[RFI] Front Load Washer/Dryer Advice

Kelly Johnson n6kj.kelly at gmail.com
Wed Oct 12 17:54:52 EDT 2005


Well, I took a chance and bought a front load washer/dryer pair last week.
They are built by LG.
 The dryer is clean as a whistle. The washer definitely generates some noise
each time it spins the drum. It is perfectly quiet when the washer is off
and when the drum is not spinning. The amount of noise varies with the
cycle. I have not detected any conducted noise, but I suspect I could get
rid of any I found with toroids. The only noise I hear radiates from the
front panel.
 I have not been able to check the noise level on my HF yagi because the
yagi isn't up yet at my new house (and probably won't be until spring), but
the noise level on my FT-817 is no worse than the noise generated by TV
which has never been noticable on my HF yagi before. As we all know...most
modern electronics generate some level of noise if you "sniff" close enough
to them. The noise from the washer reaches S1 on 20 meters with my FT-817
about 12-15inches from the panel. It will go up to about S7 or so if I put
the antenna right on the panel. More than 15 inches away and the noise is
S0. This compares to my television, so I don't think this washer is going to
be a problem. If it DOES cause problems, then my wife has agreed to wash
clothes while I'm at work or when I'm not operating.
 While probing for noise sources in my new home I DID find 1 significant
noise source that I will have to deal with: a low-voltage light in my son's
bedroom. A similar LV light in another spare bedroom is totally quiet, but
the one in my son's bedroom is very noisy. My FT-817 goes nuts 10 feet away.
It's loud and raspy. That light has to go! I also noticed a small amount of
noise from the front panel of our Thermador oven, but it seems low enough to
be insignificant (lower signal strength than either the washer or the TV).
 I'll let everyone know later once I get the HF Yagi up if this washer/dryer
is reasonably quiet. I'm thinking of setting up a web page to track good vs.
bad electronics. Someone needs to. It's a real pain these days researching
all of the different models. This list has been helpful. thanks.


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