Slip On Ferrite Beads

2833412801 - Slip On Ferrite Beads
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Garage Door Opener RFI Kit, Low Freq (150 KHz-10 MHz) for AM Broadcast or High Freq (1-300 MHz) for Ham Radio or Commercial RFI

RFI-GDO-HF
$34.95
In stock
1
Product Details
Brand: Palomar Engineers
UPC: Does Not Apply
MPN: RFI-GDO-LF or RFI-GDO-HF
Type: New
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States

RFI-GDO Garage Door Opener RFI Kit

This RFI-GDO kit is specifically designed to cure most garage door opener systems triggered by Radio Frequency Interference problems. The kit contains ferrite ring toroids (“Donut” shaped ferrites) for the AC power supply protection and “Snap on” ferrite beads for door sensor (2) lines and one manual on/off opener switch.

The ferrites kits are selected to eliminate RFI from in one of two ranges, Either Low Frequency (150 KHZ-10 MHZ) and part# RFI-GDO-LF or High Frequency (1-300 MHZ) with part# RFI-GDO-HF. The ferrites are easy to use, don’t require modification of the protected equipment and work in almost all cases.


What causes RFI?

Strong signals from nearby amateur radio, CB, military, AM/FM and other “transmitters” (such as microwave ovens, cell phones, computers, wireless phones, HDTV systems, home automation systems/light dimmers, variable speed motors, etc) that are picked up by long wires (“antennas”) running through the house electric power wiring or device sensor wires. These “antennas” feed the interfering signals into garage door opener causing it to halt operation or act intermittently.Note: Some of the new Garage door controls use DC motors and a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) speed controller which can generate RFI into other electronics nearby. Use the RFI kits below to help suppress RECEIVED RFI and RFI TRANSMITTED by your garage door opener.

How to cure RFI

RFI can be stopped by suppressing the signal from the radio “transmitter” or suppressing the signal on the receiving “antenna” feeding the affected device or eliminating the RFI path between the source and victim devices. With the RFI-GDO kit, you run the wires entering the opener through ferrite cores right next to (or inside) the controller box. Ferrites do not affect the signals going through the wires but they resist the passage of common mode RFI keeping the RFI signals out of the opener and stopping the RFI from falsely triggering the opener. Some sensor lines may require multiple ferrite toroids to be most effective. Also the more turns around the toroid, the more effective the RFI filter.

Sometimes you may also have to change frequencies of your GDO to avoid interfering frequencies. Many Chamberland(Whisper Drive, etc)/Craftsman/Liftmaster GDO’s use 280-390 MHz or 315 MHz which may be be close to interfering transmitters. The RFI kit will help to suppress the interference common to all lines including AC and DC driven motors.LED lights or LED light dimmers interfering with Garage door opener: Some brands of LED bulb circuitry operates from 30 – 300 MHz and may cause RFI to the opener. Best bet is to try different LED light brands or remove LED lights from garage and surrounding area. (read: problem is not with the LED lights but the LED circuitry within the LED bulb)Wireless/wired Security Camera Systems can cause RFI - use the RFI-GDO kit to suppress AC induced RFI into the opener.


If the RFI is severe, you may also try placing an aluminum foil “tent” around the sides of the GDO (leaving the “front toward the door open so the antenna can still receive your remote signal).

What is included in the kit?

The RFI-GDO kit is meant to be used with an AC powered (possibly through an AC wall wart or inline dc power supply battery backup) alarm system with up to 3 input/output signal lines and a single power supply line coming into the device. Note: a standard 3 prong AC power plug will go thru the ring ferrite 3-4 times as the ring has an inner ID of 1.4"

TECH NOTE: We also stock RFI kits to protect effected devices such as garage door openers, computers (laptops, desktops), dsl/cable routers, ethernet hubs and many more devices. Remember there is always a “transmitter” and a “receiver” of RFI and the quest is to find and choke the “path” the RFI has selected – you need to add ferrites to both the transmitting side and the receiving side to eliminate RFI problems.

The RFI kits on this page only helps suppress RFI on the receiving side.Christmas lights or yard lights with switching DC power supplies are often the RFI source and a clamp on ferrite bead on the AC AND the DC side feeding the lights is needed to help suppress the switching power supply RFI noise. We have also had reported wireless HDTV boxes causing RFI to garage door remote openers.

Snap on ferrites on the power cord supply and/or switching the coax cable interfaces to CAT5 cable may also help solve the problem. Obvious Tech Note: make sure your remote batteries have enough energy to activate the GDO or the signal they transmit may not be large enough to over ride the RFI signal, but a fresh battery may be able to overcome the weak RFI source and allow the GDO to operate correctly.

