Another EMF Question in Gen 3 - Please Help!!!

My apologies to both you and Shizen, and I hereby bow to your infinitely superior knowledge on the subject.

I do troubleshooting of oddball electronic problems for a living. Sometimes one is lucky and the problem is evident (smoking holes in the circuit board, etc.) Sometimes it's a lot more complicated; there are problems I've chased that have taken a year to nail. And a couple that I've never figured out, not exactly wanting to do a PhD on the subject matter.

Eyewitnesses to failure modes are important. If some fellow in the field says X happened, then I certainly don't go around saying it was Y, as much as I'd sometimes like to. I just work harder at my hypothesizing, trying to figure out how X occurred and how it fits with the equipment and its possible failure modes.

So when Shizen says he's having headaches, dizziness, and blurred vision.. Well, that's pretty blame serious. And why would he lie? So, figure that he's truthful.

I have a hard time believing it's EMF. I've heard people state that they have a heightened sensitivity to EMF, but I've never heard of somebody saying that where that kind of thing was independently proven.

I guess that a new Prius has some pretty strong plasticizers leaking out when new, maybe something along those lines? You'd know better than me.

KBeck.

 

Just as a minor correction, ECO mode does not make the accelerator stiffer or harder to push. The Prius accelerator pushes against a spring, and the spring always has the same characteristics.

What ECO mode does is change the mapping of the throttle response. It takes more accelerator depression to get the same amount of power for the first half of the throttle.

Tom

 

People lie for lots of reasons; people also convince themselves of associations and causations that do not exist. FWIW, I accept Shizen's complaints at face value -- but who knows ?

Qbee earlier mentioned fumes and noise frequencies that might be peculiar to the Prius that are triggering Shizen's symptoms. I agree, and would start there if I was trying to identify a trigger. As for trying to pigeon-hole Shizen's symptoms into an identifiable medical condition, I wonder if he has a history of migraines.

 

Yet another hilarious thread!
If the Prius emitted high EMF fields it wouldn't be efficient. It IS efficient. Those who tried to measure the alleged fields were getting all kinds of results. Until I pointed out they were actually measuring the earth's magnetic field, which you can't escape.

Time to use a little more logic in your thinking. It's seat position. Very simple.

 

Could be DVT and this can be quite serious. See your doctor ASAP. Perhaps you should be walking instead of driving.

 

I just wear my tinfoil hat and don't worry about a thing!!

 

Below extraction of thoughts from a Radio Reception-related PriusChat thread:

Thread Title: "weak-fm-radio-reception-in-2010-prius-58.html"

"...I get poor reception with my gen 3/IV. If there are trees anywhere near, no signal. I had satellite radio installed in my husband's car and he gets great reception. What's the concensus on how to remedy this problem? Does getting a shark fin help?"
...
" .. I found that there was a very marked increase in background noise on the radio when the car was switched from "accessory mode" to "ready mode". In accessory mode the radio reception was acceptable, in ready mode the background noise became intrusive, a fairly positive indication that the car emits a fair bit of RF noise when the inverters, power electronics etc are running."
…
"You're spot on. I think the main issue (apart from the high RF noise level from the car itself) may well be that the radio has a very broad band front end, and this exacerbates the problem by allowing the higher amplitude interfering frequencies to generate cross mod/inter mod products in the radio which then creates the problem."
…
"For me, at least, this mod proves conclusively that the problem with FM reception is exacerbated by high out-of-band RF signal levels getting to the radio front end and causing interference. I strongly suspect that these out-of-band signals are from the car high power electrical system."

 

Blah-Blah-Blah!
How many idiots can fit on the head of a pin?

 

Hmmm... Maybe this forum is putting out heavy doses of EMF, after reading some of this posts and oddball complaints, I get a severe headache. LoooooooooLLLLLL

 

I have driven my 2010 Prius since the summer of 09 and have noticed that same sensation.
In my case I suspect it is from it being so easy to rest my right leg against the console and tunnel area, causing some pressure on nerves and muscles, especially when I allow my knee to contact that area for a long time. when driving on the cruise control and my leg retracted a bit, that sensation is gone.

 

i read that your 'silver' fillings can leach mercury into your body over time, setting off your immune system.

 

The idea that high RF internally generated noise affects the FM reception doen't seem to be correct, as my Amateur radio has no problem on 2m (144-148 MHz) and 70 cm (430-450 MHz).

I understand that when some Amateurs installed HF in the car (3-30 MHz) they got some interference. This is really no different than many other cars. The computers do radiate -some- energy.

Do keep in mind the levels we are talking of here - the receivers are sensitive to 0.2 uV (that's microvolts) across 50 ohms. That would be 0.08 picowatts of power. If you are sensitive to this level of power the normal signals you receive in the outdoors, even just from the sun, would kill you!

As I said above, seating position!

 

EMF is not in the form of a laser beam, hence the F part of the name. If you were susceptible to this condition then everything would hurt. Maybe a good laxative would help?

 

@David: thanks for your feedback on the radio reception topic.

 

So after all, we should not worry too much when we drive our precious little priuses with our precious little children with radio and A/C on? Hopefully? Because it might be non sense to many here but when I was worried about it's being a possible cause of a cancer, I almost traded in my prius which is the best car I've ever driven. I just really hope and pray that it's not true!

 

Age-adjusted risk of death for cancer has been declining in the U.S. since 1990, while EMF exposure has arguably increased. By the way, the decline in cancer mortality largely results from reductions in tobacco use and improved early detection and treatment of premalignant conditions and early-stage cancer. Although people are inclined to blame EMF and other unseen or mysterious entities for cancer risk, scientific evidence has consistently failed to link EMF with cancer etiology. If you want to take active measures to prevent cancer, talk with your doctor about evidence-based screening recommendations for your age, sex and family history characteristics and don't use tobacco.

 

honestly, if you are concerned, you would be better of trading for a non hybrid. while hoping and praying will help, taking action is your best course.

 

But measure the replacement car before buying it. Past EMF measurements have found many non-hybrids no better than a Prius, and some far worse.

 

No real worries. If you have electricity in your house, your precious little ones are already exposed to much larger fields. You might want to consider living in a cave, but then there is the worry about radon and bat droppings.

The Prius has lower EMF than many non-hybrids. This is bad advice.

Tom

 

This whole thread needs to be moved to Fred's House of Pancakes. PLEASE HELP!!! (get it the heck out of here). I'd be more than happy to weigh in there on the most significant risk associated with a Prius gossip:hint: it's a car).