I installed an Ecosmart 27kw tankless water heater yesterday and as far as heating the water goes, everything works perfectly.
The issue is when the water heater is running, I lose internet!
Specs:
- Heater is 240v 27kw @ draw 112.5amps
- Breakers are 3x 40amp dual pole across both sides of the split phase
- Wiring is 3x 8awg
- My internet is 10mbit ADSL down the phone line.
—
My suspicion is that the high amp lines are creating an electrical field which is interfering with the low voltage phone line system, killing my internet.
When turning on the hot water, I loose access to ping google.com, however I can still ping 192.168.2.1 [my router] which says it's not the router that's being interfered with via power loss.
Any recommendations regarding minimum distance between the high amp cables and the phone line. Am I even on the right track here?
Thanks – Jon
Update: Fixed by installing a new phone line externally, 2 meters away from the high amp lines with cat7 cable.
Best Answer
Something you might want to consider here is that your phone line inside the house is probably something crappy and unshielded. Cat3, for instance, offers virtually no shielding at all. What I would suggest is upgrading your phone line from the box to your modem with something that is better shielded, like Cat6. If you can afford it, going even higher (Cat6a or 7) would afford you greater shielding. 10MB down a copper line is probably highly susceptible to even minor interference.