# LED Lights causing radio interference - any thoughts pls



## carol

I listen to my radio at night with an earphone and find the LED lights are causing interference tothe extent I cannot even hear it at all. As soon as we switch off it is ok. We still have two overhead lights which we didn't change as we don't use them

Any thoughts why and how to cure it these were not cheap ones. 

Tks

Carol


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## Techno100

Is this on or off hook up Carol?


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## Rapide561

*LED*

Hi

I had this three years ago with the flip down TV. LED lights on - tv pic lost. All LED's were replaced and no issue since.

Russell


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## carol

Off hook up. So rarely have a hook up I haven't noticed. 

Carol


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## 1302

I have an expensive LED in the garage and it interferes with the radio.

Our company tested over 100 LED gear trays (to replace a 28w 2D lamp and only a hadful passed UK harmonics testing - ALL were CE marked :roll: The chinese dont give a stuff about standards - after all they eat dogs in the street 

'Expensive' doesnt exclude the UK supplier from selling crap - what brand is your LED??

Paul - 'in lighting' as a profession


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## carol

Paul. I have just looked back and they were supplied by Paul Crooks of JM Goods. I have just sent him an email explaining my problem. The lights causing a problem are the 21 LED's in the spotlights over the bed. 2 Halogens which have not been changed as we never use these lights cause no problems

Carol


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## 1302

carol said:


> Paul. I have just looked back and they were supplied by Paul Crooks of JM Goods. I have just sent him an email explaining my problem. The lights causing a problem are the 21 LED's in the spotlights over the bed. 2 Halogens which have not been changed as we never use these lights cause no problems
> 
> Carol


Your halogens do not run thru a driver or a transformer so will run silent.

JM Goods I would guess buy in any old gear to sell on without any regard for quality or UK compatability - not their fault - they are not a major lighting manufacturer /supplier as the company I work for are - we cant afford to buy £1M worth of gear to find out later that we need to refund it all as its not very good. Thats why we test and test etc...

I'd teach him a lesson and ask for my money back.


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## bubble63

hi carol, et al

I have the same problem with 1w single spot lamps from camper care, they block the DAB signal to the radio.

I challenged campercare at peterbrough show, he said he has never heard of the problem before and shrugged his shoulders .

1302, a question

these lamps are mr16 and can be fitted with no regard to polarity is this part of the problem?

also does this lack of suppression make them unfit for purpose?

thanks in advance
neill
cambridge


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## 1302

bubble63 said:


> 1302, a question
> 
> these lamps are mr16 and can be fitted with no regard to polarity is this part of the problem?
> 
> also does this lack of suppression make them unfit for purpose?
> 
> thanks in advance
> neill
> cambridge


I dont think the polarity (or lack of it) matters. Its whatever is driving the lamp that is causing the 'noise' Of the 27 LED fittings in my house only one casues a buzz to the radio near it...

26 fitting come from 'Tamlite'  free plug 
1 comes from A N Other (a respected manufacturer - but they dont pay as much attention to detail as us)

I would say if it interferes with the radio or similar it ISNT fit for purpose

Paul


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## karlb

1302 said:


> bubble63 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 1302, a question
> 
> these lamps are mr16 and can be fitted with no regard to polarity is this part of the problem?
> 
> also does this lack of suppression make them unfit for purpose?
> 
> thanks in advance
> neill
> cambridge
> 
> 
> 
> I dont think the polarity (or lack of it) matters. Its whatever is driving the lamp that is causing the 'noise' Of the 27 LED fittings in my house only one casues a buzz to the radio near it...
> 
> 26 fitting come from 'Tamlite'  free plug
> 1 comes from A N Other (a respected manufacturer - but they dont pay as much attention to detail as us)
> 
> I would say if it interferes with the radio or similar it ISNT fit for purpose
> 
> Paul
Click to expand...

the purpose of the led is to provide light so to say "its not fit for purpose" is quite a leap!

when my microwave is used (panasonic) i lose wifi reception in the kitchen is that "fit for purpose" ?

i think the o/p knows the answer listen to the radio with the halogen light problem solved!!


