37" Samsung LCD is getting interference from its proximity to coolers?

[aphex]

We installed two 26" and one 37" Samsung HDTV's at my friends new gas station. The two 26" TV's are fine, but the 37" gets noticeable interference about 1-2 times an hour.

The 37" is placed high on the wall, but very close to two large walk-in coolers. We disconnected all cables except A/C and even with a black screen, the interference was noticeable so I assume its either coming directly into the unit simply by its proximity to the coolers, or via its A/C cable.

What do you recommend to help shield the tv from the interference? Do they make wall mountable power cleaners?

 

[cheesehead]

I'm willing to bet that the interference is not RF, but electrical noise carried directly through the power cables. "My First Computer" guides from the 70s and 80s usually have a recommendation not to plug your PC into an outlet too close to a refridgerator or washing machine for exactly this reason.

You can check for this with nothing but an extension cable. If possible, move the TV as far away from the cooler as possible, but use the extension cord to keep it plugged into the same outlet. If it still has the interference, it's getting electrical noise. Alternately, if the TV develops similar interference despite being separated from the wall and plugged into a battery backup, then it's likely RF.

The good news is that you don't need to get some overpriced Monster power-cleaning unit to fix the problem. Any good-quality uninterruptible power supply will do the job, and getting an old one with a battery that barely holds a charge is quite cheap. Even a simple isolation transformer might do the job, and some inexpensive surge protectors have rudimentary noise filters built in.