ABL charge point causing major radio frequency interference

Was puzzled because I had moved from a high RFI area to the sticks enjoying blissfully clear AM and SW listening and rediscovering my long lost love of shortwave DXing. And general radio listening. Irish stations are pretty boring and censored.

Anyway, one night I could hear a high pitched buzzing all through the AM and SW bands and said " I wounder where that's coming from ?" so today I went around with the radio on AM and went around the house and the signal got much stronger and ah ha, found it, PSU for dyson Hoover, unplugged, got a lot quieter but the high pitched buzzing was very loud.

Next step, consumer unit, flipped the switch and radio went quiet ( battery of course kept the radio going) haha. Switched on again and noise came back.

Then hit the EVSE Switch and quietness, so went out to the car and unplugged, and 0 RFI.

Car was only plugged in and not charging. IT's really disappointing that the ABL is emitting such high RFI. Obviously phone chargers and power supplies these days being switch mode are notorious for radio interference, led lights and close by laptops etc.

Anyway, can anyone please go to their non ABL charge point with a radio on AM with the car plugged in but not charging see if there is a large amount of high pitched buzzing and then un plug the car and see if it goes away ?

Thanks.

BoatMad

Deleted User wrote: »

Was puzzled because I had moved from a high RFI area to the sticks enjoying blissfully clear AM and SW listening and rediscovering my long lost love of shortwave DXing. And general radio listening. Irish stations are pretty boring and censored.

Anyway, one night I could hear a high pitched buzzing all through the AM and SW bands and said " I wounder where that's coming from ?" so today I went around with the radio on AM and went around the house and the signal got much stronger and ah ha, found it, PSU for dyson Hoover, unplugged, got a lot quieter but the high pitched buzzing was very loud.

Next step, consumer unit, flipped the switch and radio went quiet ( battery of course kept the radio going) haha. Switched on again and noise came back.

Then hit the EVSE Switch and quietness, so went out to the car and unplugged, and 0 RFI.

Car was only plugged in and not charging. IT's really disappointing that the ABL is emitting such high RFI. Obviously phone chargers and power supplies these days being switch mode are notorious for radio interference, led lights and close by laptops etc.

Anyway, can anyone please go to their non ABL charge point with a radio on AM with the car plugged in but not charging see if there is a large amount of high pitched buzzing and then un plug the car and see if it goes away ?

Thanks.

Put the lot in a big metal box !

zilog_jones

What could it be doing that would cause so much RFI? Surely it's just some sort of basic controller with some relays?

BoatMad

zilog_jones wrote: »

What could it be doing that would cause so much RFI? Surely it's just some sort of basic controller with some relays?

Yes it's surprising , it's a small micro controller , and some contactors. The major switching systems would be actually in the car.

The pilot signal is only 1kHz , it activates as soon as the car is connected ( charging or not )

KCross

I read somewhere about noises from a charge point and the apparent root cause was dirt causing bad contacts?!

I have no idea if thats internet BS or not.

I'll see if I can find where I read that.

EDIT: This is what I read, but it is noise while charging which is different issue to Mad_Lad
https://speakev.com/threads/rolec-charger-loud-noise.22264/

BoatMad

KCross wrote: »

I read somewhere about noises from a charge point and the apparent root cause was dirt causing bad contacts?!

I have no idea if thats internet BS or not.

I'll see if I can find where I read that.

EDIT: This is what I read, but it is noise while charging which is different issue to Mad_Lad
https://speakev.com/threads/rolec-charger-loud-noise.22264/

Mad_lads issue is radio interference , not low frequency noise

I have an ABL unit , but no radio ! , I do have a ham radio setup

Your rig should definitely hear this, the fecking charge lead acts like a big aerial too and even the electrical wiring in the house, for a while I couldn't figure out how the central heating timer was causing this !!!

This is rather disappointing. It wouldn't be so annoying if it were while the car was charging but all the time it's plugged in is a real pain, however I never thought until now that it could be the charger in the car, that would be rather difficult to know since it has to be plugged in.

I could try the charge point in work and bring my little radio, but I fear they'd just bar me off the premises if anyone sees me waving a radio around the car, they already think I'm bonkers driving the Leaf..... they might say the electromagnetic radiation has my brain fried !

I'm thinking about getting my Ham Radio License but getting the time is difficult, I never had the space for the hobby until now.

BoatMad

Deleted User wrote: »

Your rig should definitely hear this, the fecking charge lead acts like a big aerial too and even the electrical wiring in the house, for a while I couldn't figure out how the central heating timer was causing this !!!

This is rather disappointing. It wouldn't be so annoying if it were while the car was charging but all the time it's plugged in is a real pain, however I never thought until now that it could be the charger in the car, that would be rather difficult to know since it has to be plugged in.

I could try the charge point in work and bring my little radio, but I fear they'd just bar me off the premises if anyone sees me waving a radio around the car, they already think I'm bonkers driving the Leaf..... they might say the electromagnetic radiation has my brain fried !

I'm thinking about getting my Ham Radio License but getting the time is difficult, I never had the space for the hobby until now.

