jrfuda
Active Member
Haven't posted in while...
I have five ceiling fans controlled by Lutron MA‑LFQHW Fan controls which have worked flawlessly for over 3 years. These are not home automation lighting controllers, however, they use some sort of PLC to control fan speed and light dimming. They are great for my purposes, especially since I did not want to run new wire for independant fan speed and dimming control in my 113 year old walls.
About 3 months ago, one of them started acting up. It was at the same time that I installed and new 220V 25A circuit for my Franklin 35SDQP-3.0HP-N4 QuickPAK (controller, pump and motor package) for my irrigation system. The fan controller in question is the only thing on its circuit and about 5' from the circuit breaker box. The pump controller is about 125 feet from the breaker box on a 220V 25A circuit and connected with 8 AWG stranded copper. The pump motor is another 65 feet down in the earth.
The controller for the Franklin pump is a constant pressure type and also converts power to 3-phase. This is supposed to be able to get 5HP performance out of a 3HP motor. As far as I can tell it works flawlessly as it has no trouble keeping up 45 GPM at 68 PSI for my sprinkler system (at around 55 PSI by the time it reaches the valves and regulated to 45 or 30 PSI depending on the zone... the regulators need 15 PSI overhead to do their job). The constant pressure feature varies the speed of the pump based on the demand and ensures it stays right at 68 instead of cycling like a traditional controller.
I determined it was the pump controller as switching of its breaker or pulling the ON/OFF switch at the well site makes the problem go away.
I did some research online and it appears that several HAM radio operators have noise issues with these systems as well. I did not find much reference to interference with PLC except for someone saying their pool pump caused issues, but could not find a solution.
I replaced the fan controller with a new one and it made no difference.
I contacted Franklin today via email to see if they have any ideas.
I tried placing a ferrite choke on the same phase as the problematic fan controller (fit perfectly over the 8AWG wire in the box in the well) and it helped a little. The fan controller works now as long as the pump is actively pumping. I only had one choke at the time and am not sure if putting one on the other phase would matter anyway. This was a Hail Mary as I didn't think it would do anything.
My guess as to why the other 4 fan controller were not affected is that all the additional loads and length of cable on each of their circuits is attenuating the interference .
So, what do y'all think is the best way to clean the noise from the line at the source? I thought about a pair of ACT AF300 low pass filters, however, they're only rated at 20A and they're about $60 each. I have several noise filters for car audio, however, they're for 12VDC. I can't seem to find an all in one solution for 220V... I thought one of those old whole house x10 filter/couplers like Leviton 6284 installed by the switchbox at the well site might work, but I think they're no longer made. Could I gut a couple of plug-in filters, wire them in line and place them in a new box? Is there a DIY-friendly noise filter schematic that someone with limited soldering skills could pull off?
I have five ceiling fans controlled by Lutron MA‑LFQHW Fan controls which have worked flawlessly for over 3 years. These are not home automation lighting controllers, however, they use some sort of PLC to control fan speed and light dimming. They are great for my purposes, especially since I did not want to run new wire for independant fan speed and dimming control in my 113 year old walls.
About 3 months ago, one of them started acting up. It was at the same time that I installed and new 220V 25A circuit for my Franklin 35SDQP-3.0HP-N4 QuickPAK (controller, pump and motor package) for my irrigation system. The fan controller in question is the only thing on its circuit and about 5' from the circuit breaker box. The pump controller is about 125 feet from the breaker box on a 220V 25A circuit and connected with 8 AWG stranded copper. The pump motor is another 65 feet down in the earth.
The controller for the Franklin pump is a constant pressure type and also converts power to 3-phase. This is supposed to be able to get 5HP performance out of a 3HP motor. As far as I can tell it works flawlessly as it has no trouble keeping up 45 GPM at 68 PSI for my sprinkler system (at around 55 PSI by the time it reaches the valves and regulated to 45 or 30 PSI depending on the zone... the regulators need 15 PSI overhead to do their job). The constant pressure feature varies the speed of the pump based on the demand and ensures it stays right at 68 instead of cycling like a traditional controller.
I determined it was the pump controller as switching of its breaker or pulling the ON/OFF switch at the well site makes the problem go away.
I did some research online and it appears that several HAM radio operators have noise issues with these systems as well. I did not find much reference to interference with PLC except for someone saying their pool pump caused issues, but could not find a solution.
I replaced the fan controller with a new one and it made no difference.
I contacted Franklin today via email to see if they have any ideas.
I tried placing a ferrite choke on the same phase as the problematic fan controller (fit perfectly over the 8AWG wire in the box in the well) and it helped a little. The fan controller works now as long as the pump is actively pumping. I only had one choke at the time and am not sure if putting one on the other phase would matter anyway. This was a Hail Mary as I didn't think it would do anything.
My guess as to why the other 4 fan controller were not affected is that all the additional loads and length of cable on each of their circuits is attenuating the interference .
So, what do y'all think is the best way to clean the noise from the line at the source? I thought about a pair of ACT AF300 low pass filters, however, they're only rated at 20A and they're about $60 each. I have several noise filters for car audio, however, they're for 12VDC. I can't seem to find an all in one solution for 220V... I thought one of those old whole house x10 filter/couplers like Leviton 6284 installed by the switchbox at the well site might work, but I think they're no longer made. Could I gut a couple of plug-in filters, wire them in line and place them in a new box? Is there a DIY-friendly noise filter schematic that someone with limited soldering skills could pull off?