Electro magnetic field problem
Well... Last nite my parents changed the geothermal heat pump (it was like 22 years old) and replace it with a brand NEW heat pump (9000 CDN)
It's work fine but now i had a problem
The fact is that the room where is located the "internal device" of the heatpump is just next to my bedroom (where my computer is...) and the only thing that separate my computer from the device is a little 5 mm of wood. No isolation and nothing else than wood. :shakehead
When i open my monitor it's not stable and the screen is "shaking" a lot... The shaking stop when i reach a distance of maybe 5-6 meters of the wall. I know it's an Electro magnetic problem but is there a way to resolve it ? Other than change my computer of location in my house ?
I've never had this problem before with the old heatpump
I've search a lot on the web but what i've found doesn't help me a lot... Seems like anything 'cheap' can't stop that ... I was looking for somthing that i could put between the device and the wall that could stop the magetic flow... Seems like metal won't do nothing usefull for this case... Any idea of what should i do ??
As a second question , i know Electro magnetic field interfer in the monitor but is it also bad for the computer itself ?
I know that's not a common hardware problem but maybe some of you have solution for me or clue that will be usefull...
Thankx
It's work fine but now i had a problem
The fact is that the room where is located the "internal device" of the heatpump is just next to my bedroom (where my computer is...) and the only thing that separate my computer from the device is a little 5 mm of wood. No isolation and nothing else than wood. :shakehead
When i open my monitor it's not stable and the screen is "shaking" a lot... The shaking stop when i reach a distance of maybe 5-6 meters of the wall. I know it's an Electro magnetic problem but is there a way to resolve it ? Other than change my computer of location in my house ?
I've never had this problem before with the old heatpump I've search a lot on the web but what i've found doesn't help me a lot... Seems like anything 'cheap' can't stop that ... I was looking for somthing that i could put between the device and the wall that could stop the magetic flow... Seems like metal won't do nothing usefull for this case... Any idea of what should i do ??
As a second question , i know Electro magnetic field interfer in the monitor but is it also bad for the computer itself ?
I know that's not a common hardware problem but maybe some of you have solution for me or clue that will be usefull...
Thankx
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If i don't found '100% proof' solution i know i won't have other choice and i'll try that.
edit:nvm you said it stoped when you move it further away.
Im at work now but i'll try that as soon as i'm at home !
If i see a small result when doing this than it'll surely be even better if i put a big home-wall-metal-sheet heh
I've read about some special material that are use to 'hardly reduce' the magnetic field but it seems to be hard to find and will surely cost a lot more than basic metal.
When it was the old heatpump everthing was working fine so that's what make me say the probleme is not there... But maybe the new heatpump take more voltage and i don't know if it can affect my alimentation outlet in my room.
But... i repeat my second question, does magnetic field is bad for the pc itself ? Surely but i've not read about that anywhere... it's always talking about monitor... If it's only that well my new pc arrive in some days with an LCD monitor so the screen won't be shaking anymore i think... I just want to have a 'safe' place for my 4000 CND$ baby
I wouldn't keep it on too long like that tho that will be bad for the monitor (the heat)
(pictures are from this joke artical on bbspot.com for removing nixons ghost from your computer http://www.bbspot.com/News/2004/10/nixon_ghost.html
But it should still work)
well... does not look too good
i'll find another way
Thankx for your help
So i'll go for the solution of redchief (thankx to him, with the 'faraday cage' keyword in google i've found MANY interesting things about my problem)
There's a little chance that my problem come from the fact that the new heatpump 'device' is not properly grounded. In fact the heatpump seems to be plug in a 'temporay' way... So it may cause the problem... So i'll wait a little, in 3 days the heatpump will be as it must be and if i have the problem again i will ground the heatpump in my own way. There's a little hole on the cement ground in the heatpump room and i have access to the ground from it so it'll be a perfect place to dig and put a ground rod.
If after all that it does not work than i'll go with a grounded metal cage around the heatpump. Won't chose copper because it'll cost me an arm and a leg to do a cage of this size with copper. Hope it'll reduce the EMF enough...
I'll give you news in some days to tell you i've resolve this problem.
Thank you
Yes, you want to cage the source. It may just be the motor controler or a motor itself. If this is a great high eff unit then it prob uses veriable speed drive. Since most of those are pulse width modulated they can create a ton of EMF.
Maybe a cover isn't in place or a ground isn't connected yet.
You should be able to find the source with a portable AM radio.
That's why i don't find anything ! Thankx edcentric
I was thinking about change my computer of wall (reverse all) to resolve the problem but there's a power control pannel on the other side of the room so it probably won't be better... Im in a war zone ! :shakehead My room is a EMF bombarding zone ! :bawling: The only place that is safe seems to be in the center on my room, but who want a computer in the center of his room ?
But i'll do all that i can to secure the heatpump zone, aluminium will do you think ? Well i'll try this at the very end if it still does not work.
If it seems too hard to shield the heat pump then you might just want to 'wallpaper' your bedroom wall with metal screen. Make sure that you ground it.
