EMF from fish tank interferes with my computer monitor

[Anonymous]

I rearranged my office and put my 10 gal nano next to my SGI sony trinatron monitor and noticed that it makes the screen quiver. If I turn off the pumps (not the lights) the problem goes away. So I am faced with moving the thing, but I wondered if this is a general problem and how far is far enough to avoid long-term damage? I fuzzed a monitor before from a stereo speaker.

 

[Marcosreef]

The magnetic field (inductance) from the pumps is not as strong as a speaker magnet. If you keep the nano far enough away so that the screen stabilizes, that's all you need. (Powering off the monitor and on again should activate the degaussing system and take care of the psychadelic rainbow colors on the screen, if any).

 

[danmhippo]

Have you tried to find a sheet of metal (copper?) and place it between the tank and the monitor, see if the problem will go away? If yes, you can find a better looking metal for this purpose. (picture frame, artifact, statue, etc.)

usually, placing the two devices apart (rearrange) will do the trick fine. It look like your monitor is not made recently (in the past 2-3 years) and is lacking the internal shielding.

 

[maroon clown]

how far away should the speaker be from the monitor? i have my stereo speaker above my monitor on my desk and the screen was shaking for a while.. then it just went away after a few days... its a monitor made within 2 years so it should have the sheilding i assume

 

[danmhippo]

Depends. Depending on the wattage and the craftmanship of the monitor and speakers. One way to test if your monitor has shield built in is call your own cell phone number and hold the cell phone against the monitor. The unprotected monitor will shake like crazy......like mine.

 

[Marcosreef]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by maroon clown:
<strong>how far away should the speaker be from the monitor? i have my stereo speaker above my monitor on my desk and the screen was shaking for a while.. then it just went away after a few days... its a monitor made within 2 years so it should have the sheilding i assume</strong><hr></blockquote>

As long as you don't see any distortion, you're fine. As far as sheilding, no monitor is 100% shielded.

[ February 21, 2002: Message edited by: Marcosreef ]</p>

 

[kristofer1]

good way to test distortion.... creat an image with a white background. draw hoazontal lines across the image. make it so the lines are close enough togeather to see distortion, but to close and you get an optical illusion. then make the image your desk top. then if the lines do a funky bend toward any electric equipment its to close. I did this to 5 moniters at work, we had our speakers to close that the image and color was just a little distorted. With the withe back ground black lines ou will see the rainbow effect as well

cheers

 

[Anonymous]

I decided it was easier to move the tank than to construct an unsightly Faraday cage. So I did. But thanks all for the advice. It is amazing what a couple of little pumps can do.