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 Ferrite beads are used for RF decoupling and parasitic suppression. When placed over a wire, cable or coaxial cable they suppresses common mode current flowing on the wire or wire bundle or the outside of the coax shield but does not affect the signal inside the coax cable or wire (differential current).

For RFI common mode suppression use, mix 31 is effective from 1-300 Mhz, mix 43 works from 25-300 Mhz, Mix 61 is for 200-2000 Mhz, and mix 77 favors .1-50 MHz.  These frequencies are those of the interfering signal to be eliminated, not the operating frequencies of the equipment to be protected.  See Mix Selection for other applications.

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Bead dimensions are shown in the picture below and in the table as A, B, C

Core Sizes - Slip On Ferrite Beads

Ferrite Bead Dimensions

 

Application Note:  Use impedances for each bead at your desired frequency to select number of beads needed for desired Z.   For example if you have a 50 ohm RG-8 coax cable and want a choking impedance of 500 ohms at 10 Mhz, you can check the FB102 column (since FB102 will pass RG-8 through its center ID) at 10Mhz and find that Mix 31 has a Z of  108 ohms/bead and Mix 43 has a Z of 91 ohms/bead.  For 500 ohms we would need 5 mix 31 beads or 6 mix 43 beads to have greater than 500 ohms.  Mix 31 has better response below 10 Mhz but above 10 Mhz mix 31 and mix 43 are very close.  If you need more Z, just use more beads in series on the cable or use more windings thru a larger ID bead (e.g. USE FB102-31 for 4 turns of RG-8X for 16X increase in Z per bead – see pictures below for examples).  Use Mix 61 for VHF and above for RFI/EMI suppression and below 30 Mhz for multi-ratio impedance transformers (baluns/ununs).  See Mix Selection for other applications.

For extra large cables use the FB400-31 which has an inside diameter of 3 inches (76mm).

Frequency Range Comparison Chart

(FB56-xx size)

FB56 xx bead mix comparison - Slip On Ferrite Beads

Multi-turn Common Mode Choking Impedance Increase Example (FB56-43)

FB56 43 Turns Impedance Graph - Slip On Ferrite Beads

Ferrite Bead relative size comparison

FB56 FB102 FB103 Relative Sizes - Slip On Ferrite Beads

Left to right sizes: FB56 (ID = .25″), FB102 (ID=.505″), FB103 (ID=.77″)

Application note for using Slip On or Snap On ferrite beads for RFI/EMI suppression: How many chokes do I need?

SLIP ON Sizes for Heliax and Coax Cable

Shown below in the table are the SLIP ON and SNAP ON products for various popular Heliax and Coax cables.  These are the correct size for making sleeve baluns.
SNAP per Coax - Slip On Ferrite Beads

Cascaded Common Mode Chokes/Line Isolators/1:1 Baluns

Here is a simple idea that is cost effective and simple to make using FB102-31 ferrite beads with RG-58 (1/4″) size cable.  Take a FB102-31 bead and insert 4 turns of RG58 spreading them out 360 degrees to minimize the capacity effects.  4 turns give 16X the choking impedance of a single bead.  So let say you are having a problem with 7 Mhz interference.  Typcial choking impedance at 7Mhz for the FB102-31 per the chart above is around 70 ohms for a single turn through the center of the bead.  With 4 turns we have 16 x 70 = 1120 ohms and with two chokes on the cable in series we would have 2240 ohms which is pretty good for $11 in beads.  See picture below for example of how these beads are used.  This winding technique is also applicable to FSB-1/2 Snap On Ferrite Split beads which will accommodate 3 turns of RG-58 coax which already has a connector attached.
Need even more choking impedance?  Use a larger diameter toroid like a FT240-43 (best above 10 Mhz) or 31 mix(best below 10 Mhz) and put 12-14 turns of RG58 on the toroid as shown below.  Our Super Choker is very similar to the toroid choke example shown below but uses multiple FT240 toroids and is useful for larger 1/2″ size cable like the RG-213, RG-8, etc.  You can order the FB102 beads and the FT-240-31 from info on this page and the FT-240-43 on the Ferrite Toroid Cores page.
RG-58 Multi-Turn Chokes/Line Isolators Examples

20131222 124620 300x180 - Slip On Ferrite Beads

RG58 4 turns on 2 FB102-31 for 2000 ohms choking impedance

20131222 125533 300x180 - Slip On Ferrite Beads

RG58 12 turns on FT240-43 for 4000-6000 ohms choking impedance
Got a question about using ferrites?  Drop us an email at Sales@Palomar-Engineers.com  and we will be glad to answer your question.

Handy Wire Size reference for ferrite bead sizes needed

 wire guage chart2 - Slip On Ferrite Beads

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Connector already on cable?  See Snap On Ferrite Beads for convenient installation on cables with connector already installed.