radio - the tutor may be able to assist) and if that doesn't work, put a call in to Ofcom and they'll give you a contact list for companies that manufacture such items. You might even find instructions on the Internet - ISTR that most designs call for looping the mains lead around a metal "O" ring a few times.