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Interior lights cauing Radio interference

waynep10
Explorer
Explorer
2017 Eclipse Attitude Toy Hauler. Whenever I turn on the interior lighting it kills the radio volume and reception. Very marked. All interior is LED. Changed interior color temp to a brighter 5000k temp LED. Matters not which light circuit is being used it kills the AM & FM. I'm thinking the antenna is not hooked up properly or not at all . Any help is much appreciated.
7 REPLIES 7

wopachop
Explorer
Explorer
Can you post a picture of your control center? You might be able to loosen a panel to gain access behind your radio and light switches. The wires to your lights switches are probably run next to the radio speaker wires.

If you have cabinets its also possible to cut a small hole inside the cabinet to access the wires. My trailer had horrible interference. Was able to separate wires and use aluminum foil to try and shield them in spots. Like where the wires enter the roof. My installer ran all my wires through the same hole!!

Do you like tinkering with electronics? You can buy LED constant current drivers and build your own leds. Its not cheap but it can be fun if you like that type of thing. Most parts are available from supply places like digi-key. Rest comes from ebay. Meanwell makes tiny LED drivers. You can buy CREE brand leds. Ebay has heat sinks and thermal glue. You end up with a very high quality light that is PWM dimmable. I made a bunch around 5 years ago. Gave some to camping buddies for a donation. Still have a lot of leftover material in the garage. Got to think prices have gone down since then. It was around $12 a light in material for a CREE light run off a meanwell driver.

wa8yxm
Explorer III
Explorer III
Leds come in differing quality.
Some are very noisy (Technically they are white noise generators)
Some are filtered.

Often a small ceramic capicator. say 3 in parallel .1 .01 and .001 mmF as I recall.. may be pF though. across the lights as close to the LED as possible may help.. Actually just one of the 3 will fix it. but it may be one for AM and one for FM.
Home was where I park it. but alas the.
2005 Damon Intruder 377 Alas declared a total loss
after a semi "nicked" it. Still have the radios
Kenwood TS-2000, ICOM ID-5100, ID-51A+2, ID-880 REF030C most times

ktmrfs
Explorer
Explorer
A sign of poor quality LED regulators. Well designed current regulated drivers are interference free. Cheap ones are a toss up. Units w/o current regulation don't interfere, but are subject to thermal runaway when voltage ramps up like when your charger is on in boost mode. I've had non regulated ones actually unsolder themselves.

But it is hit and miss to find good 12V LED bulbs.
2011 Keystone Outback 295RE
2004 14' bikehauler with full living quarters
2015.5 Denali 4x4 CC/SB Duramax/Allison
2004.5 Silverado 4x4 CC/SB Duramax/Allison passed on to our Son!

Dick_B
Explorer
Explorer
We have also had our led fixture cause interference with our TV.
Dick_B
2003 SunnyBrook 27FKS
2011 3/4 T Chevrolet Suburban
Equal-i-zer Hitch
One wife, two electric bikes (both Currie Tech Path+ models)

Lynnmor
Explorer
Explorer
LED's with a voltage regulator often cause interference. I use the cheapest eBay bulbs with no regulator for that reason.

delwhjr
Explorer
Explorer
Did the problem show up after the change? Many LEDs are known to cause interference. May have to change to another type/brand.
2022 Rockwood 2109S
2006 Durango HEMI

Trackrig
Explorer II
Explorer II
One of our LEDs close to the radio caused interference. We tried several different LEDs with the same results. Finally went back to a standard bulb in that one fixture.

Bill
Nodwell RN110 out moose hunting. 4-53 Detroit, Clark 5 spd, 40" wide tracks, 10:00x20 tires, 16,000# capacity, 22,000# weight. You know the mud is getting deep when it's coming in the doors.