Let’s get our average lifespan a little higher.
Whether these are shielded products in general, or if these are filtering systems, surge suppressors, or “Rugged,” Cables, Lights, dehumidifiers, Humidifiers, A/C systems, Glass Shielding, Shielded Ceiling Panels, Paint, Wall panelling, Shielded Computers, etc.
Whatever you have, throw it into the Thread, and please attempt to minimize suggestion based on personal affiliations
Whether that is Mil-Std-461G Compliant, MIL-STD-1412, MIL STD 1275, TEMPEST, or, not tested to meet the specifications of a particular certification system
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Bussmann-Eaton/BSPH31200YPV?qs=z8VqzZ%252B0FRMfe4S2ZUiNZg%3D%3D
What frequencies (aka 1/wavelengths) are you most concerned about?
https://www.designnews.com/design-decisions-what-designers-need-know-about-emi-shielding
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Difficult to say. Unregulated is one area of concern, another is the delta amplitude of various others, which an individual should seek out a RTSA or Microwave Analyzer in order to be capable of recording and handling scientifically
After determining what frequency or ranges are of concern, you need to know what power level is of concern. Equipment exists to quantify all of this. On the other hand you could take the shielding or faraday cage approach.
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See I always thought that the rf and emi are only of concern if they have enough energy to be ionizing. Would you care to share why non ionizing radiation would be of concern?
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It’s not necessarily the non-ionizing or ionizing radiation to be worried about when setting up this way, but if scientifically recorded and documented, this mindset will help. Look at the possible Negative externalities of modern systems, the methods of preventing unwanted illegal surveillance (also during large-scale growth operations -think internationally) which can conclude in professional theft, the methods to prevent equipment damage and the methods to eliminate those potential unknowns, understanding potentials contibuting to voltage microsurges, ad more harmful particles to the biological organism, be that the less understood polaritons, solitons, or something novel such as surface optical rectification. Also, typically at setup, your EEF’s (enterprise environmental factors), are not going to be the same as during operations (be that grid draw versus balance over the first few months - voltage microsurges changing with the power company’s adjustment to grid allocations changing, and all other possibilities resulting in equipment failure, which can possibly result in minor or catastrophic damages). Keep in mind prevention, similar to that IPM, is an area of concern for those seeking to build a longterm investment, not only a room with lights that can grow plants. Obviously this will be much more expensive of a mindset, but when there have been ballasts and bulbs that when failed caused tens of millions of dollars in damages, this mindset is extremely important
Seems like you are casting a broad net and being very general. You mention optical rectification and voltage microsurges. So optical rectification relatively speaking would be very high frequency (short wavelength). Voltage microsurges related to power distribution is not a term we typically use as Electrical Engineers. Anyway I will assume you mean power quality which can be harmonics, transients, over or under voltage conditions (sag/swell). Some transients and harmonics can be high frequency but most are lower frequency. Other power quality issues like sags and swells are super low frequency, 50-60 hz and it’s harmonics.
To me it’s little things that make the biggest difference in facility power distribution reliability. Beyond NEC grounding and bonding practices, tvss (transient voltage surge suppression) copper only, bolt on breaker panels at min, no multiwire branch circuits (neutral harmonics concern), 12 awg min wire size, I-grid power monitor, yearly IR thermography…
Is proper facility design and maintenance important, yes. Do most people care, No not until a catastrophic event…
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These types of EEF’s will typically alter the shelf life of the equipment; ballasts, the fan motors, etc, and this type of thing really adds up. If you saw how EMI destroyed humidifiers on the block a few years back, you would understand. A few dozen legal grows came back with water damage and failed their routine testing after a couple of these EMI events.
Also, check out the Graham Stetzer voltage microsurge meter (no affiliation) and again, while this isn’t looking at dBm, or dbuv, or EMI line noise, it is still a great indicator of dirty power supply which can be eliminated with the correct traps, filters, and with the correct precautions
I designed, built, and, operate a 600 1kW flower light facility. No EMI filters or anything else you mention. I do utilize I-grid power monitoring and correlation. Not once have I had a ballast or piece of equipment fail without a transient being picked up with the power monitoring system. Out of the 600 ballasts and three years operation less than 6 have failed. I have worked with facilities that have pallets of dead ballasts because of harmonics, multiwire branch circuits, and no TVSS.
You can add “traps and filters” all you want and I will be over here designing, building, and specifying components that do not need “traps and filters” to operate safely for a long time.
Don’t misunderstand me, as an Electrical Engineer we spend a lot of time and effort dealing with EMI in certain applications. Grow facilities that are properly designed and built are not the worst EMI offenders out there.
I would love to see evidence of “normal” electromagnetic fields or EMI damaging ballasts, motors, and/or dehumidifiers. If you find that evidence I am going to claim that those ballasts, motors, and dehumidifiers were improperly designed. For example if the EMI from my properly functioning wireless mouse damages a lighting ballast, the lighting ballast IMO is at fault for being designed with an ultra sensitivity to 2.4 GHz.
We live in a noisy world, electromagnetically speaking. Even without modern tech the sun, stars, and even the big bang made lots of “it”.
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A lot of this is also dependent on the state, the power supply, and the zoning of the grid quadrant. I prefer qboard and cobs, and leds perform better when factoring in EMI and Voltage microsurges. In my opinion, the integration of phase line noise traps is a must when building dedicated spaces (simple to sophisticated systems exist), and without them, or general line conditioners, the LED’s output data literally shows the issues due to volatile EMI levels if tracking and comparing both in real time, amongst other concerns which likely aren’t always pressing, but can add up to long-term losses if not addressed in a poke yoke fashion
LED and HID (HPS, MH, CMH…) lighting utilize pulse width modulation based power supply circuitry that can be very (EMI) noisy. You minimize EMI by properly designing the circuitry to be low EMI.
I tested the HID ballast and LED power supply with my power quality o-scope before purchasing hundreds of each. Don’t do it the other way where you purchase equipment then have to install “traps and filters” to address harmonic issues the poorly designed equipment causes.
I will only state that my equipment is of the highest quality, but that the power supply overall, at least when I was growing in CO, is not the cleanest.