Problem with L.E.D. Light Bar

[04HUG]

I have discovered a problem caused by my Great White L.E.D. Light Bar.
The lights create interference with the FM Radio. I was out of town in a marginal FM reception area. The reception was fine until I turned the headlights on to High. I was showing a friend what the light bars could light up and as I turned the L.E.D. on and off the radio reception went bad and good.
On return to town the reception improved.

 

[TigerST]

Are odd. Sounds like a wiring problem....... As leds shouldnt drain that much power interference with the FM Radio. But then agiam what else are you running maybe that 5 amps is all it needs

 

[Malicious]

The driver circuits for LEDs can create RF interference , ensure you have a low resistance earth, then you may need to try a filter , or carry some CDs

 

[Old.Tony]

I have a torch that doesn't power the lights constantly, it runs them at a high frequency so that the power output is increased. I'll bring it with me to Meryla - it takes two Ultrafire batteries and puts out about as much light as one of my driving lights. There's a circuit inside that must use some trickery to run the LEDs harder to produce more light - my guess is that is the problem.

Making a good earth is a start, but if it's pure RF interference then about the only thing you can do is try and shield it. Perhaps consider a black metal plate added to the back of the light bar, blocking RF between it and your antenna? Might not be enough in a fringe area, but you can try it using a piece of foil and see if that helps.

 

[75 GRC]

Try plugging the terminals to the outside of your battery terminals(to The furtherest Point on your battery terminals, this did help with my interference!

YEP!GOT A V6 'BUT I LIKE TO CUSTOMISE.

 

[Hugh9359]

Leds

Its a well known problem with LEDs,lots of people complaining about TV interference after changing to LEDs in down lights.Hugh

 

[ben85]

i think its the wiring.
mine does the same, but it doesn't matter if its my driving lights or light bar, once either are on radio reception goes.

i had to replace my antenna a while back and i also had to replace an extension cable to the antenna, some of my wiring for the driving light switches comes off the back of the radio and the antenna cable runs pretty close to the some of the other wiring involed with the driving lights so i think thats where the interference comes from.

i haven't worried about it i dont use both at the same time that much, i just turn the radio off or onto cd.

 

[tony d22]

Try splicing the power to the light bar from another source.

 

[ARBNAV]

Hey guys, To me it sounds like they have tapped into a power cable thats using the same circuit as the radio so it cause the issue when your on the radio... You mentioned that it gets worse as you get further from the reception tower... I would relocate the power cable and run it direct to the battery and bypass all the electrics in the car and your issue will improve.

 

[04HUG]

G'day.
From RH headlight High Beam I ran into the cab through a large grommet near the RHS of the Brake Booster. I used 5 core "Trailer" cable. Once in the Cab the signal wire goes to a switch next to the mirror controls. Another wire returns to a relay mounted next to the battery. This relay Active connects directly to the battery terminal connector and powers both light bars. The Earth is to the chaise.

From the switch in the cab the signal wire from High Beam signal continues to another switch on the left of the steering column. This switch will eventually control some Spot Lights (HID).

In this "Marginal Reception" area I have often had no reception with other vehicles FM Radios.

The 5 core wire was used so I only need to go through the Fire Wall Grommet once and I now have 2 spare wires for any other mods I may want to do.

The Relay used is a twin relay with fuses. I have only used one side for the L.E.D. The other side will be for H.I.D in the future.

(I an glad nobody asked what an FM radio was)

 

[Malicious]

Sounds like wiring is done right, if you have a multimeter remove the lightbar from the car check resistance between negative and the case of the light, or run a temp extra earth to the side of the light bar just in case there is an earth loop,