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I am asking a question as a part of library maintenance for electrical equipment. We have installed a POS machine with credit card swipe on the same outlet as a laser scanner (used to check in books). Apparently, the POS gets a signal immediately that a swipe has occurred and failed before a swipe occurs. If the laser scanner is plugged into a different outlet (we are using an extension cord), everything works. Using extension cords in a commercial facility is prohibited, so does another outlet need to be added? What could be causing the POS to get a swipe signal? Thanks in advance for your help!

Maribel Cabrera Ibrahim
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  • POS = Point of sale, not the other thing... – Funkyguy Aug 27 '15 at 16:44
  • correct, it is a Point of Sale unit that has a cash drawer and a screen to process payments. There is also a credit card swiper attached to the device. – Maribel Cabrera Ibrahim Aug 27 '15 at 16:48
  • A thought comes to mind, are the two pieces of machinery still next to each other regardless of which outlets? If you separated the two to put the laser scanner on a different outlet, then a lot of factors were also removed. – Funkyguy Aug 27 '15 at 16:49
  • Funkyguy, if the laser scanner is moved farther away, but still plugged in the same outlet, the swipe fails. If the laser scanner is close, but plugged into a different outlet, the swipe works and does not time out. – Maribel Cabrera Ibrahim Aug 27 '15 at 17:21
  • Alright, then I still stand by my answer – Funkyguy Aug 27 '15 at 17:21
  • Hmm, depending on how far you are moving the scanner you may be having noise problems on the cable or just a wiring error. – KalleMP Aug 27 '15 at 21:09

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Interesting, it sounds like your laser scanner is causing noise on the power cable which then interferes with the POS machines operation. This is probably due to a poorly designed power supply in either of the machines.

If you can't use just a different outlet, then it might be worth trying to put a ferrous nugget around the power cable of the POS machine before you spend the money to put in a new outlet.

A ferrous nugget serves to filter out noise on power cables and many products have them.

Funkyguy
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  • Thanks for this. I will see if we can do this... might be a quick fix. – Maribel Cabrera Ibrahim Aug 27 '15 at 17:23
  • @MaribelCabreraIbrahim You may also be able to use a plug-in noise filter, such as http://www.homedepot.com/p/Smarthome-FilterLinc-10-Amp-Plug-In-Noise-Filter-1626-10/100396290 for example. I don't know what country you're in so you might have to find the correct product for your electrical system. – DoxyLover Aug 27 '15 at 18:54