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## TR5

I think "not fit for purpose" may be a little harsh, but an alternative would be, "not of a suitable standard or quality".

Especially where replacement LED's are sold by a motorhome / caravan accessories supplier, and they 'encourage' you to change bulbs/lights to save on power, then they must also realise that the LED's must/should not interfere with other electrical goods within such a vehicle.

I do not find any problem in my motorhome with LED's and radio or TV reception, and I have both spotlight halogen, and festoon replacements. The only thing that affects my tv and radio is the piezzo igniter on the hob/oven, and this is only for a split second.
The tv can sometimes also be affected by the water pump, which freezes the picture if the signal is on the weak side, again only a problem for a short period.

I would certainly return mine for a refund, and go elsewhere, if I had that problem with interference.


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## pete4x4

That is absolute rubbish an led provides light yes but you are still expected to do other things at the same time.

CE markings are there to give consumers reassurance that items meet standards and for LEDs they are meant to be EMC tested to ensure that they do not interfere. Clearly this particularly LED is counterfeit.

Your Panasonic microwave should not interfere with wifi as the microwave frequency is different to wifi. I would suggest that you should get you microwave tested as it is probably unsafe as it is indicating that high energy microwaves are getting out of the door seal and swamping the wifi


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## karlb

have a look here http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/col...9_ns736_Networking_Solutions_White_Paper.html

also my microwave is safe and leak tested thank you.


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## 1302

karlb said:


> 1302 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> bubble63 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Paul
> 
> 
> 
> the purpose of the led is to provide light so to say "its not fit for purpose" is quite a leap!
> 
> when my microwave is used (panasonic) i lose wifi reception in the kitchen is that "fit for purpose" ?
> 
> i think the o/p knows the answer listen to the radio with the halogen light problem solved!!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I pressed the wrong button - thats not a 'thank'
> 
> UK regs insistt that electrical equipment doesnt interfere with 'other' equipment (especially communication stuff) so it ISNT fit for purpose.
Click to expand...


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## paulcrooks

Hello. I am Paul Crooks of JM Goods.
I find the arrogance of the "Paul" who suggested that "it wasn't my fault" that there were problems with this particular bulb quite remarkable! He describes himself as a "Professional" but actually works for someone else. At JM Goods we go to huge lengths to screen our products but however much one tries, occasionally a rogue batch will get through and when it does we rectify the problem. 
We don't just find our LEDs under a bush!
After seven years running this business we are always open to learn more about the developing market and do our best to be at the forefront of the industry. When you are at the forefront, you are much more likely to find issues, but the important thing is to recognize them then rectify them.
Beware "professionals" hurling bricks from behind the safety of their boss!
Best wishes, Paul


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## bubble63

hi.Paul crooks of jm goods
are you the same company as camper care, because I have Some LEDs from cc that block out dab radio's

I reported the fault to camper care at the. peterbrough show 2011 the sale guy shrugged his shoulders and said he didn't know of any problem and offered no more interest.

professional ??!! knowledgeable !! 

mmmmm .......

Neill


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## TR5

I am not a "professional" in radio interference, and do not profess to be so. However, I think that a lot of interference picked up by radio's fitted in motorhomes is possibly due to a poor radio reception signal being received by the radio.
A weak radio signal will always exagerate the noise of interference from outside sources, and poor radio reception is often a topic on MHF.

I had exactly this problem, a poor radio reception, and noise being picked up from other electricals in the vehicle, until I entrusted Autosound Ltd, in Bradford to sort it out.
A high gain bosch wing mount aerial with signal booster was fitted. I could then receive Capital Radio on top of the hill outside Bradford, and a radio reception equivelent to my manufacturer installed car audio system. Job sorted.


