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Tue 3 Mar, 2015 10:24 am
Smart meters emit switched mode power supply noise into the power lines at frequencies between 5 kHz and 150 kHz. I want to filter this out as it appears my friend has electrosensitivity symptoms. Nobody seems to be marketing such filters, and in general nobody tries to filter out power line noise at frequencies below 150 kHz, right where I need it. Do you know of any? If not:
I have worked up a design using LC filters in the mains feed out at the meter, some 100 feet from the house. It must handle the entire feed, 200 amps.
It uses two stage LC filters on each leg. Each stage has a 6 uH coil (rather large, made with 2/0 guage wire) and a capacitor in the 100 to 200 uF range, followed by a much smaller coil and cap to trap multi MHz noise. The large coil is limited in inductance to limit voltage drop at 60 Hz, but still be effective beginning at 5 kHz. This forces the use of the large caps to filter effectively at 5 kHz.
Is this safe to use on the mains, or will such large capacitors cause trouble? They are connected both between the two hot legs and from the hot legs to ground, well before any neutral wiring which begins inside, in the breaker box. But my reading on in-house filtering suggests that they may pose a shock hazard by shunting current (a few amps) directly into the ground, which may be one reason such filters are not available (even a homebrew version will cost hundreds, which is probably another). Would they also upset the line's power factor, doing such things as altering metering accuracy?
Any thoughts?