Very little action on ham these days , I mainly use it at sea. Haven't switched it on in a while over the winter Since my antenna farm blew down ( breaking my weather station in the process)

Ah BoatMad, you serious ? ham bands are very active these days.

Check out this WebSdr site in the Netherlands, it will allow you to monitor in real time the full shortwave spectrum.

http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/

Plenty of activity on 40 Mtrs and some on 20 Mtrs, though 20 mtrs is winding down this time of the day, 120 and 80 Mtrs will ramp up after dark and there'll be a lot of activity.

There is definitely a lot more activity on the Ham bands than 5 or 6 years ago.

Get that antenna back up !

BoatMad

Deleted User wrote: »

Ah BoatMad, you serious ? ham bands are very active these days.

Check out this WebSdr site in the Netherlands, it will allow you to monitor in real time the full shortwave spectrum.

http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/

Plenty of activity on 40 Mtrs and some on 20 Mtrs, though 20 mtrs is winding down this time of the day, 120 and 80 Mtrs will ramp up after dark and there'll be a lot of activity.

There is definitely a lot more activity on the Ham bands than 5 or 6 years ago.

Get that antenna back up !

maybe I'm missing things it was very quiet a few years back, I have an ICOM 7000 , ( ps I might sell it as I have another on the boat )

That little ICOM would be handy for the car, perhaps when I get my Ham license if you still have it, seriously though, you should get that antenna back up and maybe purchase a rig with more power.

Keep checking out that WebSdr site I linked to above.

Anyways, I got to work last night and no hint of any radio interference even though I looked like an Idiot waving the radio around the car and charger, luckily I wasn't seen ! So definitely the ABL is the problem, I'll definitely change it when I get a new EV.

BoatMad

Deleted User wrote: »

That little ICOM would be handy for the car, perhaps when I get my Ham license if you still have it, seriously though, you should get that antenna back up and maybe purchase a rig with more power.

Keep checking out that WebSdr site I linked to above.

Anyways, I got to work last night and no hint of any radio interference even though I looked like an Idiot waving the radio around the car and charger, luckily I wasn't seen ! So definitely the ABL is the problem, I'll definitely change it when I get a new EV.

you understand the ICOM 7000 has 100watts of HF power similar to Big yaesu rigs

small these days in electronics doesnt mean puny

I DXed Australia on that HF rig when I had it running in Bray at sea Ive covered 3000 miles on 50W HF

Ah no thought it was 50 watts for some reason, I know a lot of the small rigs have decent power, lots of ham operators use 1 or 2 Kw amplifiers.

I'd be looking something like the 7000 for the car. I may start studying..... I need time also lol.

BoatMad

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Ah no thought it was 50 watts for some reason, I know a lot of the small rigs have decent power, lots of ham operators use 1 or 2 Kw amplifiers.

I'd be looking something like the 7000 for the car. I may start studying..... I need time also lol.

7000 would be overkill in a car , hf rigs would not be practical ( in general in a car ) 2meter stuff fine etc. Very few licensed rigs on 1-2kw as many countries outlaw that type of burner , there's also no advantage as you can work the world on 100W HF

Ps the exam is very simple

anyway folks , sorry about the thread drift , back to normal stuff.

ei9go

Deleted User wrote: »

Ah no thought it was 50 watts for some reason, I know a lot of the small rigs have decent power, lots of ham operators use 1 or 2 Kw amplifiers.

I'd be looking something like the 7000 for the car. I may start studying..... I need time also lol.

Difference betwen 50 and 100w is only 1/2 an S point.

BoatMad

BoatMad wrote: »

7000 would be overkill in a car , hf rigs would not be practical ( in general in a car ) 2meter stuff fine etc. Very few licensed rigs on 1-2kw as many countries outlaw that type of burner , there's also no advantage as you can work the world on 100W HF

Ps the exam is very simple

anyway folks , sorry about the thread drift , back to normal stuff.

It would unless you mount it in a way you can use it in the shack.

ei9go

ei9go wrote: »

Difference betwen 50 and 100w is only 1/2 an S point.

Could be the difference between being heard and not.

BoatMad

Deleted User wrote: »

Could be the difference between being heard and not.

no actually , its not how RF propagation works

BoatMad

Deleted User wrote: »

It would unless you mount it in a way you can use it in the shack.

had to fit a HF antenna in a car !!!!.

BoatMad

BoatMad wrote: »

had to fit a HF antenna in a car !!!!.

No not what I meant lol.

Can use the 7000 in the car mounted in a way that's easy to disconnect to bring into the shack at home.

BoatMad

BoatMad wrote: »

no actually , its not how RF propagation works

Indeed but people use amplifiers for a reason.......

Yeah, amazing how you can get out with a good antenna and only 50 watts with good conditions.

BoatMad

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Indeed but people use amplifiers for a reason.......

Mainly cause they don't know what they are doing

BoatMad

BoatMad wrote: »

Mainly cause they don't know what they are doing

Not really, propagation is one thing yes, absolutely and if conditions are not right then an amplifier won't help but if conditions are right then an amplifier can and does make a big difference.