DAMAGE FROM HARMONIC DISTORTION
This is an all new and before now, unknown problem. As I work with engineers everywhere they all say the same thing: “I’ve heard and read about this somewhat but really don’t know anything much about it.” This is nothing to be ashamed of. Even now, EE’s coming fresh out of the colleges are not well versed in the subject at all. So for the rest of us older guys, the very subject matter is what we can pick up around the block.
So, having said that, here is what is going on. This Harmonic Distortion thing is big. It is bigger than we knew about years ago and it is getting worse. That is a fact. There are all kinds of stuff about where it comes from: Lighting ballasts, relays, electronic power supplies, switch gear and anything else that cuts up the sine wave or leaves part of it un-used. This problem also explains why our ground wires are handling current that is so much higher than it ever used to be. But that is still not where all the damage and loss is felt. I will get right to the point. Believe it or not, the main cause of the following problems is directly because of Harmonic Distortion. The list may surprise you.
* Hot motors * Lost Motor Starters
* Loss of motor torque * Printers that distort
* Over heated transformers * Electronics failure
* Burned out electronic components * X-Ray machines that fail
* Pitted contactors of every kind * Failing and burned out coils
* Computer lockup & lost or compromised data * Howling lighting ballasts
* Noisy fluorescent ballasts * Burned out motor windings
* Locked up computers & data errors. * Radio and TV interference
* Hospital equipment burnouts and inaccuracy * Generator failures
I have been an engineer now for almost 40 years and I never heard about this stuff until the last ten years. And I certainly did not understand or believe the stories about all this at first. Maybe you are the same. Well, let me tell you it is all true. Knock off just half a volt of Distortion in the 90 KHz and up range and you don’t need fans anymore for electronic devices. Remember those big heat sinks in the back of power amps? I always assumed that power transistors naturally put out heat so they were necessary. Not so. Eliminate the higher frequencies and transistors and diodes put out no heat at all. I know that is hard to believe but it is the truth. This is no theory anymore but well tested and confirmed fact.
How much do we spend rewinding motors? Almost a third of a new one give or take, right? Well, the resonant frequencies of acrylics, mylars, vinyls, rubbers, & polymers are all in the 65 KHz to 80 KHz range. The very presence of those frequencies in the circuit will poke small holes in the insulation. Transformers, motors, coils and everything else with thin insulation will burn out in time. Do X-ray machines sometimes act up or fail?
We quit using power capacitors about 20 years ago because we all thought that they were not well made anymore. Remember how we wished we could get our hands on those old caps? They lasted longer, remember? Well that was not the problem. What was going on is that Harmonic Distortion in the medium high ranges was growing. The Mylar insulation inside the capacitors was being chewed up by our newly made power waste. Every printer, computer, monitor, telephone power supply, and lighting ballast is throwing more and more medium and high frequency into our lines. The result is more and more failure of our equipment. And an interesting fact is that the components which create this distorted power are the most affected and/or damaged by it.
The resonant frequency of iron is in the 47 KHz range. Without even being on, bring that frequency near to anything steel or iron and we can make it hot. It is just like putting anything made of water in a microwave oven designed to heat water. This is the same principle. The resonant frequency for water can make water hot. The resonant frequency for Iron will make Iron hot. The resonant frequency for plastic will melt it. All of that is relevant. Everything has a resonating frequency. Find power in that resonating frequency and it will be warm, or hot, or even already burned up.
But it has all come upon us so gradually that we have not noticed the change. We are literally believing that what we buy now is not made as well as the old stuff was, because it does not last as long. Look at log maintenance books two decades back or further. You are in for a shock. The whole state of our electronic world has declined so gradually that we really think it is normal. Whole generations of electricians and tech people have changed and moved on leaving behind people who think all this heat and failure has always been this way. The real truth is that it hasn’t been, and doesn’t need to be now.
Be honest. What would you think if somebody put a device on a panel and then all the transformers, motors, computers and lighting ballasts suddenly cooled off? All the computer fans could all be shut off! No more motor failures. No more over heated transformers – large or small. No more need for heavy air conditioning in the server rooms or electronic stacks! No more coil or contactor failures. Wouldn’t that be something? When was the last time you had to replace a howling ballast in a high pressure light? What if that problem suddenly went away?
I have seen it happen and there are good solutions. I am not throwing smoke about this.
Well, what I have told you is totally true. It is. Contact me if you want to know more. And if not, at least look it up for yourself. There is very limited information because it is so new, but because it is real, more and more is being written about it. The U.S. military has had a huge wake up call about this subject. Talk is cheap. A phone call will cost you nothing but a little time.
