Furnace noise

[charbroiled]

I have a cobra 142 gtl that I just acquired and had peaked and tuned. I have ground the radio to a bus bar running outside to a grounding rod( 3 ft copper pipe ). I'm using an antron 99 mounted on the peak of the house. 213 coax. When the furnace is about to kick on I get a horrendous noise that covers static and any incoming signal. I can still broadcast and be heard from what I'm told. What can I do about this noise? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

['Doc]

Very basically, either by-pass, shield, or repair/replace the furnace's thermostat. How do you do that? Good question! It depends on exactly what kind of thermostat you have, old fashion kind, digital, and so on. They typically aren't treated the same way, they can be producing that noise differently because of how they work. Asking the manufactuer of the thermostat, ot the furnace is certainly an option, and I think I'd do that first. If no satisfaction that way, then it gets a bit more complicated. I have no idea what kind/type of thermostat you have so not even going to try guessing at how to 'cure' it. It's certainly possible though.
- 'Doc

[TheCBDoctor]

Hi charbroiled

The problem is the furnace. If it is a oil burner then the 10,000 volts that is firing up the oil is acting like a spark gap transmitter. There is nothing you can do at the radio end to stop the furnace's electrical interference. Have a competent furnace repairmen look at the gap of the furnace's igniter.

If you have a mercury style thermostat it should not interfere with the radio. What type of furnace do you have? My Father has an S-1 license and has been repairing furnaces for 55 years. I will ask him.

Respectfully,

[charbroiled]

It's a Honeywell digital thermastat. Goodman is the name of the furnace. How do you tell what kind it is though? Thanks for the responses.

[Foxhunter]

The problem is the furnace. If it is a oil burner then the 10,000 volts that is firing up the oil is acting like a spark gap transmitter. There is nothing you can do at the radio end to stop the furnace's electrical interference.

He hit it right on the head. If you have an oil heat furnace, there's little if anything you can do, other than wait for the furnace to complete it's cycle. I have seasonally serviced my own heater and done repairs on it for years. If you've ever looked inside of one, there are two VERY large ceramic insulated electrodes, that have two tips set to a proper angle and gap.

There is a large electrical spark "arc" fed by house current, that ignites the air/fuel mixture inside the furnace chamber. As said above, it is very much like an old spark-gap radio transmitter, or in-effect like a giant spark plug. As the heater is running, there is a really strong blue electrical arc "sparking" constantly, throwing out all sorts of radio signals in the process.

I have the same exact situation here at home, and I have to wait until the furnace stops, and I doubt there is any way around it. Using you ANL or other noise-reduction setting on your radio itself WILL often reduce the interference to tolerable levels, it should work, it does for me. The heater always seems to kick on when I really wanted to say something or catch someone, and it's extremely annoying. But in the end I wait a few minutes and quickly Windex down my desk/radio/or mic or something a minute while I'm waiting (that really adds up to nice clean station) and find it's no BIG deal. I just learned to co-exist with it.


Foxhunter 351 NJ

[TheCBDoctor]

Hi charbroiled

Is the furnace oil or gas? An oil furnace has a constant 10,000 volts jumping a gap in front of an oil atomizer. The gas furnace only ignites the gas and it stays lit without the need for and electrical source.

This will help in determining what to look for. If you have gas I would be surprised that it is causing the interference. An oil burner is nothing but RF noise. Just like the early radios that used a spark gap transmitter.

Respectfully,

[Mikey B]

If it is oil, the ignition transformer IS the most likely cause. The new ones are 14KV and even 20KV. You could replace The primary control with an interrupted ignition primary. This will only allow the spark to run until flame is established, which with pre-purge and flame proving would be about 30-45 seconds. I am a proffesional HVAC/R tech, and if I had a nickel for every time someone asked me why their TV went screwy when the furnace started, I would be a friggin' millionare!

[TheCBDoctor]

Hi Mikey B

That is what my father told me tonight. In fact, I remember before cable that the TV would show noise until the furnace went off. He said the newer oil burners are not as bad as the ones built 30 years ago. I asked him what you can do to get rid of the noise. He said "Switch to Gas"

Thanks Dad that was helpful

Respectfully,

[North Texas Mudduck]

the gap igitor reminds me of the days when i had a freind that his neighbor was tearing him up
so i came up with the idea of pluggging in a electric fence charger.
had some copper wire just far enough apart it would make a huge gap every time it discharged.

guy next door never found out what that popping noise was
he would say on the radio all quite then whap whap whap whap
from 1 s-unit ground noise to 20plus on the whap.

also take a weedeater or trimmer and undo the plug wire just enough to where there is a gap between the boot and the top of plug.

but my best so far was setting up my old jacobs ladder at a guys house that had a channel 19 drunking rambo every friday night.

now this guys drunk and then the ladder comes on and this guy gets on the radio talking about aliens invading his house.
some how the aliens have a ray gun aimed at his house and he picking up there beam

[charbroiled]

Thanks for all the responses. It looks as though I'll just have to wait the allotted time until it becomes clear enough for me to hear what is being said. Thanks again for all the replies.

[Foxhunter]

You don't have a Noise Blanker setting on your radio ? You never did reply whether you tried using it. It ususally will cure intermittent crash-static such as this. Use either the ANL switch, or further up another notch to the NB/ANL setting. Although I don't like using them, they cut the heater static right out. As said I either do a quick cleanup and let the heater finish, or I flip the switch and cut out the noise. You might find an external notch filter or DSP speaker of use, possibly. Good luck.


Foxhunter 351 NJ

[North Texas Mudduck]

You might find an external notch filter or DSP speaker of use, possibly. Good luck.

i been thinking about trying a dsp
what type you use

[4 cycle]

Might wunna check the spark gap between the electrodes could be too wide !

[Shaft]

What's a furnace?

[Foxhunter]

i been thinking about trying a dsp
what type you use

Hey there Mr. North Texas Mudduck, I don't have one myself, only suggesting one. I've been bidding on one paticular brand/model of choice for a while now, and haven't yet had any luck with nabbing one. Let me send quick PM to you tommorrow on that subject.

I'm not very fond of ANL & ANL/NB functions on my radios, they "muffle" the audio too much for my personal tastes. But, in a pinch there are times (like when the home heating oil furnace kicks on) and I have to temporarily use it, and either do usually work to supress the interference. But, at the same time they kill the background stations, which is why I don't like using them.

At some point I'm going to maybe choose between the "ClearSpeech" and the "Hear It" DSP external speakers for station use, depending on reading more reviews first. Or, I might run an external Bandpass or Passband filter from ICE.



Shaft---I spend two years living in the mountains in the Appalachians having only a small woodstove, cutting and splitting wood for heat, day and night. And when I say that, it meant getting up at 2-3 hour intervals to feed the stove so we didn't freeze. I surely welcome ANY modern self-running heating system now. Grateful.

Foxhunter 351 NJ

[Mikey B]

Might wunna check the spark gap between the electrodes could be too wide !

The gap might effect it some, but I don't belive it will eliminate the problem If you set them any closer.

[909 wis]

I had the same problem with static on my base cb through direct tv dish, furnace, and internet satellite. To fix the issue I mounted my base antenna on the garage ran coax to house and covered coax with plumber pipe insulation, for the furnace i simply installed a digital thermostat which you can set time of day when it will kick in. I also wrapped my furnace with insulation, but carefull you dont cover the vents. as far as the satellites I just turn off internet and tv. went from 9lbs. of static to not even 1lbs.
that's my suggestions
909 wisconsin