On 2006-10-15, Major Misunderstanding <
[email protected]> wrote:
> A lady just contacted me and says she can hear her Nokia phone charging -
> like a pulsing sound. Nobody else can hear it but when it is switched on she
> registers the sound from some 2-3 metres away. When it is charged the sound
> stops. I also know of another person who can hear similar sounds from
> electrical equipment. Could this be a low frequency sound or is it something
> odd happening...? With the charger on it's own she doesn't hear anything.
High frequency. Nokia (and most other brands) use switched-mode powersupplies
in phone chargers. These operate at a high frequency that is somewhat dependant
on the load.
consider an automobile engine, when it is working hard (accellerating, or
climbing a hill) it makes more noise. These switched mod powersupplies are
the same. Inside is a small transformer and as the electric current through it
is switched on and off rapidly magnetic fields are formed and broken. This changing
magnetism causes it to vibrate, which causes the sound.
the pulsating effect is possibly due to the phone interrupting the charge to
measure the charge level in the battery (this would reduce the load on the
charger momentarily).
Bye.
Jasen