Dealing With Rfi….

[fortphoenix]

hey guys I’m wondering how you deal with RFI? I know gavitas, LEDs and magnetic ballasts barely produce RFI and shortening the chord and faraday cages help but are there any other real fixes for electric ballasts?

i know theres ferrite beads/chokes and RFI paint and products like nanolux filter kits but has any body ever tried these to know if they work? can’t find reviews anywhere. theres a few threads on this info but they’re quite outdated, theres got to be a good,simple solution by now. any e-ballasts/hoods/bulbs that don’t produce RFI at all? any input is appreciated!!!

 

[fortphoenix]

nobody?

 

[Bull Trout]

They all (DE systems) emit RFI. I have a stack of Gavita remote ballasts that put out plenty. Buy ferrite chokes for power supply and out put. 2 for each cord..
Or buy the latest Galaxy ballast and other Sunlight compatible equip which has ferrite/rfi sheathing built in.

 

[fortphoenix]

They all (DE systems) emit RFI. I have a stack of Gavita remote ballasts that put out plenty. Buy ferrite chokes for power supply and out put. 2 for each cord..
Or buy the latest Galaxy ballast and other Sunlight compatible equip which has ferrite/rfi sheathing built in.

thanks for the reply! i had no idea the new galaxys had that built into it but the only thing that sucks is none of the shops around me have galaxy ballasts, all they carry is hydrofarm ballasts which is why i was looking at the Phantom II because id have to order offline to get the galaxy which is kinda sketchy to me but have you ever used the ferrite chokes yourself? are they really effective at blocking rfi or are they more of a cheap ass way to halfway deal with the rfi?

 

[Glas Plandai]

Snap on Chokes here you go. Make sure to get a choke large enough to coil the wire threw more than once. I use a 10,50,and 300mhz with the cord looping threw each one two times. I also choke my power lines to my bulbs with 50, 100, and 5000mhz. my ballasts are covered in copper mesh form and all my power wires not passing threw a choke are covered in copper braid. Everything is bonded together and grounded to a copper ground spike separate from the one for my main electrical for the house.

Sounds like over kill but with so many ballasts running my LCD TV and computer monitor in the living room would get lines in it when the lights came on and you could hear static in the radio in the kitchen. The cokes stopped it and the copper mesh and braid was my going above and beyond.

 

[fortphoenix]

Snap on Chokes here you go. Make sure to get a choke large enough to coil the wire threw more than once. I use a 10,50,and 300mhz with the cord looping threw each one two times. I also choke my power lines to my bulbs with 50, 100, and 5000mhz. my ballasts are covered in copper mesh form and all my power wires not passing threw a choke are covered in copper braid. Everything is bonded together and grounded to a copper ground spike separate from the one for my main electrical for the house.

Sounds like over kill but with so many ballasts running my LCD TV and computer monitor in the living room would get lines in it when the lights came on and you could hear static in the radio in the kitchen. The cokes stopped it and the copper mesh and braid was my going above and beyond.

thanks for the link man but why use different chokes? because the different frequencies affect different things? i was under the impression it didn't matter what it was affecting and the higher the frequency the more disruption and rfi. anyway you could explain the reasoning for the different sized chokes? thanks!

 

[Glas Plandai]

thanks for the link man but why use different chokes? because the different frequencies affect different things? i was under the impression it didn't matter what it was affecting and the higher the frequency the more disruption and rfi. anyway you could explain the reasoning for the different sized chokes? thanks!

A single choke is not a catch all and the magnetic ballasts works with a range depending on if it is starting or running. Also as the bulb ages the frequency of interference will change. If you want to go with just one choke get the 10mhz as the higher 500 (not 5000 that was a typo) is only killing the start interference and a 10 will stomp out most noise feeding back to your power lines.

Depending on if it I was close to the bulb cord, power cord, starting or running. I mostly found low band RF readings off my ham radio Di-Pole during startup in the 2-10mhz range. and minor interference in the same range when running. In theory a magnetic ballast should only give out minor RF and most of that is feedback threw the power lines. But I had issues with my WiFi that runs in the 20-40mhz and my 4g in the 700 band. So I covered all the bases and have had no issues since.