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## bubble63

hi tr5

understand what you are saying, but....

these LEDs lamps block my Roberts DAB radio signal, turn the lights off , radio works !!

they emit electrical interference , not able to fix the radio or suppress the lamps

1302 as spot on with his diagnosis

nice lamps though !

Neill


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## TR5

Hi Neill

I was generalising with my comments, and not aiming at your problem specifically, I did say 'possibly'.
Many do have poor radio reception due to converters not fitting suitable reception equipment, especially on mh's that are mainly GRP bodied, and poor reception will only exagerate any interference problems.

We converted all our lights to LED's purchased from UltraLeds, and have no such problem. It is highly probable you have one or more faulty or below standard units causing the problem.

Hope you find a resolve.

Michael


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## camallison

This sounds like a bad batch as said before, or a poor radio reception compounded by a bad batch.

Over the past couple of years, I have bought several sets of LED replacement lights from Paul at JM Goods. NONE of them have proven faulty. I bought some from another (reputable) supplier mentioned on here and found them faulty - giving the same problem as alluded to here. The (reputable) supplier replaced them FOC.

To make negative comments about JM Goods without hard facts I also find quite arrogant and misguided. Paul is always very helpful on their stand at shows and by phone and email, even when very busy.

Colin


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## camallison

bubble63 said:


> hi.Paul crooks of jm goods
> are you the same company as camper care, because I have Some LEDs from cc that block out dab radio's
> 
> I reported the fault to camper care at the. peterbrough show 2011 the sale guy shrugged his shoulders and said he didn't know of any problem and offered no more interest.
> 
> professional ??!! knowledgeable !!
> 
> mmmmm .......
> 
> Neill


I doubt it as Campercare are in Derbyshire and JM Goods are in Cumbria.

Colin


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## bubble63

> To make negative comments about JM Goods without hard facts I also find quite arrogant and misguided. Paul is always very helpful on their stand at shows and by phone and email, even when very busy.
> 
> Colin


I agree it looks like 2 different companies.

so to be clear, its 'camper care' who supplied the duff ones and are not interested in their return.

just for the record, i never said anything negative about JM goods, I just asked if they had any connection with CC.

happy touring colin

neill in sunny cambridge


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## courty

Just to clarify a technical point here - there are two main sorts of LED bulb, the first are normally described as '12v' these normally have 3 (or multiples of three) LEDS in them - this is a quirk of LED's that 3 LED's work with 12v. these should not cause any interference.

the second type can have from 1 to loads of LEDs and normally are described a 3v to 30v or 12v/24v or AC/DC or multi-voltage or the like.
These ones invariably contain something called a Buck/Boost regulator and this can cause interference to radios and TV (quality is not an indicator here)

Motorhome and caravans are particularly prone to this sort of regulator interference as most of the wiring is 12v - in a house there would be a couple of inches of 12v cable before a mains transformer so the 12v lines are short minimizing the issue.

There is no easy way to see which you have.

The CE mark can be used to show manufacturing is done to a standard, it could still be a buck/boost bulb they make so this is not a good indicator ether.


To conclude - you have to try the bulbs to see if they interfere + stick to the rule of 12v only fittings with LEDs divisible by 3 and you stand a good chance of success.

LED's are the way forward but like the chap above said, we are in uncharted water - I have done all of my motorhome with non buck/boost LED's and have a) great looking, low power lighting and b) no interference.

Courty


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## bubble63

hi courty
excellent reply

the ones that interfere are single LEDs

excellent items, they are a focused spot, interestingly as a mr16 fitting you can install them regardless of polarity.

I will have a look for 3 led types

thanks for the reply

Neill


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## carol

I should revisit this. We were away travelling in France when this was first noticed it is the MR16 type. To be honest Paul did offer to sort it out but I didn't follow it through. My fault and Paul himself has always been very helpful. 

I had ever heard of it. 

Carol


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