John Jackman, Electrical Engineer
4115 Olympic Way
Salt Lake City, Utah 84124
phone 801-272-1948
fax 801-272-2152
This is an all new and before now, unknown problem. As I work with engineers everywhere they all say the same thing: “I’ve heard and read about this somewhat but really don’t know anything much about it.” This is nothing to be ashamed of. Even now, EE’s coming fresh out of the colleges are not well versed in the subject at all. So for the rest of us older guys, the very subject matter is what we can pick up around the block.
So, having said that, here is what is going on. This Harmonic Distortion thing is big. It is bigger than we knew about years ago and it is getting worse. That is a fact. There are all kinds of stuff about where it comes from: Lighting ballasts, relays, electronic power supplies, switch gear and anything else that cuts up the sine wave or leaves part of it un-used. This problem also explains why our ground wires are handling current that is so much higher than it ever used to be. But that is still not where all the damage and loss is felt. I will get right to the point. Believe it or not, the main cause of the following problems is directly because of Harmonic Distortion. The list may surprise you.
* Hot motors * Lost Motor Starters
* Loss of motor torque * Printers that distort
* Over heated transformers * Electronics failure
* Burned out electronic components * X-Ray machines that fail
* Pitted contactors of every kind * Failing and burned out coils
* Computer lockup & lost or compromised data * Howling lighting ballasts
* Noisy fluorescent ballasts * Burned out motor windings
* Locked up computers & data errors. * Radio and TV interference
* Hospital equipment burnouts and inaccuracy * Generator failures
I have been an engineer now for almost 40 years and I never heard about this stuff until the last ten years. And I certainly did not understand or believe the stories about all this at first. Maybe you are the same. Well, let me tell you it is all true. Knock off just half a volt of Distortion in the 90 KHz and up range and you don’t need fans anymore for electronic devices. Remember those big heat sinks in the back of power amps? I always assumed that power transistors naturally put out heat so they were necessary. Not so. Eliminate the higher frequencies and transistors and diodes put out no heat at all. I know that is hard to believe but it is the truth. This is no theory anymore but well tested and confirmed fact.
How much do we spend rewinding motors? Almost a third of a new one give or take, right? Well, the resonant frequencies of acrylics, mylars, vinyls, rubbers, & polymers are all in the 65 KHz to 80 KHz range. The very presence of those frequencies in the circuit will poke small holes in the insulation. Transformers, motors, coils and everything else with thin insulation will burn out in time. Do X-ray machines sometimes act up or fail?
We quit using power capacitors about 20 years ago because we all thought that they were not well made anymore. Remember how we wished we could get our hands on those old caps? They lasted longer, remember? Well that was not the problem. What was going on is that Harmonic Distortion in the medium high ranges was growing. The Mylar insulation inside the capacitors was being chewed up by our newly made power waste. Every printer, computer, monitor, telephone power supply, and lighting ballast is throwing more and more medium and high frequency into our lines. The result is more and more failure of our equipment. And an interesting fact is that the components which create this distorted power are the most affected and/or damaged by it.
The resonant frequency of iron is in the 47 KHz range. Without even being on, bring that frequency near to anything steel or iron and we can make it hot. It is just like putting anything made of water in a microwave oven designed to heat water. This is the same principle. The resonant frequency for water can make water hot. The resonant frequency for Iron will make Iron hot. The resonant frequency for plastic will melt it. All of that is relevant. Everything has a resonating frequency. Find power in that resonating frequency and it will be warm, or hot, or even already burned up.
But it has all come upon us so gradually that we have not noticed the change. We are literally believing that what we buy now is not made as well as the old stuff was, because it does not last as long. Look at log maintenance books two decades back or further. You are in for a shock. The whole state of our electronic world has declined so gradually that we really think it is normal. Whole generations of electricians and tech people have changed and moved on leaving behind people who think all this heat and failure has always been this way. The real truth is that it hasn’t been, and doesn’t need to be now.
Be honest. What would you think if somebody put a device on a panel and then all the transformers, motors, computers and lighting ballasts suddenly cooled off? All the computer fans could all be shut off! No more motor failures. No more over heated transformers – large or small. No more need for heavy air conditioning in the server rooms or electronic stacks! No more coil or contactor failures. Wouldn’t that be something? When was the last time you had to replace a howling ballast in a high pressure light? What if that problem suddenly went away?
I have seen it happen and there are good solutions. I am not throwing smoke about this.
Well, what I have told you is totally true. It is. Contact me if you want to know more. And if not, at least look it up for yourself. There is very limited information because it is so new, but because it is real, more and more is being written about it. The U.S. military has had a huge wake up call about this subject. Talk is cheap. A phone call will cost you nothing but a little time.
John Jackman, Electrical Engineer
4115 Olympic Way
Salt Lake City, Utah 84124
phone 801-272-1948
fax 801-272-2152