You know, now that I think about it, Al window screen may not work. The wire is coated and probably doesn't make electrical contact at the crossing points. Some plain steel, galvanized or stainless steel mesh would be a better idea.
http://www.hillsidewirecloth.com/wcspecs.html
http://www.internetmesh.net/metal_expanded.htm
http://www.munrocrafts.com/Wireform.html (don't laugh, this might be your best bet)
good luck.
Yes i can say that heh, but what do you mean ? I know that the way to resolve my problem is to create a home-made 'Faraday Cage' around the heatpump... This is what i will do if this problem is still present after the heatpump is finally all set.
I know EMF is bad for CRT monitor, but is it bad for LCD monitor and for the monitor itself ? If the only 'bad' thing that it do for the computer is that it make the screen blinking and shaking for CRT Monitor, then i'll maybe be okay... The fact is that the EMF emission seems to be smaller ... My screen is less shaking and blinking... I must concentrate to see the screen 'shaking' because it's not very visible. I don't know why the EMF have decrease because i did not do anything about now...
Well, let's return to my question... If the only bad thing about EMF is to make CRT monitor all f*ckup-up and there's no 'danger' for the case and all the component inside, i'll be okay because my next computer will be there maybe today or tomorow, with an LCD screen so the EMF won't interfer with the render of the picture.
I've search on the web but all that i've found is that EMF interfer in CRT monitor (already knwo that) and that it can cause some disease to the human body... duh...
So, if you think i'll be okay and safe with my next computer without doing anything, let me know... If you think there's some danger for the hardware pieces of my next computer let me know too, because if there's a danger i'll do something for sure !
I just don't wanna make a EMF Barrier for fun... If i make one i wanna be sure that's for the goodness of my next 4000CND computer
EDITED : seems like i can't do a text-image of my room here... sorry
I think this will be the safer area, because it'll far enough (3-4 meters) from the two source... If there's some EMF there, this will surely be an extemely minor field.
Anyway if i lose data or something like that, i'll know the reason and then i'll secure the area. The fact is that to do the EMF barrier it will cost m some hours and at least 200$. That's a lot of money for a problem that possibly won't have any impact on my new computer.
There is paint that blocks EMF. Actually scatters it. They use chips or balls of ferromagnetic material (usually iron oxide). The size of hte particals determines what wavelength (frequency) is effected the most. The most common application is the iron ball paint that is used on spy planes to scatter radar signals.
How damaging stay EMF can be is a function of its frequency (or wavelength if you prefer to think that way) and strength. The biggest risk to a hdd isn't that it will damage data on the drive, but that it will cause confusion of the controls. This can happen with any electronics, even a LCD has decode/drive electronics.
My guess is that once the installation is finished your problem will go away. All of this equipment is supposed to meet EMF emission restrictions. Look for the CE lable.
The only thing that the complete installation would resolve is the possibility of 'wrong grouding'... But the 'old heatpump' was plug on the same way as the new heatpump, and it was working... so the grounding is surely good, maybe not good enough for the new one ? I don't know...
I'll look closer to find the CE lable but i will surely found one... This thing is the best heatpump currently on market for home/house. This is a premium quality heatpump so i will find that very weird if it does not meet EMF emission restrictions.
I'll try to change refresh rate of the screen to see if it change something (nice thing to test yeah, since the frequency play a big role in the interference), i'll try this tonight cuz now i'm at work. What i found weird is that it seems like the EMF emission have considerably reduce since 2 days. The first time i've open my monitor with the heatpump installed it was shaking a lot more than now... Maybe the emissions vary of intensity depending of certain factors... Anyway, tomorow i'll be all set because the heatpump will be 100% at is final state of installation. Hope it'll resolve the problem... If not then the 'fun' will begin :shakehead
(EDIT : I've talk to a guy from the heatpump cie and they never heard of probleme like that caused by one of them heatpump, in fact he does not seem to know what im talking about with EMF and all that magnetic field stuff... But he was refusing to admit that the heatpump was causing it... Well why in this case it was working with the older one ?
For the special paint, it must cost a lot, i don't want to spend so much bucks on a solution as a EMF barrier
So please pray for me (hahah), i don't want to enter in a phase of EMF barrier :bawling:
Bad news, even with the correct grounded heatpump , i have still interference with my screen. It has reduce again and was again less visible than before.... but still there (good eyes like me can see this lol, my mom and dad cannot
So, as a final decision, i've decided to change my computer of place and i put it in the side wall where there's no EMF at all (erf, maybe there's some but it don't interfer with my monitor and my radio AM works well in this aera).
Now i write to you from this new emplacement and it works well. Seems like im far enough from the mutiple (2) source of low EMF.
That will avoid me a 200 $ EMF barrier so im happy with that but that'll take some time to me to love this new emplacement (10 years with the computer at the same place, what a change to the eyes to see my room so 'visualy different' !)
Thank you for your help everybody, i was completly confused about this and you put some light into this none-expected problem
Now, im waiting for my new computer... i'll maybe recieve a call tomorow