A question for the electrically astute, I just ran a 240v cable reel from a 4 gang socket to under the carport, the plan being to leave it there permanently to save having to go get my cable reel every time I need power under the carport, trouble is when I plug it into the 4 gang I get a steady hum of interference on the radio in the garage, so the cable reel is transmitting a radio signal, the reel is brand new, I’ve checked the connections in its plug, any ideas what’s causing this?.
Do you get the radio interference with no current through the cable? In other words, live cable but nothing running/on. I get the same thing with my trickle chargers. But once the batteries are charged and the Optimate is in maintenance mode, the interference stops. So it's definitely something to do with the current through the cable. Maybe a superior cable with higher IP rating and shielding to cut out impedance will fix it... If such a thing exists. Call your local RS Components dealer and explain what's happening.
The cable is uncoiled , it was with nothing plugged in at the reel end, MH I just plugged my optimate in and same as you the interference went away so I’m happy, IDB the radio has a dilithium crystal not a flux capacitor , thanks for the replies.
Not really, I was given it by two guys that described themselves as “travelers”, one of them looked like the actor Leonard Nimoy and the other like TJ Hooker, I tell you the darnedest things happen in that garage!.
I think you may be able to get a suppressor to stop this https://www.google.com/search?q=cab...1.69i57j0l5.9235j1j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Running mains from one building to another is fraught with issues. It should ALWAYS be done by a professional. There are pages and pages of this stuff in the regulations on earth paths etc. Include some pictures.... And what is a 4 gang socket? What is this fed from, a 32A ring? In any event the cable is radiating. Any cable run outside should be mechanically protected, typically this means shielded like Pyro, FP200 or SWA. During my working day I get questions like colours are the old phases to the new.... If you don't know the answer leave it well alone...... it may kill you, or worse someone you care about.
My garage was spurred off a plug until I had it done right. It was downright dangerous and done by the previous owner. The most I’ll touch myself is replacing switches and light fittings or doing some 12v stuff outside using transformers.
As per @AirCon seriously doggy to be running extension leads outside permanently, it’s a real no no, with nothing plugged in there should be no interference whatsoever, sounds like the extension is generating its own “eddy currents” see below, in any event the outside cable should be protected both electrically and mechanically and installed by a spark. Eddy currents (also called Foucault currents) are loops of electrical current induced within conductors by a changing magnetic field in the conductor due to Faraday's law of induction. Eddy currents flow in closed loops within conductors, in planes perpendicular to the magnetic field. They can be induced within nearby stationary conductors by a time-varying magnetic field created by an AC electromagnet or transformer, for example, or by relative motion between a magnet and a nearby conductor. The magnitude of the current in a given loop is proportional to the strength of the magnetic field, the area of the loop, and the rate of change of flux, and inversely proportional to the resistivity of the material. By Lenz's law, an eddy current creates a magnetic field that opposes the change in the magnetic field that created it, and thus eddy currents react back on the source of the magnetic field. For example, a nearby conductive surface will exert a drag force on a moving magnet that opposes its motion, due to eddy currents induced in the surface by the moving magnetic field. This effect is employed in eddy current brakes which are used to stop rotating power tools quickly when they are turned off. The current flowing through the resistance of the conductor also dissipates energy as heatin the material. Thus eddy currents are a cause of energy loss in alternating current (AC) inductors, transformers, electric motors and generators, and other AC machinery, requiring special construction such as laminated magnetic cores or ferrite cores to minimize them. Eddy currents are also used to heat objects in induction heating furnaces and equipment, and to detect cracks and flaws in metal parts using eddy-current testing instruments.
Try moving the radio or at least the power cable that powers the radio, if it's power supply or antennae wire lie across or very close to the live supply you can get an induced 50hz earth hum. Another reason would indicate some kind of earth looping which could be wiring or the radio wiring is not 100%. Also take note of AirCon's advice, if your 4 gang socket is a flying multi plug extension it will only be able to supply a max of 3kw and probably much less and should not be used for a permanent supply. I would recommend using an RCD as a minimum if you are using this set up for a long period
Or just the neon on the skt causing interference. Be careful or you,ll be told you have Parasitic oscillations next.
The mains is professionally run from the house to the garage, I have a 4 socket extension (4 gang is a Derby term sorry!) Plugged into one of the garage wall mounted sockets , into this I plug the radio, a reading lamp and now the 3 socket reel that I have put under the car port, I don’t see much of an issue with this as I always isolate the garage using the trip switch on the house fuse box when I’m not in the garage, so when I’m not using the garage and carport there is no feed to the garage and hence to the cable reel that is now under the carport, the carport roof connects directly to the garage and it’s always dry under there, the house wall making one side and a full height fence the other. It’s no different to my unreeling plugging in, using, unplugging, re-reeling and putting the reel away in my mind, it just saves the faff, hope that all makes sense?!.
Having the wife go out and accidentally putting a spade through a live wire ... Although... life insurance
Sounds like your doomed mate. Remove the extension lead. Put house up for sale & buy a condo in Africa.
ok, the cable from the reel comes out of the 4 gang at head height along the interior of the garage wall clipped to the wall every 12 inches, then through the wooden garage doorframe on the right, then across the top of the doorframe clipped every 12 inches to the left vertical doorframe, it then runs down that, again clipped every 12 inches, then about ten inches from the ground it runs along the fence for about 4 feet again clipped every 12 inches, the cable reel then sits under an ornate cast iron and wood garden bench (aka “the electric chair”) that sits under the carport, AC it’s true I could forget to isolate the garage, never have but I could, we live on high ground so if a flood were to get to the reel everyone else in Derby would have already drowned, nobody else uses our house and my wife can’t reach the trip switch in the kitchen, I am the gardener, a rodent could nibble the lead I guess, but if the garage is isolated there wouldn’t be a problem, which brings us back to “what if I forget to isolate the garage “, so how about if I only plug the reel into the 4 gang when I’m about to use it?, that’s it isn’t it?, safe as houses now, yes?
If your Dis board is recent it will have a ELCB fitted anyway so would trip if that huge Rat takes a nibble. Bet your garage is covered with a RCD too. Ignore all these neg posts . Its only cos you have a carport which niggles folks.
