Crackling noise from radio.....LV6548

[medic149]

Something weird has been happening lately.

I have an LV6548 powering my cabin. I have a radio plugged in and keep getting a crackling noise in the speaker. It goes away as soon as I unplug it from the wall socket and run it on battery. So, I'm guessing it has something to do with the power coming in from the inverter.

Anyone else have this type of problem??

Thanks,
Andy

 

[FilterGuy]

Something weird has been happening lately.

I have an LV6548 powering my cabin. I have a radio plugged in and keep getting a crackling noise in the speaker. It goes away as soon as I unplug it from the wall socket and run it on battery. So, I'm guessing it has something to do with the power coming in from the inverter.

Anyone else have this type of problem??

Thanks,
Andy

I have not seen this particular symptom, but you are probably getting what is known as conducted RFI (conducted over the AC line). The other type of RFI is radiated or broadcast RFI or Radio Wave RFI)

A couple of questions and requests.

1) Do you get the same problem if you plug the radio in to a normal grid powered circuit? (Can we eliminat the radio's AC system?)

2) Do you have a circuit diagram (including grounding) of your off-grid system?

3) Can you provide any pictures of the system?


RFI issues are notoriously difficult to track down, but once we have the above info, we might be able to give some suggestions.

 

[robby]

When you say “Lately” do you mean that it use to work without the crackling before?
If so had you added or changed any LED bulbs in the cabin just before this started?

 

[medic149]

When you say “Lately” do you mean that it use to work without the crackling before?
If so had you added or changed any LED bulbs in the cabin just before this started?

I never noticed it before, but also used battery power for the radio most of the time. No changes to system or lighting. No interference from anything inside the cabin.

 

[Quattrohead]

Check all of your connections, one of them maybe loose and arcing.

 

[medic149]

What's interesting is that it is much less today. Only get it once in a while.

I am definitely going to try another radio to see if it duplicates. Doesn't happen computer.

Thought I would ask the group in case it was a common issue. Maybe it was the cold. Lol. It was - 22 last night and now it's a balmy - 10.

 

[SolarRich]

AM or FM?
Bad connection is primary reason for noise.
Plug it into other outlets.

 

[medic149]

AM or FM?
Bad connection is primary reason for noise.
Plug it into other outlets.

FM

 

[v_green57]

What's interesting is that it is much less today. Only get it once in a while.

I am definitely going to try another radio to see if it duplicates. Doesn't happen computer.

Thought I would ask the group in case it was a common issue. Maybe it was the cold. Lol. It was - 22 last night and now it's a balmy - 10.

It may be that it is worse during times of high discharge current (big AC load = bigger EM field).

Easy to try - plug in something big when the radio is on and see what happens.

And it has been my experience that modified SW inverters do this a lot more than PSW.

It is also possible that it's coming from the charge controller, as it's all hooked together.

Are you using any 12V "RV" style appliances with motors? Specifically, propane furnace? The brushes in those arc and there is very little you can do about it. I have learned to expect interruptions in NPR every morning when the furnace cycles or just switch to streaming it over my phone, which does not care.

Of course you gotta have Internet for that...

 

[medic149]

It may be that it is worse during times of high discharge current (big AC load = bigger EM field).

Easy to try - plug in something big when the radio is on and see what happens.

And it has been my experience that modified SW inverters do this a lot more than PSW.

It is also possible that it's coming from the charge controller, as it's all hooked together.

Are you using any 12V "RV" style appliances with motors? Specifically, propane furnace? The brushes in those arc and there is very little you can do about it. I have learned to expect interruptions in NPR every morning when the furnace cycles or just switch to streaming it over my phone, which does not care.

Of course you gotta have Internet for that...

48-volt system with 2 EG4 100-ah batteries.

The main draw is the refrigerator, which is a regular 120v house 10.1 cu.ft. Upped it to the highest setting to increase the draw, but no noticeable increase or decrease in the crackling noise.

Couple of 120v LED lights.

Have tried isolating everything. Seems that it has to be coming from the inverter or maybe something with the battery, but it sounds like electrical noise in nature.

Continuing to work on it and will also try a different radio in a couple of weeks.

Just one of those things that drives me crazy lol

 

[v_green57]

48-volt system with 2 EG4 100-ah batteries.

The main draw is the refrigerator, which is a regular 120v house 10.1 cu.ft. Upped it to the highest setting to increase the draw, but no noticeable increase or decrease in the crackling noise.

Couple of 120v LED lights.

Have tried isolating everything. Seems that it has to be coming from the inverter or maybe something with the battery, but it sounds like electrical noise in nature.

Continuing to work on it and will also try a different radio in a couple of weeks.

Just one of those things that drives me crazy lol

Probably a portable radio? One thing that helped with that was an external FM antenna:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DHHOZBI

And now we get more stations as well. But the furnace blower and the bathroom DC fan still do a number on the audio.

Any new WiFi network stuff? Including new/different computer, phone, tablet, etc.? In weak signal conditions it can screw with FM as well.