What's the best way to ground a Jackery Explorer 2000 Pro power bank ?

[Budgie_42]

Hello.

We have a Jackery Explorer 2000 Pro power bank. It has 2 x AC outlets. When it's switched on, it creates a lot of electrical interference with wireless devices, such as DAB radios ...etc, no matter where they are in the house. It knocks them out and they can't get a signal. There doesn't have to be anything plugged in to the power bank for it to create this interference.

I suspect that grounding the power bank would solve the problem, but what would be the best way to do this please?

 

[Dan]

Had to look that up it's a beast!

https://amzn.to/3WTppif

It's portable and built solid by the looks of it else I was going to suggest hanging wire from a bolt or something and tie the other end on something nearby that's metal (perhaps metal gate or something that's fixed in the ground).

Do you know if it's a common problem with them in general? I'd guess they all do it a bit.

Another option is to earth the dab radio somehow? Is that in a vehicle?

(I'm not an electrician by any stretch I just make the forum tea when asked)

 

[Budgie_42]

Hi Dan, and thanks for responding.


Yes, these power banks are really good devices and very handy to have, but the electrical noise from ours is hopping onto the mains wiring and causing reception issues with wireless gadgets in other parts of the house.


We have the power bank in the house to use when we get a power cut and we're aiming towards going off-grid eventually. We just need to find a means to power the washing machine!


When searching for answers to the noise problem, I've found that it's quite common with these power banks. I read on a Facebook forum that someone was having similar problems:

“Hey all! I have a Jackery 1000 Plus battery inverter portable power station and when I plug in a Fender tube guitar amp, I get a lot of noise from the speaker - before even plugging in the guitar etc.


Any tips for reducing noise? Maybe there's a way to bond/ground the system by driving a stake into the earth? The Jackery doesn't have a case ground or bonding point like generators do : ( Or maybe its inverter noise and a power conditioner of some sort could help?”

This guy didn't appear to find a solution to his guitar amp problem.

 

[Simon47]

I'm not surprised.
I'm assuming it's a high frequency inverter - an easy way to get close to a sine wave and avoid having a massive (heavy) transformer but they create massive amounts of noise.
A square wave is rich in harmonics, extending a long way up the spectrum. So these harmonics can easily cause interference with most things. Good filtering and screening can significantly reduce the emissions, but I suspect many manufacturers don't want to put in the investment, so the filtering and screening is "poor". So you get something that causes problems with all sorts of things.

I note they claim UKCA & CE compliance - but if it's radiating the amount of hash it sounds like it does, it's hard to see how it meets the standards.

 

[Dan]

Hey i wonder if it was in a metal vented box, whether Faraday effect would kick in and stop signals leaving the box.

I'm an outside of the box thinker usually and find ideas pretty quick.

Was hard for me to look inside the box this time. But I managed. You know me and my fear of cardboard.

 

[Sparkgap]

CE just means China Export! I suppose you could put the whole thing inside a Faraday cage (earthed metal box), then stick a ton of filters and capacitors on the outlets to reduce any harmonics from the inverter getting out through the wiring. Sounds like a lot of hassle for minimal results!

 

[Budgie_42]

Thanks guys. It looks like I'll have to find a metal box, or a cage to put it in.

It has two socket outlets, so if we're using one of them for a 4-gang extension cable, I wonder if we could insert a 3-pin plug into the other socket with only the earth pin wired up to a rod in the ground. Might that work?

We're currently waiting for a reply from the manufacturer (Jackery) to see what they suggest.

I can't believe the amount of noise it produces. I half-expected it actually, because of the inverter, but I didn't think it would be this bad. I suspect that this level of noise would be enough to potentially interfere with pace-makers!

 

[brianmoooore]

If it's radiated interference, then moving it as far away as possible would help. If it's interference coming along the wires, then filters will help.

 

[newfutile]

wiring up the earth will do very little if anything as i doubt any of the live(s) will be referenced to earth making it a neutral.
also because of this you should be wary about having many devices connected to it, especially if class 1 (metal) and within simultaneous touchable distance.
maybe the manufacturer can advise on earthing 1 live to become a neutral and also the earth pin at the same place.

 

[Budgie_42]

Thanks for that.

We've just received a reply from Jackery, but it appears that they didn't understand our query:

Thank you for contacting Jackey,

I would like to inform you that our Jackery products, such as solar panels and solar generator are not resistant to EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) interference.

If an individual wish to safeguard their belongings from EMP, they may wish to consider utilizing EMP protective cases, typically available for purchase on Amazon.

Currently, we do not provide such cases.

If you have any more questions, please let me know. I am here to help.

 

[Budgie_42]

... you should be wary about having many devices connected to it, especially if class 1 (metal) and within simultaneous touchable distance.

Please could you explain the above a bit more?

The Jackery is currently in the kitchen. There's a 5 metre, 6-socket extension cable coming from it, which goes through a hole in the wall into another room. There's a desktop pc and a internet router plugged into the extension cable in this other room.

I realise there's such a thing as an 'earth island', so I'm wary of this, despite knowing very little about such a scenario. All I know is that it can be very dangerous.