Static on FM Radio

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luc - 04 Oct 2006 18:52 GMT

I've got excessive static on my FM radio, and discovered it's my
battery charger. Obviously, I want to keep the charger going, but
wonder if anyone knows how to suppress that noise.

Also, my refrigerator works on my batteries, and my charger charges
them. Is this going to decrease the battery life, to be continually
running the refrigeration on batteries, then charging the batteries to
keep up?

thanks for any information,

Luc

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chuck - 04 Oct 2006 20:40 GMT

> I've got excessive static on my FM radio, and discovered it's my
> battery charger. Obviously, I want to keep the charger going, but
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> Luc

Hello Luc,

I would guess the interference is
getting into your FM radio via the 12
wiring, either by conduction or
radiation from the charger. I would
expect the former.

The interference you describe is unusual
for battery chargers and raises the
question of whether it has always been
that way or whether this is a recent
development. Is the battery charger an
old one? Do you get static on any other
radios wired into the 12 volt system?

It would be good to know where the
problem resides and whether it is a
design problem or a defective component
in either the radio or the charger. That
will make it easier to talk about a fix.

Can you provide more info?

Chuck

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luc - 04 Oct 2006 23:24 GMT

it is certainly an appropriate question, and I wondered exactly that
same thing. I haven't noticed it on the VHF, but then I'm not
listening to it for music, or news, and static might be less unusual
than on an FM set. The CD/FM/AM radio is a car radio, and worked fine
in my last car, but junked the car and kept the radio. Now there is
static.. I'm inclined to thinking it's in the 12V wiring rather than
outputting RF, but I don't kow, and don't know how to test for it
either.

thanks for your reply,

Luc

> > I've got excessive static on my FM radio, and discovered it's my
> > battery charger. Obviously, I want to keep the charger going, but
[quoted text clipped - 38 lines]
> http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
> ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----

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chuck - 05 Oct 2006 00:13 GMT

> it is certainly an appropriate question, and I wondered exactly that
> same thing. I haven't noticed it on the VHF, but then I'm not
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> Luc

I had just assumed it was your VHF FM
radio.

Do you get the same static on AM and CD
functions?

What are you using for an antenna?

Chuck

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Alec - 05 Oct 2006 09:56 GMT

What sort of charger do you have ?

Is it a simple automobile type or a proper regulated marine charger.

If it a proper marine regulated type your batteries should be looked after
properly and last a long time.

On my boat it was the fridge which caused the interference. A 0.1 mfd
capacitor across the supply close to the fridge cured the problem.

Alec

> I've got excessive static on my FM radio, and discovered it's my
> battery charger. Obviously, I want to keep the charger going, but
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> Luc

Reply to this Message

Gm1234 - 05 Oct 2006 13:50 GMT

"luc" <lucede@gmail.com> wrote > > I've got excessive static on my FM
radio, and discovered it's my

> battery charger. Obviously, I want to keep the charger going, but
> wonder if anyone knows how to suppress that noise.
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> thanks for any information,

Luc,
I have similar interference on our radio. But, I think it is only on AM ( we
don't use radio much at dock with charger/refrig on). Radio is not working
well, so I think I will buy a new one. I problem persists, will have to
determine if it is refrig or charger. But, I think it IS the charger - If
adding capacitor works for refrig noise, is there a similar solution for a
two bank Truecharge marine charger?

Many owners run their refrigeration using charger/batteries when at dock.
But, it probably does reduce the life of the batteries being constantly
charged and in use.

On my boat, I installed a power supply that automatically cuts in (bypasses
batteries) whenever AC is available.

My compressor is a Waeco/Adler Barbour BD35 and the power supply is a
Mobiltronics made specially for this compressor. The power supply actually
puts out 24V and surprisingly the compressor does not mind if it gets 12v
from batteries or 24V from power supply. I found the power supply for a low
price on eBay. Not sure I would have spent too much for one otherwise.

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Alec - 05 Oct 2006 18:54 GMT

A proper marine regulated charger will charge at about 14v or a little less
when on continuously and will not harm the batteries.

Alec

> "luc" <lucede@gmail.com> wrote > > I've got excessive static on my FM
> radio, and discovered it's my
[quoted text clipped - 32 lines]
> low
> price on eBay. Not sure I would have spent too much for one otherwise.

Reply to this Message

Phil Stanton - 06 Oct 2006 01:39 GMT

I had a lot of interference with a Cristec battery charger on both FM radio
and VHF. Cured it by replacing it with a Sterling charger.

What make is yours?

Phil

> I've got excessive static on my FM radio, and discovered it's my
> battery charger. Obviously, I want to keep the charger going, but
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> Luc

Reply to this Message

Bruce in Alaska - 06 Oct 2006 18:21 GMT

> I had a lot of interference with a Cristec battery charger on both FM radio
> and VHF. Cured it by replacing it with a Sterling charger.
>
> What make is yours?
>
> Phil

Most of the "Noisy" Marine Battery Chargers, use an SCR to
control the charging duty cycle. These are notoriously noisy
as the SCR "Rings" when triggered, causing the noise. OEM's
like this system because it is CHEAP to build. Any good
Linear Regulated Charger will be much quieter, if not silent.
If noise is your problem, spend you money on a good Linear
Regulated Charger.

Bruce in alaska

Signature

add a <2> before @

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luc - 10 Oct 2006 19:19 GMT

Bruce in Alaska wrote:

> > I had a lot of interference with a Cristec battery charger on both FM radio
> > and VHF. Cured it by replacing it with a Sterling charger.
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> --
> add a <2> before @

Not sure the details of my charger but it's a West Marine charger and
it is the culprit putting noise on the FM music stations. I turned it
off, and bingo! Noise begone! But, obviously, I'm going to continue
charging my batteries. So I can find out the details and change out to
a Linear Regulated Charger. Another question raised by the first
person who responded to this post, is the noise via the wiring, or is
it RF output that the FM is picking up?

thanks

Luc

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RW Salnick - 10 Oct 2006 19:47 GMT

luc inscribed in red ink for all to know:

> Bruce in Alaska wrote:
>
[quoted text clipped - 28 lines]
>
> Luc

Pull the antenna off of your VHF. If the noise goes away, or decreases
significantly, then it is arriving as RF (or at least partly so - it
could be coming both ways...).

If the "static" is actually hum and not static, then it is certainly
arriving over the power wiring.

bob

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Boat Forum / Electronics / October 2006

Static on FM Radio