[Elecraft] OT: RFI from Front Loading Washing Machines

[Lu Romero]

Dave:

First and last comment to this OT thread, but I couldnt let
your comment go past me without a small challenge  :)

Obviously you have not lived for any appreciable time in
Central and Southern Florida, the lightning capital of the
world!

We have lost at least two TV sets, one dryer, multiple
computer monitors and other electronics to my Zap Cap
equipped home since I moved here from Pennsylvania in 1985. 
Up north, I never had a problem!  Havent lost a washer
though (famous last words as the 3:30pm thunderstorm clouds
begin to build...)

Its not just me, others in the neighborhood have as well. 
Our club recently lost an Astron 35, plus the Icom ID-800
that was attached to it, and we have what I consider a very
good grounding system.  ALL the rigs at the club are
disconnected from the antennas at our patch bay as well.

I have had several UPS's die to protect our connected
electronics at home and at work as well.  Commercial class
big ones like a 10kW Best Power Ferrups at our Tampa TV
transmitter site.  That one started a small fire.

At my former Television stations in FtMyers, it was a
regular occurence to replace parts of the transmitter remote
control system and WX radar after lightning strikes to both
our stations, even with high capacity isolation and streamer
dissipator systems on the tower, buildings and the Doppler
radar pedestal.

No matter how much you harden systems for lightning and try
to abate it with streamer dissipators and high capacity
grounding systems here, its gonna get you eventually. 
Mother nature is just that way here.

We live with this daily in the summer, and ARRL insurance is
a must here.    

You have Earthquakes, Mudslides and Fires.  We have
Lightning and Hurricanes.

BTW, my ham station is directly adjecent to the laundry
area, with one of those office fiberglass filled partitions
between the laundry area and my op desk.  Our Sears Kenmore
washer's transmission makes a trememdous whining ruckus when
on spin, but otherwise, all is quiet on the power front. 
Same with the Sears Kenmore dryer.  

Worst operational issue is the noise when the washer is in
spin cycle and my wife is drying something hard.  Whine! 
Klunkedy Klunk!  Whine!

I have cultivated the headset habit.

Lu-W4LT
K3 #3192

----------------------------
Message: 10
Date: Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:19:55 -0700
From: David Gilbert <xdavid at cis-broadband.com>
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] OT: RFI from Front Loading Washing
Machines
To: 'Elecraft Reflector' <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Message-ID: <4AA6CA7B.70902 at cis-broadband.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed



I worked in the discrete semi industry (engineer and then
business 
manager) for thirty years, dealing with most of the major
appliance 
companies in Asia, Europe, and the U.S.  By their own
statements, the 
mechanical timer was far and away the most failure prone
component in 
any washing machine.  The appliance industry in general
resisted solid 
state controls for a long time due to inertia and tooling
investments, 
but the first area where they came to us actively seeking
help was to 
replace that damn mechanical timer.  They were just fed up
with the 
customer complaints and the high costs of in-warranty
service calls.

Aside from people like hams who have all sorts of tall metal
outside 
connected one way or another to their electrical ground
system, what 
percentage of people do you think have their washing
machines zapped by 
nearby lightning strikes?  I can pretty much guarantee that
it is a 
much, much smaller number than the percentage of mechanical
timers that 
failed in the old washing machines.

Dave   AB7E