kb0nes
Well-known member
@tolivac
Was the RFI from the LG washer something that occurred when it was running a cycle or while in standby? I would suspect more interference from a poorly filtered inverter since that is high power. Of course a dirty switcher power supply for the rest of the electronics could cause trouble too. The good thing is that at 7 Mhz it would be easily filtered. Its a high enough frequency that ferrites give lots of isolation impedance, but low enough that it needs the power line to be an antenna. A simple common mode choke on the power cord would all but eliminate it.
The problems with RFI both to and from electronics isn't a problem with the electronics themselves, its a problem of greed. Both the consumer demanding low cost and the manufacturer demanding high profits lead to the elimination of effective filtering. By and large the manufacturers can get away with this since such a small percentage of consumers are likely to experience problems. Add to this that the FCC is now a paper tiger and enforcement is a bit of a joke (more money and greed issues I'm sure).
Personally I like electronics, perhaps to some extent because I understand them and can fix them. I like the features and functionality they give. Yes it is true that mechanical timers have minimal issues with RFI, but I don't really want to return to the olden days. An old wash board and tub don't have issue with RFI either...
As for durability of electronics in appliance controls the issue is the same, greed kills it. Properly designed electronic controls should be as reliable as anything mechanical but proper design costs money. Heck in the cost cut world of today I bet the mechanical timers might well be less reliable then vintage ones too.
Was the RFI from the LG washer something that occurred when it was running a cycle or while in standby? I would suspect more interference from a poorly filtered inverter since that is high power. Of course a dirty switcher power supply for the rest of the electronics could cause trouble too. The good thing is that at 7 Mhz it would be easily filtered. Its a high enough frequency that ferrites give lots of isolation impedance, but low enough that it needs the power line to be an antenna. A simple common mode choke on the power cord would all but eliminate it.
The problems with RFI both to and from electronics isn't a problem with the electronics themselves, its a problem of greed. Both the consumer demanding low cost and the manufacturer demanding high profits lead to the elimination of effective filtering. By and large the manufacturers can get away with this since such a small percentage of consumers are likely to experience problems. Add to this that the FCC is now a paper tiger and enforcement is a bit of a joke (more money and greed issues I'm sure).
Personally I like electronics, perhaps to some extent because I understand them and can fix them. I like the features and functionality they give. Yes it is true that mechanical timers have minimal issues with RFI, but I don't really want to return to the olden days. An old wash board and tub don't have issue with RFI either...
As for durability of electronics in appliance controls the issue is the same, greed kills it. Properly designed electronic controls should be as reliable as anything mechanical but proper design costs money. Heck in the cost cut world of today I bet the mechanical timers might well be less reliable then vintage ones too.