Ghostrider75
New Member
Greetings.
I am soliciting help on solving a rather perculiar issue. I built my home in 2011. I had a professional install the Franklin Subdrive 75. Over the years, I experienced frequent dropouts in my Internet. What does Internet dropouts have anything to do with plumbing, you ask!? Well, after many service calls put into my Internet Service Provider (Bell Canada) and various experiments, I determined that the subdrive is causing my DSL Internet to dropout when the subdrive is engaged.
The epiphany happened one night when my wife and I were watching a movie on Netflix. Part-way through the film, my wife went to the washroom and flushed the toilet thereby engaging the subdrive. The Internet dropped out and the router needed to reestablish its connection to the ISP. This happens nearly everytime we run the water. I can't make this up!
I did some online searches for this issue and have only found some tips on diagnosing the issue. This article helped to determine if there was interference coming from the subdrive. I used an am radio and scanned various frequencies while the subdrive was not in operation. I then ran my water and repeated the scan on the radio. I immediately located a frequency where loud "grinding" or "growling" sound was being broadcast. I turned off the water and the noise would stop as soon as the subdrive stopped. I walked 100 feet from my home and could still hear the noise on the am radio.
Here are some of the considerations/actions I have already taken to resolve the issue:
I am soliciting help on solving a rather perculiar issue. I built my home in 2011. I had a professional install the Franklin Subdrive 75. Over the years, I experienced frequent dropouts in my Internet. What does Internet dropouts have anything to do with plumbing, you ask!? Well, after many service calls put into my Internet Service Provider (Bell Canada) and various experiments, I determined that the subdrive is causing my DSL Internet to dropout when the subdrive is engaged.
The epiphany happened one night when my wife and I were watching a movie on Netflix. Part-way through the film, my wife went to the washroom and flushed the toilet thereby engaging the subdrive. The Internet dropped out and the router needed to reestablish its connection to the ISP. This happens nearly everytime we run the water. I can't make this up!
I did some online searches for this issue and have only found some tips on diagnosing the issue. This article helped to determine if there was interference coming from the subdrive. I used an am radio and scanned various frequencies while the subdrive was not in operation. I then ran my water and repeated the scan on the radio. I immediately located a frequency where loud "grinding" or "growling" sound was being broadcast. I turned off the water and the noise would stop as soon as the subdrive stopped. I walked 100 feet from my home and could still hear the noise on the am radio.
Here are some of the considerations/actions I have already taken to resolve the issue:
- I moved the router away from the subdrive.
- I disconnected the router from my house electrical supply and plugged it to an inverter powered by a 12V battery. Did not resolve the issue.
- From what I can tell, there are no error codes indicated on the subdrive.
- The device was installed by a professional well company.
- I have re-grounded the house a number of times. That said, it appears that this may be part of the issue as, when it is wet outside (i.e. the ground is wet), the number of Internet dropoffs is reduced.
- I put a call into my supplier/well company to explain the issue. I have already installed the capacitor on the electrical box that they recommended, but still having the issue.
- No other issues have ever been reported to my well company about this issue. They are as curious as I am on what is causing the problem.
- The Franklin engineer has been dispatched by my well company, but he will come to the house only after the pandemic is over. That said, both my wife and I work from home - we are currently coordinating the times when we can flush/run water.
