Electronics 101 question: How to kill power related clicks?

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Telefunkin
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Re: Electronics 101 question: How to kill power related clicks?

Post by Telefunkin » Sat Mar 18, 2017 9:25 am

I'll throw 2c in.....
Switching high current items (both on and off) can generate mains spikes that you hear as pops. Motors, heaters, thermostats, etc can all be culprits. In the 'old days' before electronic ignition you used to fit suppressors on electrical items on your car to help reduce the electrical spikes on your car's 12v supply so that listening to the radio was bearable without all the crackles. In principle, you have the same problem, although its only single pops from the switching rather than the constant ignition cycle.

If your offending items are hard-wired into your system there's not much you can do at source. If they're plugged in then you might have the options of unplugging or relocating them to further away (which may or may not help depending on whether that puts them on the same or different spurs of your house wiring). If you simply can't manage without the offending items potentially being switched while you're recording/mixing then you'll need to look at filtering the offending spikes out of the mains as much as you can using power conditioners. You'll need to have all the audio kit you're using operating from (plugged into) such a device, but NONE of the offending items. Its best not to skimp on rated capability (might be in amps, watts or kilowatts) of the conditioner for all the kit you need to plug in, but the higher the rating the more you'll pay. You might also consider splitting the total load across two or more units if that works out more convenient in terms of rating, cost or room location. Have a look at the Furman stuff for some idea of what's available. If the pops are just mildly annoying then you might only need to think about noise filtration, but if they're loud then the voltage spike protection might be more appropriate as well as costing more.
https://ehomerecordingstudio.com/power- ... r-reviews/
However, you might also try one of the relatively inexpensive mains distribution/extension panels that have built-in filters - just as a starter to see whether it reduces the problem at all. Its very difficult to say what's the best thing to get though and some trial and error might be needed to ensure you tame the problem, particularly if its bad. Hope that helps.
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Re: Electronics 101 question: How to kill power related clicks?

Post by mojobone » Sat Mar 18, 2017 1:32 pm

Paulie wrote:Resurrecting this thread for a moment in case my new info sparks any new ideas in an electricians heard.

I've noticed that the click/pop only occurs when electric motors are turned on. The fridge, or the ceiling fan. Is that useful info?

PC
That does help narrow it down. Personally, I have a ceiling fan in my space, but it's never used when recording, not even direct recording, because while it's not as noisy as my former computer, it's way noisier than the current one. A UPS prevents surges, not sags, and sags appear to be the problem. As I see it, there are three options, in descending order of expense 1 professional grade voltage regulator with RFI filtering, 2 having an electrician re-route the circuits to separate the offending motors from your recording rig or 3 a beefier power supply for your interface, the last two of which may or may not work, so there we are...
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