Does Anyone Know Home Electricity

tunescool

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ive lived in a mobile home for a long time that has bad wiring and even the plug outlets are mounted bad and i have to tape plugs to the wall for them to stay in

for years there never was a problem but the last year i have radio stations coming thru my speakers i have my computer hooked up to, just speakers thers no receiver

24 hours a day and its annoying i cant sit here in peace and quiet

i knocked the plug out of the wall the other day and told my landlord to fix the outlet, he hasnt yet but can the plugs or wiring have something to do with the radio coming thru
 
Unless you are an experienced electrician don't even bother to try carrying out a rewiring job. Get a professional and if your landlord refuses to get the job done properly then you probably have the right to take him to court. I don't know about the law in the US and it might vary from State to State but there probably are laws that the landlord has to keep his properties maintained to a certain standard.
 
Basically, if you're getting noise (or RFI) the problem can be anywhere between your computer cord to the fusebox to your outside powerlines. I'd start by checking the connections to everything. Check the cord connected to your pc. Shine a flash light and make sure there's no oxides or dusty material.

Check outlets with a volmeter. Compare your computer outlet to other outlets making sure the power is balanced.

If you have an extension cord, plug the pc into a different breaker. Just to check if the breaker is the problem.

Then check the fusebox. Listen for any noises. Sometimes you'll hear buzzing on bad breakers. This happened in my studio. After I replaced the breaker the problem went away (which was noise, not radio stations).

If you have a 6 strip adapter, try plugging that in to the socket then plug the computer into the adapter. If it's already in a strip remove and connect straight to the wall.

Cheap DC converters are another common culprit. I'm not talking just about the DC power supply in your computer. But ANY old DC converter in ANY room of your home can create pockets of interference. One way to "hunt" down this noise is to turn on an old, portable AM radio. Then walk around your home pointing the antenna at wires, sockets, etc. Also go to the fusebox and you can flip the breakers off. Turn 1 on, touch the antenna to it, turn it off. Turn another on, repeat over and over. If the radio screams with noise / RFI that can be picked up by anything with speakers.

Sometimes the problem is as simple as replacing a wire, a breaker, a DC converter. Other times insulation cracks on powerlines and only the power company can fix it.

At any rate, I'd go play around with an AM radio. You have RFI that's coming from somewhere. If you merely turn down power on devices 1 by 1 many times you can isolate what's causing it. You start with breakers then if that doesn't work you go around the house unplugging everything. And when you start this, always start with old DC wal warts. Like the DC converters that look like little cubes. If none of this works then get a pro on it.

ps. Left out 1 important point. Many times your neighbors shitty DC converters & devices can interfere with your own. In which case it's unlikely to stop. And you're gonna need to insulate. Or you can reflect / amplify a large field of RFI back towards their home, let them deal with interference for a few months and maybe they'll toss / replace whatever shitty device they own that's causing it.
 
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I can't say I personally know electricity, I believe that at this time it is unknowable on a personal level; and if you did get to know it, it might be a rather shocking experience. My training and experience are a BS in Electrical Engineering and a Masters in computer science, so take the joke with a grain of salt. I am also many years outside of my electronic/electrical training.

Yes, it is possible for an AM radio station to be pickup by tuned electrical circuits. The tuning may be unintentional. Changing the length, and/or, the orientation of the wires can often help. Your lesson here is from guitar and other instrument amplifiers. With these amplifiers, if the input stage is not properly filtered, the amplifier may play unwanted AM radio stations.

The tuning of an analog frequency (think AM radio) is a result of series-parallel tuning circuit that filters out unwanted frequencies and passes the wanted frequencies and signals on for amplification. Read up on crystal radios.

These are the things you can do to limit the unwanted behavior of your speakers: 1) change how your wiring is arranged; 2) use longer or shorter cables or wiring; 3) place or remove the wiring into, or out of a rats nest of knotted cable; 4) run a shunt resistor in parallel with your speaker cables (look up capacitive resistive tuned circuits), and only use a few picofarads of capacitance to limit high frequency roll off.

Your socket problems: you have the choice of replacing them yourself, or forcing the property owner to replace them, or move. They are a fire and safety hazard that would fail any electrical building inspection, and that place your life and property in danger.
 
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i got a new power strip but im not using it until the outlet is replaced. i have an indoor air conditioner, not a wall or window mounted one that has been going off and the old power strip is old because i have to move it around to get the air back on. so that mite have alot to do with it

i honestly never thought of the rca to computer cord but if nothing else ill get a new one

ill look at the fusebox
 
In every locality in the US there are city and county codes governing electrical installations Call the appropriate code authority and complain about serious code violations in your rental home. Also ask for a safety inspection. That authority will send the owner a directive to fix those things in violation of the electrical code or risk condemnation of his property. If he fixes the problems, great, if not, you don't need to be living there anyway.
 
it is AM stuff thats coming thru. my landlord is just a big dopey dick that always just says hes gonna replace stuff and keeps putting it off. he was here today my waters froze its been below zero and he said he was gonna do it

ill start from there with a new power strip and check the fuse box and start replacing cords if it doesnt go away, thanks guys
 
If you think it is just that one particular outlet, or just bad outlets..those are easy as hell to replace.
If you can use a PC then you can youtube how to replace a power outlet.

Just be sure to turn off the breaker. It is really pretty simple, and take your time. It only takes about 15 min to do.

But, that said, i've never heard of anyone getting radio signals from a bad outlet. That sound like something bigger than your local electrical wiring.
It will most probably be due to some badly insulated wires somewhere.
 
(also) Check if some neighbor has built/installed a very powerful receiver-system/radio-antenna/TV-antenna very close to your home...
 
I did electrical work for 6 years straight when i was in my 20's, the radio noise that you are hearing is likely coming from a system that used to be installed in your mobile home. It probably doesn't even have anything to do with your plugs someone probably didn't completely removed the radio system that was installed when it was brand new. You may find that you have speakers in your ceiling that you don't even know about and your landlord probably don't either.
 
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