Neighbours Central Heating Interfering With My Sound :(

[Hoover.]

I have a crackle on sound system which happens nearly every halfhour at the moment...... I sent my amp to looked out, so was without it for a month, only for it still to be crackling, so £200 wasted.

I've isolated everything I can in my flat to try and find the issue, then last night around midnight in the piece and quiet my speakers went crackle simultaneously with what I presume to be neaighbours gas boiler jumping into life, so I stayed up for a few hours just to confirm this... and everytime their heating clicks in, my system crackles.

Is there a cure for this I can do (got a surge protector strip socket already), or is it an installation issue of the heating system (new this summer when gas got bought into the road) ?

[telecat]

Sounds like Radio Frequency Interference(RFI). The boiler should not be giving it off. You need a specific RFI filter to protect the Hi-Fi.

[Hoover.]

telecat said:

Sounds like Radio Frequency Interference(RFI). The boiler should not be giving it off. You need a specific RFI filter to protect the Hi-Fi.

Right done some reading (more fun then work).. I need to get some ferrets by the sound of it, and/or maybe a conditioner/RFI strip...... will see what the man in Maplins has to say.. cheers in advance if this fixes it.

If not I'll be disconecting my neighbours heating and buying them some fire wood.

[indi pearl]

Had the same problem a couple of years ago only it was our system at fault. In our case it was the three way valve microswitch on its way out and a new motor pack solved it. Might pay to let your neighbours (if you get on with them) know their heating is dodgy and could fail at any time.

[Rowan138]

a ferret?? to surpress RFI??

[Hoover.]

Yep just aquired one of them furry things and snapped it in place, as well as a Tacima mains conditioner and rf plug strip.......... massive difference, not perfect, but you have to be listening very hard to detect what is a very minor crackle now, compared to what was there.

I will be onto the management company tomorrow with regards to neighbours heating/thermostat problems (its easier that way, trust me).

But thanks to PH for the cheap and quick solution to my problem........ anyone do TVR electrics

[Hoover.]

arghhhh.... my ears are obviously tuned into listening for every imperfection.......I am hearing every little "Chhhhhhhhh".... arghhhhhh

[telecat]

I know it's a pain. I can recommend the DPA "The Power" RFI filter but they do cost a lot!!!

[cjs]

My boiler causes clicks through my Hifi, a real pain. Maybe your neighbour has tapped into your electricity supply

[Defcon5]

My TV goes fuzzy when my boiler starts up

[TonyRPH]

What is the physical proximity of your HiFi to their boiler?

If you are getting airborne EMI, then their boiler must be generating one hell of a spark (unless your HiFi literally backs on to it).

Are you listening to Vinyl when you get this noise - or is it coming through on CD / other sources?

If your amplifier has an earth terminal on the back (and you're not using a fully earthed 3 core mains lead) you could try running a wire from said earth terminal to mains earth. (Your noise suppression block may already have an earth terminal too).

Edited by TonyRPH on Thursday 22 December 08:07

[Hoover.]

Tony... umm no idea what you are on about (sorry merr mortal who buys things and plugs in)

Mine plugged into mains, now with RFI block/spike/mains conditioner and ferrit on amp mains cable ( about an inch from amp)...... I reckon their boiler is diagonal below about 5-6m....... kicking up majot fuss with management firm at mo as they funded most the installations.

[richard_tricky]

It's possibly the suppressor on the boiler.

I had this problem on an old baxi boiler. The hifi, tv etc. Tried mains conditioners, nothing worked.

Turned out the suppressor had become brittle and failed.

A new one for 7 quid fixed the problem.

However as its not your boiler I don't know what else could work.

[TonyRPH]

Hoover. said:

Tony... umm no idea what you are on about (sorry merr mortal who buys things and plugs in)

Mine plugged into mains, now with RFI block/spike/mains conditioner and ferrit on amp mains cable ( about an inch from amp)...... I reckon their boiler is diagonal below about 5-6m....... kicking up majot fuss with management firm at mo as they funded most the installations.

When you say you've isolated everything in your flat.... Did you turn off your fridge / freezer too?

Poorly suppressed fridges are notorious for producing 'clicks' and 'pops' on HiFi.

To get mains borne interference from your neighbour, the EMI/RFI* spike being generated would have to be fairly large - unless you are practically sharing the mains feed (by this I mean you're on the same ring main, which I would have thought to be unlikely!). But usually smaller spikes will be suppressed by the sheer length of cabling between apartments.

What amp do you have? Is it valve or transistor? (valves can be more susceptible to interference)

Do you ever see any flashes* across your TV picture? (assuming you have / watch a TV)

• by flashes I mean any kind of picture interference

• EMI/RFI can be airborne (as in radio waves) or mains borne (carried through the mains)

Airborne interference can be extremely difficult to suppress. In extreme cases needing ferrite beads around any cable that enters into the equipment.

If the boiler is generating that much airborne RFI, then there is something seriously wrong with it!

Have you had your source (CD player etc.) checked?

Have you tried leaving the amp on, but with the CD player (or whatever your source is) switched off? If it's a turntable, try disconnecting it completely (unplug the phono inputs too), and then turning the amp on, and see if you still get the noise?

Phono inputs can also be very sensitive to RFI, due to the high input sensitivity - add to this that the pickup cartridge can act as an antenna and well...

Several years ago, my turntable used to do a great job of picking up CB radio transmissions.

Edited by TonyRPH on Thursday 22 December 09:29

Edited by TonyRPH on Thursday 22 December 09:31

[Hoover.]

Tony, cheers for the deatiled reply....

Amp is Roksan Kandy...

Have run it with nothing connected except speakers and still clicks away.....

Yep I turned everything off and unplgged where possible in the maisonette...... heating/fridge frezer/clocks/tv.... still clicks away.

No problem with telly pic, that I can see anyway.

It only happens when the people below me heating kicks in...... never had a problem until this winter, which is the first winter after the gas boilers were installed in some properties (no gas in road until this summer)...... been speaking with the management company who own the property below, and they said they will get it checked out in the New Year.

Would putting more then 1 ferrit on the mains cable aid in reducing interference... also read about putting them speaker cable, is this right ?

[TonyRPH]

Ferrite beads around the speaker cable may help - but this is also like to influence the sound.

Is the ferrite bead you have on the mains load as close to the amp as possible?

If the interference is actually entering via the mains, then additional ferrite beads may help - it can't harm to have a couple anyway.

Is the sound constant for a few minutes then it goes off?

Or is it just random?

Edited by TonyRPH on Saturday 24th December 09:53

[Hoover.]

will be off to Maplins to buy some more ferrits and have a play...... the one I put on the amp is about a finger width down the cable from the amp.

The crackle only lasts a second when their heating clicks in, doesn't appear to happen at any other time.