jgunner Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 Hello SNA Members, Hoping to get some pointers on what I can do to eliminate the below problem. I know the end solution would be to sought a licensed electrician for advice and subsequently to repair. I just want to be informed (and educated) before I go down this path. I have two seperate areas I spend most of my time. My music room (for dedicated 2 CH) and my lounge which runs a simple HT setup. The lounge shares the same circuit with the kitchen. When the wife turns on the kitchen range hood, my HT audio gets cut off for a quick second and comes back on again. I can see the AV continues to stay on and the image on my TV does not get affected. Only the audio gets cut off. In my music room, the problem is a little different. It shares the same circuit with the toilet's exhaust fan (seperate circuit from the lounge and kitchen) When no music is playing but amp is on, I hear a tiny blip through the speakers each time the toilet exhaust fan is turned on AND off. There is no audible issue when music is playing and audio does NOT get cut off. There is NO audible hum from the speakers from either of the two circuits - which leads me to believe it is not a grounding issue? What is wrong and what should be done to rectify this 'problem'? Thank you for your assistance Cheers, Justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyr Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 I'm not sure that a sparkie is going to be able to solve your problems, Justin. The problem is the kitchen range hood and the toilet's exhaust fan don't have sufficient filtering built into them (although I have no doubt they are built to Oz standards). I had a similar problem when a bar fridge adjacent to my 'listening room' switched on and off. I got a 'click' through the spkrs - even though the fridge was on a different circuit. I solved this by putting one of my 'Hashbloks' between the fridge and its wall socket, to stop the fridge pushing hash back into the mains (and polluting my hifi system). Your range hood and ceiling fan are built in - so you can't really insert a hash filter between them and their power source. I suggest your problems are not really a major issue ... but if you do want to make them disappear, you might like to see whether a Hashblok between your AV and its wall socket, solves the problem? And between your amp and its wall socket. As you're in Melbourne (and lockdown is over! ), I could bring one over and we could plug it in. Just PM me, if you're interested in this experiment. Andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LogicprObe Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 Well, you can only start with a separate circuit for the HT and audio and go from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockeater Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 I had a similar problem in one of the houses years ago. Whenever someone turned light on/off or washing machine and fridge turned on/off I used to get a big thump through the speakers. I had a Yamaha amp then. This stopped when I switched to the Perreaux and later Electrocompaniet amps but in the meantime, I fitted mains rated polycarbonate capacitors at the source. That is I removed all the light switches and couple of power sockets and fitted the caps across switch contacts or live and neutral in case of sockets. Once I got these better amps, I removed the caps to test if the "filters" were still necessary and they were not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgunner Posted December 28, 2020 Author Share Posted December 28, 2020 (edited) @LogicprObe my plan is to go for a dedicated circuit if I cannot find a remedy. But first, I was hoping to find the root cause, understand it before I attempt to go into solution mode - it just means I am hopelessly pedantic @rockeater when I had my previous amp, i had it hooked up in two different houses (at different times). i am not 100%. but I believe i only noticed the problem in my current residence. my issue thankfully is not a big thump - that would really worry me! it is more of a slight inconvenience in my first world problem Thanks anyhoo and I will keep your solution in mind as an alternative if all else fails. You might have to teach me how to do it when I come knocking tho! Edited December 28, 2020 by jgunner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockeater Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 35 minutes ago, jgunner said: You might have to teach me how to do it when I come knocking tho! That is a first and most simple solution but if you do not know how to do it, you shouldn't be messing with it. It is 240V you know. People die from from... Better get a sparky to install them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgunner Posted December 28, 2020 Author Share Posted December 28, 2020 @rockeater yes mate, i was seeing how long before someone says this. didn't take long! haha! all good! i won't be doing any modification as I am not a qualified electrician 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiofeline Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 19 hours ago, andyr said: ...The problem is the kitchen range hood and the toilet's exhaust fan don't have sufficient filtering built into them (although I have no doubt they are built to Oz standards). I had a similar problem when a bar fridge adjacent to my 'listening room' switched on and off. I got a 'click' through the spkrs - even though the fridge was on a different circuit. I solved this by putting one of my 'Hashbloks' between the fridge and its wall socket, to stop the fridge pushing hash back into the mains (and polluting my hifi system). Your range hood and ceiling fan are built in - so you can't really insert a hash filter between them and their power source. ... Ceiling fans my my home have a mains plug that are inserted into a GPO socket installed in the ceiling. It's made it easy for me to replace the fans without needing to call an electrician. It might be worthwhile to climb into your roof and check if this is how your fan is installed, if so, then it might be possible to buy a filter that can be plugged between the GPO and the fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgunner Posted December 29, 2020 Author Share Posted December 29, 2020 @audiofeline are these filters available off the shelf? if yes, are you able to share a link with me? Cheers, Justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiofeline Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 Just now, jgunner said: @audiofeline are these filters available off the shelf? if yes, are you able to share a link with me? Cheers, Justin I would expect that there are some available off the shelf, but I'm not an expert in this area and am not familiar with any products. Fortunately, it's been many houses ago since I experienced this problem. Perhaps visit an electrical store like Middy's, who would most likely stock it if it's available, and also know the industry name for the device. Of course, I would also hope there is someone here who would have the answers! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyr Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 41 minutes ago, audiofeline said: Ceiling fans my my home have a mains plug that are inserted into a GPO socket installed in the ceiling. It's made it easy for me to replace the fans without needing to call an electrician. It might be worthwhile to climb into your roof and check if this is how your fan is installed, if so, then it might be possible to buy a filter that can be plugged between the GPO and the fan. Good point, af. Andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgunner Posted December 29, 2020 Author Share Posted December 29, 2020 Thanks peeps. I will give Middy a try. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyr Posted December 29, 2020 Share Posted December 29, 2020 7 hours ago, jgunner said: Thanks peeps. I will give Middy a try. If they don't have anything, Justin, I could bring over a 1a hash filter to try (as the fans don't pull much current). Andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rmpfyf Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Hell of an inrush on those fans, not sure a filter is going to achieve a definitive amount. I'd try changing the devices in question. Not expensive to try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts