How to find a quiet shaver socket?

[Chris Green]

Our (quite old) shaver socket hums, and it's getting louder. I'm not worried about it blowing up or anything but it's in our en-suite mounted on the wall the other side of which is our bed. So, it's getting rather annoying.

How does one find a quiet shaver socket? Many of the reviews on Toolstation and Screwfix tell me that some of them hum but I need to know the opposite!

I realise this is quite likely to vary between samples as well which makes it even more difficult.

I've tried all the obvious things to silence our existing one like tightening the screws that hold the transformer laminations and spraying the transformer with lacquer (special electrical lacquer) but to no avail.

Trying to search for 'silent shaver socket' is pointless as search engines now try and out-guess you so they simply ignore the 'silent' and return almost exactly the same as they do for 'shaver socket'. As an aside, why can't I find a search engine that actually searches for what I ask for, typos and all?

[alan_m]

Try varnishing the transformer laminations (metal core plates) to stop them vibrating against each other.

[Harry Bloomfield Esq]

The noise, is due to loose transformer iron laminations. If you can access the transformer, paint the laminations with a good coat of shellac.

[Jim gm4dhj ...]

shave in the bedroom with a two pin adaptor

[alan_m]

Going a bit over the top...

[Jeff Gaines]

Dip it in molten candle wax?

[Chris Green]

Did you not read the bit that says:-

I've tried all the obvious things to silence our existing one like tightening the screws that hold the transformer laminations and spraying the transformer with lacquer (special electrical lacquer) but to no avail.

:-)

[Chris Green]

Does *no one* read the whole post! :-)

I've tried all the obvious things to silence our existing one like tightening the screws that hold the transformer laminations and spraying the transformer with lacquer (special electrical lacquer) but to no avail.

[Chris Green]

I prefer to shave with a shaver! :-)

More seriously:- 1 - I have a beard 2 - Surely it's rather messy to shave in the bedroom. 3 - The socket is used to charge a toothbrush

[Scott]

Is there really any need for this equipment at all? Modern shavers are rechargeable and likely to last for days if not weeks between charges. Why not just charge it elsewhere when needed and shave in the bathroom? I have a shaver socket that I don't use. I charge my shaver in the utility room. Some shavers even come with UK three pin plug so no adapter required. If you don't like adapters, Buying a three pin charger would be cheaper than replacing the shaver socket.

[Theo]

Most of them have a switch which disconnects the transformer when there is nothing plugged in. They are not rated for continuous operation - you're supposed to plug in your 'shaver', use it for a few minutes, then unplug.

But these days people don't use them like that, they leave a charger plugged in all the time. So they buzz, get warm and sometimes crack the faceplate due to overheating.

Some sockets (eg MK) are marked for toothbrushes, which means they are rated for the charger being plugged in 24/7 without overheating. Maybe they are quieter?

Another thought is to mount the transformer elsewhere and run DC to eg a USB socket. I think doing the SELV for this is not entirely straightforward (most USB PSUs do not have suitable isolation), but perhaps a regular isolation transformer and USB PSU in the loft with a DC drop into the bathroom might resolve the noise issue, if not the losses in the isolation transformer. It is possible there are some SELV rated USB PSUs out there instead.

Or just put the charger in a different room.

On Google, click Tools, All Results, Verbatim.

Theo

[Andrew]

Is it possible to have the shaver socket on its own supply that can be intercepted and a (fused) switched spur or double pole switch fitted to isolate it when you go to bed ?

[Clive Arthur]

On 20/01/2023 12:16, Chris Green wrote: <snip>

Put a 13A plug on the toothbrush charger and disconnect the shaver socket.

[Chris Green]

It's actually already wired to an FCU which is (sort of) beside the bed, I could change the FCU to a switched one. It's not *very* easy to access though.

[Spike]

A very old trick from Amateur Radio is to tap the laminations with a hammer, on each corner, at ~45 degrees to the ‘across’ or ‘down’ directions of the laminations. Put the opposite corner on something hard while doing so. Good luck.

[Scott]

Would it be possible to locate the isolating transformer away from the bathroom (in the meter cupboard), run a separate supply then replace the shaver point with a non-bathroom version without the transformer?

[Chris Green]

It's not available in Google Shopping, I know it's there in the main Google search. However I use Google as little as possible.

[Brian Gaff]

I suspect that is because you would get no hits if you typed it wrong, and most people make common mistakes. As for silent. Does anyone know why there is a transformer in them? Is one side of the mains then earthed, or what? I ask as it seems to me that if you could take the transformer away, or maybe mount it somewhere outside of the socket in another room in a nice earthed box, you could just bring two core into a normal two pin socket to the europlug design. I seriously doubt you would find one that did not make a buzz in a quiet room, as three is just no room for isolation in the outlet, by isolation, I refer to audio isolation. Brian

[Brian Gaff]

He already did that. I tried this and it failed as well. The best I found was to encapsulate it in Epoxy, but then it would not fit back in the socket. Brian

[Brian Gaff]

Sorry as stated earlier it does not work. Small transformers are very prone to vibration, sometimes its the bobbin not adhering to the core, but generally after a lot of vibration over a year or so, they nearly all start to buzz. I think my idea of taking the transformer into a box in another room is the best approach, or maybe wire it up to a switch, so at night you can turn the supply off. I guess the overkill methods might be to design a switch mode installation system running with a tiny transformer and at a high frequency, but then somehow you would need to convert it back to 50 hz again to run the charger. Brian