Hey guys, this one has me stumped. A guy calls because his paper shredder, blow dryer, and electric massager all cause interference (visible static) on his TV and (audible static) on his radio.
They cause static when plugged into different (but not ALL) receptacles. The paper shredder causes interference on the TV when plugged into the kitchen Island outlet, but not the disposal outlet. It does it when plugged into it's normal wall receptacle (a newer, all copper addition), as well as when plugged into a surge suppressor.
There is no correlation between the shredder outlet and the tv outlet, nor between any of the other devices (different circuits, different phases, etc.) The original house is aluminum, and was pigtailed, but upon inspection yesterday, the guy used red wire nuts, but no Noalox. All copper/aluminum connections are dry.
The cable service coming in to the house is grounded, but it goes from the ground block where the cables are coupled together to a little clamp on a piece of 1/2 emt with the paint scraped off. The emt runs through two bell boxes before it gets to the panel.
The neutral/ground bar of the main panel has a #4 neutral (going to a sub panel) as well as the #6 solid landed on the same lug. There is no other place for it to go.
There is a driven rod at the main panel with the #6 passing through the ground clamp and going on to the cold water.
The sub panel does not have a separate ground bar, or a ground wire. There is one ground wire coming in to the panel from the house that is landed on the neutral bar. The circuit that the shredder plugs into is fed by the sub panel (Copper). The TV and clock radio that are receiving the interference are on the main panel Aluminum).
I thinks thats about all I can tell you. If you have any advice I'd love to hear it.
They cause static when plugged into different (but not ALL) receptacles. The paper shredder causes interference on the TV when plugged into the kitchen Island outlet, but not the disposal outlet. It does it when plugged into it's normal wall receptacle (a newer, all copper addition), as well as when plugged into a surge suppressor.
There is no correlation between the shredder outlet and the tv outlet, nor between any of the other devices (different circuits, different phases, etc.) The original house is aluminum, and was pigtailed, but upon inspection yesterday, the guy used red wire nuts, but no Noalox. All copper/aluminum connections are dry.
The cable service coming in to the house is grounded, but it goes from the ground block where the cables are coupled together to a little clamp on a piece of 1/2 emt with the paint scraped off. The emt runs through two bell boxes before it gets to the panel.
The neutral/ground bar of the main panel has a #4 neutral (going to a sub panel) as well as the #6 solid landed on the same lug. There is no other place for it to go.
There is a driven rod at the main panel with the #6 passing through the ground clamp and going on to the cold water.
The sub panel does not have a separate ground bar, or a ground wire. There is one ground wire coming in to the panel from the house that is landed on the neutral bar. The circuit that the shredder plugs into is fed by the sub panel (Copper). The TV and clock radio that are receiving the interference are on the main panel Aluminum).
I thinks thats about all I can tell you. If you have any advice I'd love to hear it.