One of our refrigerators went out and it was time for a new one so I grabbed
my Tecsun PL-660 and we headed for the local scratch-and-dent appliance
store. I knew that Samsungs were a problem, but the sales person said that
they no longer carry Samsung due to having too many problems. I mentioned
that I was interested in a non-efficient model, figuring that an
old-fashioned model would have a lower probability of RFI problems. He
informed me that the [overreaching] government has made high-efficiency a
requirement for refrigerators. I let him know that I would consider one only
if he could plug it in while I listened with my portable radio. Evidently,
no one had ever brought a radio to test a refrigerator before.
He initially suggested a Frigidaire model with a dent in a place where it
would not show in our kitchen. I tuned the radio to 2 MHz AM and turned up
the volume so I could hear a slight hiss and stood about five feet away from
the unit. He plugged it in and the instantaneous cacophony filled the
showroom and he jumped back a bit. I looked at him and gave him the
thumbs-down signal. He unplugged it and the room became quiet again. "What
else ya got?" I asked. He suggested a nearby LG model. We pushed it over to
the wall socket and he plugged it in. The receiver noise rose maybe 3dB. Not
bad for five feet away. When I got the radio really close to the rear panel
where the power cord entered, the radio came alive. About six inches away it
was pretty loud, but at five feet it was just above the ambient noise level.
My wife wanted one with the water dispenser in the door, so we repeated the
test with a higher-priced model and got the same results. It had no
scratches or dents, but they did drop the price $100. I figured I could put
a few turns of the power cord through a large ferrite toroid if it was a
problem. The refrigerator also fits into a cubby-hole that I could line with
sheet metal. Sold!
They delivered it on Monday and I had several receivers on when the
installers plugged it in. I did not detect any added noise after it was
running. So far so good. My ferrite toroids are on backorder and I will
install one on the power cord anyway.
Since then My PL-660 died. No display, even with freshly-charged batteries
or the power adaptor. The reset switch has no effect. I opened it up and
found that it has a battery soldered to the PC board that contains a bunch
of pushbutton switches. Has anyone replaced this battery? Is there some
place I can send it for repair? My hunch is that it is the battery, but I
don't know for sure. I don't want to buy another one if it is an easy fix.
Carl KB7AZ
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