Don't even get me started on digital ballasts. The cheaper ones may as well be beacons for any cop with an AM radio in his cruiser. Those things not only hit the 3-10mhz they run in the 20-60khz range during operation and put off one hell of a noticeable signal on the HAM. When it comes to covering your ass why not cover it well. So I say double loop threw a few and cover the 10-500. With digital ballasts you need to take a few extra steps and the 1st one is to not buy cheap china made models. If you have to go that route for cost your going to spend it on shielding and chokes any way. Build you a copper or stainless box and bond it to a 3 foot copper grounding spike. cover your cords in copper or stainless mesh and bond them to the box. put in some chokes and kiss RFI goodbye.

PS if someone made a Digital with a copper machined case I would be 1st to buy it.

 

[Glas Plandai]

Also Aluminum foil only keeps the Aliens from reading your thoughts it does little for RFI :-P

 

[fortphoenix]

A single choke is not a catch all and the magnetic ballasts works with a range depending on if it is starting or running. Also as the bulb ages the frequency of interference will change. If you want to go with just one choke get the 10mhz as the higher 500 (not 5000 that was a typo) is only killing the start interference and a 10 will stomp out most noise feeding back to your power lines.

Depending on if it I was close to the bulb cord, power cord, starting or running. I mostly found low band RF readings off my ham radio Di-Pole during startup in the 2-10mhz range. and minor interference in the same range when running. In theory a magnetic ballast should only give out minor RF and most of that is feedback threw the power lines. But I had issues with my WiFi that runs in the 20-40mhz and my 4g in the 700 band. So I covered all the bases and have had no issues since.

Don't even get me started on digital ballasts. The cheaper ones may as well be beacons for any cop with an AM radio in his cruiser. Those things not only hit the 3-10mhz they run in the 20-60khz range during operation and put off one hell of a noticeable signal on the HAM. When it comes to covering your ass why not cover it well. So I say double loop threw a few and cover the 10-500. With digital ballasts you need to take a few extra steps and the 1st one is to not buy cheap china made models. If you have to go that route for cost your going to spend it on shielding and chokes any way. Build you a copper or stainless box and bond it to a 3 foot copper grounding spike. cover your cords in copper or stainless mesh and bond them to the box. put in some chokes and kiss RFI goodbye.

PS if someone made a Digital with a copper machined case I would be 1st to buy it.

yeah I'm going to buy a digital but it won't be a cheap, one I'm probably going to go with the phantom II ballast which also has some sort of built in RFI blocker. i was actually talking to the guy who makes the rfi blockers (the brand is revolution, its like $30) and he said i actually don't need his blocker if I'm using a ballast like the phantom II (he said runs at 100) which made me feel better but no matter what any spare hanging wire to/from the ballast is being looped around ferrite chokes... which is basically what you're telling me i should do right? wrap any extra wire connected to the ballast around a choke? also, should i still go with the same sizes 500 and 10 for the digital? should i put a 10 and a 500 on each side or should i put 2 10's on the power side and 2 500s on the reflector side? thanks for helping me out by the way

 

[Glas Plandai]

I use a 10,50,and 300mhz with the cord looping threw each one two times. I also choke my power lines to my bulbs with 50, 100, and 500mhz. Should work for both Mag. and Dig. it's actually over kill for a Mag. My digitals Are cheap china models that I went in and upgraded myself after finding out how bad they are. Some stainless shields, new fets and caps with what I spend fixing them to be RFI silent and reliable I could have bought a good one to start.

 

[fortphoenix]

I use a 10,50,and 300mhz with the cord looping threw each one two times. I also choke my power lines to my bulbs with 50, 100, and 500mhz. Should work for both Mag. and Dig. it's actually over kill for a Mag. My digitals Are cheap china models that I went in and upgraded myself after finding out how bad they are. Some stainless shields, new fets and caps with what I spend fixing them to be RFI silent and reliable I could have bought a good one to start.

alright thanks man i appreciate you helping me out I'm definitely going to keep all of that in mind when i put the ballasts up, when it comes to security id rather over do it than under do it