Speakers Crackle

[chrisp]

Recently I have been noticing a crack in my speakers when my refrigerator kicks on to cool. I live in an apartment and within days of moving in noticed that the lights dimmed when the fridge kicked on, so I decided to investigate. I found out that my entire living room, dining room, and kitchen (including fridge and dishwasher) are run on one 20-amp circuit. The crackling has been recent and it seems to only do it if the fridge kicks on. I am worried that the shotty wiring may destroy my speakers and am trying to find a solution. My apartment place seemingly won't do anything about the wiring as they claim it is "ok". I know the fridge should technically be run on it's own circuit, but I don't forsee them fixing this problem unless I were to get the code enforcement officer for the local municipality involved. I was told that a power conditioner may do the trick but really don't want to spend that kind of money. Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[jamie2112]

Sounds like you need the code inspector to MAKE them fix your power.....
I would do that as you are paying to rent the place it should be taken care of by your Complex.....NOT YOU.....

 

[Haoleb]

you probably wont hurt your speakers but Its certainly not the best thing for the rest of your electronic components. A power conditioner probably wont fix the problem unless you get a very expensive AC regeneration unit that will always maintain a steady voltage. It would be intersting to see just how much your voltage is sagging. I doubt that you would get the apartment people to do anything as it would mean running new circuits and so on. They would surely rather just evict you and get someon else who doesnt care.

 

[markw]

The crackling has been recent and it seems to only do it if the fridge kicks on.

Perhaps it's something with the fridge that only happens when the compressor kicks in?