Is this radio interference superficial or damaging?

17 years ago

Hi, I'm new to this forum, though I've posted at GW in times past.

I have what I think is a simple question... for someone that knows about electronics (not me).

I have a radio and a humidifier-gadget, love them both. The photo shows them, with the plugged-in radio 'off' and the plugged-in humidifier 'on.'

The humidifier causes interference to the radio if both are ON -- static, weakened signal. I've tried moving the humidifier to different spots, but it seems to cause a degree of interference wherever it is (unless it's out in another room).

Our house is old but we did update and had the wiring inspected. That's not to say we are very modernized, though. The interference MAY be due to circuitry, but I know there are at least a few different types of radio interference (because I tried to find an answer by googling...!).

My question of the day IS:

If I leave things as they are (because I want them both where they are) but just don't run them at the same time, will my radio get damaged just by existing, plugged-in, near the humidifier? My guess is 'no,' that it's just an annoying interference but not damaging.

Thanks to anyone who can help me with this one.

Here is a link that might be useful:

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Comments (6)

jdbillp
17 years ago
That interference/static could only hurt your radio IF you crank it up so loud that the static damages the speaker. I doubt you would do that.

However, the moisture put out by the humidifier could cause corrosion on the radio's circuitry. You may want to separate them for that reason.

Nice radio, BTW.
bellowbelle
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks so much!

Yeah, I love the radio... and I got it with a rebate for 1/2 the price, which was nice.

As for the humidifier, the Aroma-Sonic puts out such a fine mist that it doesn't even dampen a piece of paper left for hours in the path of the mist -- I tried it. And it's so very dry here in my house, at least now in the wintertime.
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davidandkasie
17 years ago
try runnign an extesion cord to an outlet that is on a different breaker in another room and plug either of them into it. if the noise goes away, it is jsut electrical hum caused by teh motor in teh humidifier and simply putting it on a different circuit will solve the issue. if the noise stays teh same, then it is RFI and only moving them apart will solve it.

in either case, neither is a more than an annoyance.
bellowbelle
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks again... I'll give that a try.

It'll be a few days before I can remember where I put the extension cord I need. We just got our power back after a 4-day outage due to the ice storm here in Massachusetts. My house needed sorting out before the storm, and now it REALLY needs it!
pjb999
17 years ago
Keep the two separated but a word to the wise: Ultrasonic humidifiers are cool, but unless you use distilled/demineralised water, you will get a fine mineral dust deposited on everything and it can damage some items. When water evaporates naturally, it leaves the minerals behind in the vessel, but when it's atomised ultrasonically, it makes the minerals go with it, so they float around in the air.
bellowbelle
Original Author
17 years ago
Aha, I wondered why there's never any of the chalky white powder left stuck on the humidifier, like there after using the evaporative types.

I have usually used twice-filtered water, though lately I've used bottled water that's usually also been boiled in the teakettle.

I just bought some distilled water today, though, since reading your post, pjb999. Thanks for the information.

I would possibly get more overall room humidity by using the traditional humdifiers, but I got so tired of trying to keep them clean (I was using about 5 at a time, in different rooms). I have issues with my hands being in kinda bad shape and so it's one less career I need, scraping humidifiers... !