How to deal with EMI problems

An EMI, i.e., electromagnetic inference, is a problem faced when many electric devices interact with each other. One may experience it when they start their radio along with TV; they will encounter a noisy disturbance from either TV or radio. Such disturbances are called the electromagnet inference (EMI). These issues can cause irreparable damage in various industries and hence must counter these. EMI solutions are challenging to handle, as it is very tricky to identify this issue’s source. There could be a number of factors that might contribute to EMI’s problem, and thus it becomes a headache for individuals to tackle such an issue.

But one can still solve this issue by undertaking the proven process involving a series of steps. These steps will guide individuals to troubleshoot EMI issues effectively and efficiently. These steps ensure that you are on the right track in solving the issue without wasting time on unnecessary things. The investigation process that one needs follow is mentioned below:

• Identify the source: The first step in the investigation process is to identify the problem’s source; for this, one must gather information about it as much as possible. This will provide you with the background of the issue concerned. Talk and gather valuable information from the people who are involved, such as operators with equipment affected, and take their points into consideration. It is important for you to keep an open mind so that you are not biased toward one source of information. How frequently this issue arises is another important question that can lead to an in-depth understanding of this problem. On the basis of it, one can determine what kind of equipment they must look after. This will eventually help to narrow down the source of EMI issues. These might include:

1. Radio Sources
2. Power Disturbances
3. Discharge of Electrostatic

It is vital to identify the origin of this issue as fast as possible. Otherwise, it can cause severe damages such as service interruptions, permanent damage to equipment, data loss, etc. These issues are more dangerous in certain industries such as medical or military.

• Testing of Source: After one is successful in identifying the source of EMI, the next step is to test the source, and also, the data collected in the first step needs to analyze. This is essential to verify and test the specifics of the issue. The parameters that one needs to identify are frequency, i.e., how frequent the issue arises, amplitude, i.e., it is done to understand how extensive and intensive the solution is going to be, time involve being aware when the problem arises as it will close down the list of origin, Impendence and Dimensions are other parameters that need to be analyzed thoroughly. One also needs to understand the nature of the problem. There are some possibilities for the problem, such as:

1. Emission: Emission is one of the basic causes of EMI failure and can arise from the use of a number of equipment. EMI testing is the only way that can identify emissions. But emissions are mostly very low and thus do not lead to much of the issue.
2. Immunity: There is a number of external sources that can cause high inference with the equipment. There is a number of tests to identify and understand the source of inferences, such as power transient, susceptibility test that measure that inference coming in, etc. Other reasons for inferences also include power load and various other transients, but they need to be checked separately.
3. Radiated EMI: Radiated EMI takes place when any metallic part on the electric unit works as an antenna, which leads to inferences. For checking for radiated EMI, one can use broadband, Pocket AM radios, etc., to understand the nature of the problem.
4. Conducted EMI: In case of conducted EMI, the cable work as interference. They are of low frequency as it travels without the radiation. One can test for conducted EMI through the use of power line monitors, oscilloscopes, etc.

After collecting and analyzing the data and looking out for patterns of EMI issues, it becomes clearer how to finally deal with the issue.

• Modification in the Current System: After identifying the source of the issue and understanding the nature of the problem, the next step is to make the required modification in the current system to efficiently solve the issues. It is time to decide on the best course of action. There might be a possibility that there exist more than one problem and thus you need the combination of two or more solution to tackle the issue. Before deciding on the solution, one must look into various factors such as cost, maintenance, etc. There is number of fixes for these issues such as:

1. Fixing of cables: Cables are the common cause of EMI issues. Sometime cable is not rooting cause; there could be another cause such as issues in connector terminator.
2. Enclose the shield fixes: Opening can cause serious issues in case of shielded enclosures. ESD testing can help one to locate this issue. One can close the opening with aluminum or copper tape. But one must see that the ventilators and display must be open.
3. Fixing of Circuit Board: The equipment which does not have external shields, the next choice is to work on the fixes of circuit board. Number of test can help in identifying this issue.
4. In case one is not able to solve the issue with these common problems, the next step is to other EMC system solution such as filtering, shielding, grounding.
5. Verifying of the changes: After the right solution has been implemented, the operations must return to normal without any issue. It is important to monitor the repairs and evaluate whether everything is fine or not. In case the issue still persists one needs to repeat all the above steps again. Finally after all the measures taken one must confirm its effects on the issue so that there is no confusion.

Hence it is important that one follow the above mentioned steps for EMI solutions effectively.