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Does Overhead LED Lighting Affect Electronic Powder Dispensers?

mountain solitude

My second Hornady electronic powder dispenser just died on me, same reason as the first died because both dispensers repeatedly threw over-target charges & would not (re)calibrate & was told they had served their useful life and needed replaced. So, I went to my local Cabela's and purchased the RCBS Chargemaster Supreme. Fortunately, I caught it on sale and saved myself $150.
I read & reread the directions and followed step by step and having owned two electronic powder dispensers, I believe that I can master the RCBS Dispenser's learning curve. All went well at first, then the over-target charges again reared its ugly head.
Then it occurred to me that somewhere, sometime ago, I recall reading an article about loading bench lighting and interference from electrical gadgets around the loading bench and to turn them off or distance them from electronic powder dispensers.
So, I have a two-part question: 1st is my recollection correct? 2nd does LED Lighting affect electronic powder dispensers.
 
mountain solitude said:
So, I have a two-part question: 1st is my recollection correct? 2nd does LED Lighting affect electronic powder dispensers.
Click to expand...
Your recollection was based on some scales being affected by interference, so yes to the first question.

The second part is more complicated to answer because the standards for what is meant by LED lighting isn't standard. If the LED lighting has power supplies or electronics that are emitting RF interference that affects your scale, then maybe. The LEDs themselves are a low probability, so it is the ways that some of them are powered that is the potential for a problem.

Sorry to hear about the difficulty. I know I got lucky with my own Chargemasters as well as the ones I have given to folks. I am aware of some batches that had failures and performance problems like drift, displays, and keypads, etc..

Hang in there, don't give up. Keep a set of check weights near the scale at all times. Try the isolation tests if you are seeing gremlins.
 
MGMIAM said:
There are items that are called RF chokes, magnets that you can coil incoming power wire around that will suppress RF interference The LED drivers depending on quality can put out noise. There are good drivers and bad drivers. I also shut off my dehumidifier in the summer and fan what ever else can create wind. Heck you even breathe hard around them scales it affects it. Just spent 10 years in the Custom LED lighting business, saw what goes thru UL testing and everything that goes with it. Pretty interesting,
Click to expand...
Ferrite beads that clamp onto the power cord help with high frequency noise. They are cheap on Amazon. I have 2 on my chargemaster, one close to the plug and one close to the machine
 
I have my electronic waying instruments plugged into a Tripp line conditioner and that line conditioner is plugged into an Isobar surge protector. I've given this advice to many of my friends and nobody has had a problem since they started using them. Expensive but worth it.
 
Fluorescent lights were a nemesis for electronics for years with probably the most notorious bing the desktop fluorescent lights popular in the 60's and 70's as the lights and radios ended up in close proximity. Today however this arrangement seldom occurs and a distance of two to three feet will usually prevent any problems. Non LED and PlasmaTV's and video monitors were also a source of major interference.

In today's world computers themselves are the most likely source Radio Frequency Interference (RFI). IN today's world the majority of sources are any computerized piece of equipment. The RFI from these sources includes internally generated noise from the computer itself and any radio frequency emission such as Wi-Fi and bluetooth as well as cellular radio emissions. Even the electronic scales themselves are sources of RFI emissions. All of these sources must meet the requirements of FCC Part 15 to prevent/limit the extent of external interference caused by the device. Further most sensitive equipment is designed to prevent RFI from being an issue.

It is possible but unlikely that a computer or cell phone in the vicinity of the scale will affect its performance. If would be much more likely that the neighbor's Ham Radio or the High Voltage Transmission Lines running parallel to the property will create an issue.

If is possible that interference can come on the AC power into the device but this is unlikely to be an issue in most circumstances as this power is filters and converted to DC before use. Switching surges are a different issue and surge protection is important and should be used. It is also important to insure that the grounding correct.

RFI will not display itself as slow scale zero drift. The most like indication is erratic readings that vary, must like a zero that veries every few seconds both up and down.
 
mountain solitude said:
My second Hornady electronic powder dispenser just died on me, same reason as the first died because both dispensers repeatedly threw over-target charges & would not (re)calibrate & was told they had served their useful life and needed replaced. So, I went to my local Cabela's and purchased the RCBS Chargemaster Supreme. Fortunately, I caught it on sale and saved myself $150.
I read & reread the directions and followed step by step and having owned two electronic powder dispensers, I believe that I can master the RCBS Dispenser's learning curve. All went well at first, then the over-target charges again reared its ugly head.
Then it occurred to me that somewhere, sometime ago, I recall reading an article about loading bench lighting and interference from electrical gadgets around the loading bench and to turn them off or distance them from electronic powder dispensers.
So, I have a two-part question: 1st is my recollection correct? 2nd does LED Lighting affect electronic powder dispensers.
Click to expand...
If the LED runs on anything but line voltagge it requires a transformer that has a magnetic field around it. Florescent bulbs have a big ballist transformer that creats noise. Buy a line conditioner surge protector unit. Some of the line conditioners are junk. I would unplug the scale if there is lightning in your area. A voltage surge can destroy the scales electronics. The ferrite filter devices that go around the 110V line are a good investment.
 
Webster said:
If the LED runs on anything but line voltagge it requires a transformer that has a magnetic field around it. Florescent bulbs have a big ballist transformer that creats noise. Buy a line conditioner surge protector unit. Some of the line conditioners are junk. I would unplug the scale if there is lightning in your area. A voltage surge can destroy the scales electronics. The ferrite filter devices that go around the 110V line are a good investment.
Click to expand...

LED's typically run very low current for their output. Less current through the transformer = less electrical noise generated compared to fluorescent fixtures (not sure how that figures with the new solid-state ballasts though.) Even dimmable incandescents can be pretty bad noise-wise.

Agree about the electrical protection. Note that most surge suppressors (power strip type) are too slow to protect from lightning-induced spikes, and are only good for a year or so before the diodes become useless. Replace them often if you rely on them to protect your electronics.
 
Every RFI/EMI case is different in that it can be radiated or conducted emissions.
Conducted emissions are in some ways easier to counter as line filters and/or ferrite clamps normally get it under control.
RFI is very different and can be difficult to identify as our customers of sensitive electronic test equipment can testify to.
Even a cheap or faulty SMPS wallwart nearby can emit all manner of garbage corrupting sensitive measurements where on several occasions customers have thought their new device was faulty only later to be guided by our insistence that some other device nearby is actually the problem.

Problem is how does one test for it ?
At one time a AM radio was a good tool to find a misbehaving appliance however SMPS typically operate in the 20-30 kHz range, too high for us to identify without specialized equipment.

Usually just turning off each device in turn will identify the culprit.
 
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