No Signal When A/c Kicks On!! Help!!!

[JHAT76]

The signal cuts out when anything in the kitchen is started or the A/C kicks in. DirecTV says it could be faulty ground wire. Any suggestions? DirecTV won't be out for another week. What can I do?

 

[charper1]

Has it done that from day 1? Try running an extension cord to other wall outlets and see if it still does it; to determine if it is a whole house issue or limited to the circuit or just that outlet.

What on-screen messages do you get, if any.

It wouldn't hurt to call an electrician; you might have an even bigger issue you want to catch before its too late.

 

[Digital Dude]

Is there a way to plug the receiver into a different circuit? I ran into a similiar situation at a customers house, their bedroom flaked whenever the pump for their pool kicked on. I'd call an electrician, if you have multiple receivers then grounding isn't the problem, it's the load on the circuit.

 

[Jimbo]

Well they may be right, I would have an electrition look into it. Does the signal go out? or does the rec. reset, or power goes out on the rec ?

Trying to determine if it's just too much power being drawn when a lot of devices are running at the same time.

Are you using a surge protector ? How about a UPS ?
Do you have 100 amp service ?

Jimbo

 

[Mike500]

Sounds like a floating or a "bootleg" ground. This cause over or under voltage.

 

[Digital Dude]

and welcome to Satellite guys! Did you imagine you'd get 4 replys witnin 10 minutes?

 

[JHAT76]

let me try to answer questions

The only channels that go out are between about channel 280 - channel 325. I can get the rest of the channels. Or at least the ones I have in my guide. The message on the screen says seraching for signal (as if a storm was passing through). This has only been happening/noticed since about February. System is about 3 years old. We have only one receiver and it happens no matter which outlet I use. There is a cheap surge protector that is usually used with it

 

[charper1]

So with only one receiver, do you only have the one standard 18" dish, and does that have a single or dual output LNB?

Have you tried it without that surge protector?

Do you have access to another receiver to test; maybe a friend?

 

[Jimbo]

So with only one receiver, do you only have the one standard 18" dish, and does that have a single or dual output LNB?

Have you tried it without that surge protector?

Do you have access to another receiver to test; maybe a friend?

I'm kinda leaning to it being a grounding issue,
Let us know what you find out.

Jimbo

 

[JHAT76]

Tried without protector and it is the same. Standard 18" 2 LNB (we had 2 receivers but never use one since we had to turn that room into a nursery)

 

[charper1]

So that would be a 18" with a single LNB w/ dual output; 18" dishes do not come in a 2 LNB format that I remember. That would be the PhaseII (which can be upgraded) and of course the PhaseIII comes with the 3 LNB/multi-switch head built in. I too, will have to guess a bad ground, but would really hope you have a friend or neighbor that could lend your theirs for a 10 minute test to eliminate the receiver as an issue.

 

[leww37334]

consider spending $100 and buy a battery backup system, Costco has a good one. It will almost certainly fix the problem. I would also call out an electrician and have him check out your wiring to see if there is a more severe problem.

 

[thatleadtechnician]

what kind of box is it?

what i would do:

take 10ga ground wire out of ground block(if you have one) and see if that changes anything. if it fixes it, have electrician come out and look at ground on a/c. if that doesnt fix it...

i would try running the box on a different power circuit on opposite side of the house with an extension cord. if that fixes it, have electrician come out and check the circuitry inside the house(or on that circuit). if that doesnt fix it...

worst comes to worse, and this isnt some hsp thing, but I would rip the ground leg of the power cord off and see if that fixes it. good luck

 

[JHAT76]

Plugged box into upstairs outlet.......problem solved. Now I can just get over having that big extension cord running through my house, then no problem.

Someone I work with said it might need to replace the circuit in the box


Any other remedies?

 

[bhelms]

As others have said, it really sounds like you have a floating ground in the circuit that feeds the outlet where the receiver was originally plugged-in. A simple 120vac circuit tester can check that (it plugs-in, has neon lights in it to tell you if the ground is OK or whether the line and neutral are reversed). That will at least tell you the "health" of that circuit; it's cheap and reliable. I (and many others here) could go into a lot of detail as to how to trouble-shoot that whole circuit, but you seem somewhat uncertain about it so I suggest you get an electrician to do it for you, as others have said.

 

[Nebugeater]

Plugged box into upstairs outlet.......problem solved. Now I can just get over having that big extension cord running through my house, then no problem.

Someone I work with said it might need to replace the circuit in the box


Any other remedies?

Don't Run the AC !!!!

 

[colofan]

Too small of wire gauge so voltage is dropping too far for your unit. I would be concerned about it big time. Has the circuit breaker been changed by a previous owner?

Get a volt meter insert into the socket that you have the unit plug into and then turn on the A/C good odds are you will see a good size drop in voltage on the line...

I helped a buddy of my figure out why a piece of woodworking machinery would not work in the basement the previous owner had put in 14 guage wire about 50 feet from the panel and the drop in voltage did not allow the motor to start. Pulled 10 guage (I know overkill for 15 amp circuit) and everything worked fine after that.

 

[larsh74]

I also had this problem at my house. It eventually shorted out two PS2's. Whenever I turned on the microwave, dishwasher or the freezer fan turned on both my receivers would show a black picture until the appliance finished doing its thing. I tried replacing the cable, switch and LNB's but none of this corrected the problem. I eventually ran an extension chord from another outlet and have not had the problem ever since. Hope this helps!!!

 

[jhawk]

I had a similar problem in my basement. I would turn on a high wattage lamp and lose signal at my D* reciever. The problem was simply a bad connection on the nuetral at the electrical outlet the reciever was plugged into. The electrician that wired the house used the stab connector on the outlet instead of using the screw connector. The stab connectors are not always reliable for getting a good connection. I simply moved the nuetral connection on the outlet from the stab connector to the screw connector instead and haven't had a problem since. Now in this case the lamp and reciever were on the same circuit. You might try looking at the outlet the reciever is plugged into and make sure all the connections are good. Since I am sure your AC is on a separate circuit, this may or may not be the problem, but taking a few minutes to take the outlet apart and make sure the connections are good may do the trick (particularly since you can plug this reciever through and exttension cord to another outlet and the problem goes away).

 

[uboatcmdr]

Plugged box into upstairs outlet.......problem solved. Now I can just get over having that big extension cord running through my house, then no problem. QUOTE]

Have you got a GFI outlet on the same circuit? If so it could be wired wrong. Think back, about the time the problem started did you do any electrical work in the home? Or add a major appliance (for enstance a couple of years ago I installed a new over the range microwave and plugged it up to the same circuit as a window AC, everytime I turn on the microwave while the AC is on it trips the circuit)? Always try to put major appliances on their own circuits.