Eheim 1048 EMI ?
 

hey guys need some help. I recently moved my water setup inside my case, and i got an eheim 1048, the pump is at the bottom of my case, BUT ! its givin off too much EMI !!!

my monitor screen is wobbling like mad. i have moved the pc about a foot and a half away from the monitor and yet i still see wobbling !

how can i stop this ? is it possible ? damn it i thought eheim was supposed to be the best quiet and hardly any EMI !

I have a Eheim 1250 pump 12inches away from my monitor~screen. it's not in a case and I get no interference whatsoever with it. what make is the monitor?, is it sheilded properly?...

its a 17" ttx monitor. Its decent. but no matter wat i do i cant get the wobbling to stop !

That's really weird. Most--if not all monitors--made today are pretty well shielded from EMI. Unless your monitor is over 10 years old, this shouldn't be a problem. Perhaps your videocard is the culprit? Might wanna try to swap cards just to see what's going on but considering the the massive amounts of EMI that normally occurs inside a case, I don't see how this would be a problematic either. I'm stumped :confused: .

You've got several options.

As far as I know, everyone who has set their monitor refresh rate to 60Hz has gotten rid of the flickering.

If you are willing to go ghetto, a tin can placed around the pump will provide substantial shielding. (Make sure the can is ferromagnetic by checking that a magnet will stick to it.) Multiple tin cans be nested for greater shielding. I've also heard of one person making a box of 16 gauge sheet steel and duct tape.

Move the pump even farther away.

Get a better shielded monitor.

Do you have a steel case, or an aluminum one?

i have a steel case(inwin q500), and well i tried sticking foil around the pump lol it didnt work. I am now on a 60Hz refresh rate, its fine but at 60 hz i can really tell the screen is refreshing.


I have moved the pc farther away from the monitor, and i still had a bit of flickering, this was prolly at around 1 and a half feet away from the monitor. I doubt its my vid card (8500) becasue i did grab the pump and move it closer and farther to the monitor, and i could see the flickering increase and decrease.

the tin can thing really does sound ghetto, maybe if i took a tin can and flatteneed it out, then stuck the sides onto my pump :)

but well the monitor isn't 10 years old i think. i got it actaully when i got my P2 300(fastest at the time) lol how long ago would that be ?

The added shielding (tin can method) is the way to go IMO.

The aluminum foil didn't work because aluminum is not ferromagnetic. (Foil's too thin anyway.) The only "common" ferromagnetic materials are iron/steel, nickel, and cobalt. The only really practical choice is steel.

I'm a little surprised that so much magnetic field gets out of your steel case. Does a magnet stick to the side of the case?

If you picture the way magnetic field lines loop out from the North to the South pole of a magnet, you can picture what the shield is doing. It is "easier" for a lot of the magnetic field lines to take a shortcut through a piece of steel (where they can be closer together) than to loop out through the air. A tin can surrounding the pump gives the magnetic field lines a shortcut to get back to the pump, and they don't reach out so far. A given amount of steel can only hold so many lines though so the thickness may need to be increased to get adequate shielding.

I can set my Eheim 1250 on top of the monitor for as long as I like with no effect. I really doubt the problem is the pump.

is there a definate way i can chk if its my pump or my monitor ?

The pump does seem to be workin fine, no weird noise or anything, its silent

i've moved the pc about 2.5 feet away now its better. But still if its my pump at fault i would like to know.

Also does eheim offer some sort of warrenty ? just in cae you know.

The problem is a combination of the pump and the monitor.

No pump - no problem.
No monitor - no problem. :)

In my experience, (and many others as well) Eheims produce much lower fields than other pumps. I frequently see comments saying Eheims are shielded. As far as I can tell, this is a myth. I suspect that Eheims tend to generate less field because they have a better arrangement of the magnets and coils that make up the mag drive itself. This is speculation on my part though. (I'd love to cut one open to see, so if you get really irritated with that pump...)

If my speculation is correct, then I wouldn't expect an eheim pump to be working correctly if it was generating more mag field than usual.

I doubt that exchanging the pump would get you one that generated less magnetic field. I'd be interested in knowing whether a different Eheim yielded different results though.

I think you probably have a monitor that is poorly shielded.

I did some testing of the tin can thing a while back. I was barely able to see any effect, with my Eheim 1250 against the screen. With a Danner Mag 5, there was an obvious effect with the pump one foot away from the screen. A coffee can slid over the Danner reduced the interference so that I had to move the can/pump within about 3 inches of the monitor to see the same effect as the unshielded Danner at 12 inches.

Do you have the pump and monitor pluged into the same outlet ??

well, there plugged on the same power bar, but what does that affect ?

i have to agree that i don't think its the pump. I used to run an eheim 1048, and get a shaking monitor. I haven't run watercooling in 9 months, and I still experience the same problem.

What I discovered was that I have a 27 year old refridgerator, that has an energy saving device on it because my stepdad is too cheap to actually buy a new fridge. It snaps on occassionally and the monitor picture violently shakes. Even when it's clicking the compressor on, the god damned thing shakes a little bit anyway.



So rather, it's your power, not your pump. Gets VERY annoying doesnt it ?

well guess i'll try changing the plugs around.

Are you still having problems with this ?


I saw a can of this at my local frys store sells for around $12

http://www.mgchemicals.com/products/841.html


Reduce or Eliminiate EMI / RFI Interference

A general purpose EMI / RFI shielding spray for use on plastic electronics enclosures. Consists of a tough, durable acrylic base pigmented with a high purity nickel flake.


Shielding effectivieness: One to two mil coating provides 40dB - 50dB shielding across a frequency range of 5 to 1800MHz.
Surface Resistance approx. 0.7 Ohms
Dry time: 10 minutes at room temperature
Recoat time: 5 minutes
Excellent adhesion to most plastics
Available in both liquid and aerosol
Tested as per IEEE Std. 299-1997
Underwriters Laboratories Recognized File No.: E202609
Liquid version available for dipping, brushing or spray gun applications.
Thinner is available for adjusting the viscosity
Thin or clean with part #435-1L Thinner/Cleaner
NO CFC 'S, NO HCFC'S, Ozone Friendly

Nice find, but it's pretty nasty stuff!!! Check out the MSDS on the website.

Hey Dr_P,

FWIW I just tested an E-1250 and an E-1048 next to my 3 yr old Sony 19" Trinitron. Both pumps make the screen wiggle when sitting beside/ontop of the monitor. The 1048 seems to be a little stronger than the 1250.

Moving either pump 6" away greatly reduced the interference. Moving them more than a foot away eliminated it. Pumps are plugged into the same circuit as monitor.

I have to agree with Since87... both the pump and monitor are contributing to the problem. The pumps do emit EMI but a well sheilded monitor won't be too succeptable.

Move the pump farther away, try making a sheild for it or get a new monitor... :)

Good luck,

I dont think its any worst than a epoxy or any 2 part paint :p

I picked up a can just to have around :)

I dont have a need for it but hey you never know lol

I had the same problem with my 1048 and i found that it was the orientation of the pump reletive to the screen, like if the pump faced a certain way i had to have it a good 3-4 feet away but if i turned the pump to face a different direction i could have it right next to the screen. hope that helps:)