Unknown blue thing

[JEuriech]

What is this blue thing on the dryer 30 amp breaker and what is it supposed to be used for? None of the other breakers had one.

Thanks,

Jeff Euriech

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[Jim Katen]

It's a phase coupler.

Someone is (or was) using the household wiring to carry signals. Perhaps an X-10 system or something similar.

We've discussed them before here:

https://www.inspectorsjournal.com/forum ... IC_ID=9304

Here's a picture of one that I just found:

http://www.ubbcentral.com/store/item/x1 ... 08413.html

[JEuriech]

Thanks Jim.... Good information.

Jeff

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[Marc]

It's a capacitor used to allow signals injected into one 120 supply to reach destinations on the other 120v supply. The coils in the thermal/magnetic breakers are an obstruction to those signals, so that little capacitor bypasses them. Installation on any two-pole breaker would work.

Marc

[John Kogel]

More specifically, the green one is a 650 volt 100K mfd capacitor.

Also the guy on Jim's site says don't put it on a dryer breaker as it may heat up from surge at startup. It can actually go across any two adjacent breakers.

Howdy, Marc. Ya beat me to it.

[kurt]

This has me remembering X10 systems....possibly the buggiest and goofiest early attempt at control system wiring.

[Marc]

More specifically, the green one is a 650 volt 100K mfd capacitor.

Also the guy on Jim's site says don't put it on a dryer breaker as it may heat up from surge at startup. It can actually go across any two adjacent breakers.

Howdy, Marc. Ya beat me to it.

A capacitor with a voltage rating that high and that much capacitance would be at least ten times larger than that little thing.

I don't know what it's capacitance actually is.

Marc

[Chad Fabry]

I looked up a schematic for this yesterday. I didn't recognize the phase coupler as just a capacitor and I was curious what else was included in the small package. For those interested but not interested enough to click the link, 0.1 uF is the capacitor size listed. For an explanation including the math, http://www.laureanno.com/Coupler-and-Blockers.html

[Chad Fabry]

This has me remembering X10 systems....possibly the buggiest and goofiest early attempt at control system wiring.

I just inspected a millennial mansion with X10. Double click to turn the lights on, then tap, tap, tap to raise the intensity. Then reverse the process to turn them off. It added an hour to my already long day inspecting a house with 20 rooms.

[Marc]

I looked up a schematic for this yesterday. I didn't recognize the phase coupler as just a capacitor and I was curious what else was included in the small package. For those interested but not interested enough to click the link, 0.1 uF is the capacitor size listed. For an explanation including the math, http://www.laureanno.com/Coupler-and-Blockers.html

That design combines a coil with the 'blue thing' to increase the signal carried from one 120V source to the other. The values for each component needs to be exact as the combo in this configuration creates a circuit that resonates at the X-10 frequencies. Its like a warp tunnel.[]

If the capacitor didn't work well enough, I'd use this design. It's very simply to make.

Good find, Chad.

Marc

[John Kogel]

More specifically, the green one is a 650 volt 100K mfd capacitor.

Also the guy on Jim's site says don't put it on a dryer breaker as it may heat up from surge at startup. It can actually go across any two adjacent breakers.

Howdy, Marc. Ya beat me to it.

A capacitor with a voltage rating that high and that much capacitance would be at least ten times larger than that little thing.

I don't know what it's capacitance actually is.

Marc

You are right, I tried to read the label and got a bunch of zeros misplaced. The voltage rating is 650 v, the capacitance could be 0.1 mfd.

Thanks Chad, for the link. They improve the design with the coils so it blocks noise, where the capacitor alone just acts as a jumper at that frequency, so the X-10 signal can pass, I think. Its a notch filter but I'm not sure if it is blocking that frequency or letting only that frequency pass. ??

[Marc]

More specifically, the green one is a 650 volt 100K mfd capacitor.

Also the guy on Jim's site says don't put it on a dryer breaker as it may heat up from surge at startup. It can actually go across any two adjacent breakers.

Howdy, Marc. Ya beat me to it.

A capacitor with a voltage rating that high and that much capacitance would be at least ten times larger than that little thing.

I don't know what it's capacitance actually is.

Marc

You are right, I tried to read the label and got a bunch of zeros misplaced. The voltage rating is 650 v, the capacitance could be 0.1 mfd.

Thanks Chad, for the link. They improve the design with the coils so it blocks noise, where the capacitor alone just acts as a jumper at that frequency, so the X-10 signal can pass, I think. Its a notch filter but I'm not sure if it is blocking that frequency or letting only that frequency pass. ??

Series resonant circuits facilitate the transmission of frequencies at or near the resonant frequency of the circuit.

Parallel resonant circuits attenuate the transmission of frequencies at or near the resonant frequency of the circuit.

The design in question is a series resonant circuit.

Marc

[Jerry Simon]

Series resonant circuits facilitate the transmission of frequencies at or near the resonant frequency of the circuit.

Parallel resonant circuits attenuate the transmission of frequencies at or near the resonant frequency of the circuit.

The design in question is a series resonant circuit.

That kind of goes without saying. . .

[Marc]

Series resonant circuits facilitate the transmission of frequencies at or near the resonant frequency of the circuit.

Parallel resonant circuits attenuate the transmission of frequencies at or near the resonant frequency of the circuit.

The design in question is a series resonant circuit.

That kind of goes without saying. . .

For you. Not for all.

Marc

[kurt]

I'm glad we cleared that up.