TV interference from bedroom ceiling lights

[Alpine2015]

Hello!
I’m getting some interference (frozen screen, loss of signal, pixelation, etc) on “a few” TV channels (cable is source) when I turn on the overhead bedroom lights. All connections are tight. It’s not all channels… Do LED bulbs “age” and cause an electrical interference?
2015 Alpine 3010RE - no problems until this season.
Thanks

[JRTJH]

If you remember back to the old "tube type radios" that were in 1950's era cars, how the points and spark plug wires would cause the AM stations to "whine" and sometimes cut out, the same thing is happening with your LED lights. There is a voltage regulator circuit built into the light fixture and that regulator can produce interference that affects TV reception.

I'd suspect that's your problem. If turning the light fixture off solves the interference, you've done the troubleshooting to confirm the problem. There are several ways to fix the issue, probably the cheapest and easiest to accomplish is to buy a replacement light fixture and keep the "bad one" for a spare to use anywhere but in the bedroom.

[Alpine2015]

Thanks for the suggestion and direction. Yes, turning the light off stops the interference. What had me puzzled is the problem is only evident on 3-4 channels out of 75 or so ����*♂️ Changing fixtures should be any easy fix! Thanks again

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by Alpine2015

Thanks for the suggestion and direction. Yes, turning the light off stops the interference. What had me puzzled is the problem is only evident on 3-4 channels out of 75 or so ����*♂️ Changing fixtures should be any easy fix! Thanks again

That's due to the frequency of those TV channels. RF is an abbreviation for Radio Frequency. RFI stands for Radio Frequency Interference, or the effect of the RF signal on a different device. The LED lamps can emit an RF signal that can match the frequency of the TV channel. If it's strong enough it will block out the channel. If it a harmonic or farther away it may interfere but not totally block it.

"Back in the day" RFI from CB (citizens band) radios would disturb TV reception if the radio was "out of tune" or had an amplifier connected to boost the output signal. It would also predominatly interfere with the lower VHF channels.

[Alpine2015]

I remember “back in the day” - my Dad was a ham radio operator as well as a CB… TV watching was always a challenge!

[flybouy]

Yup, "back in the day" the FCC field agents were a bunch of "busy little beavers". I remember at its worst you needed 500 watts to "talk" to someone a mile away. I was thinking about the amount of RF coursing thru us yesterday while waiting in my opthomologist's office. Must have been a dozen people setting there punching away on their phones.

There was a woman in a wheel chair that must have been at least 90 with a phone in her poor arthritic hand punching away with her other crooked fingerd hand. God bless her for being able to understand and utilize the device at her age. Sorry to take this so far off topic.

[ChuckS]

I would recheck the coax cable fittings on the outside at the water panel where the coax connects…backside of water panel ….

Also there is a splitter located inside the wall on the BR TV set ..remove the coax outlet in BR and recheck the coax connections on backside of switch

Located underneath the stair well is another splitter .. this one is for OTA roof TV antenna

If all of these are tight then you can add a simple RF choke to stop the RFI

I own a 2014 3010RE Alpine and did this years ago

Simple ferrite bead with the coax to TV feed looped thru a couple of times will decouple any RFI on the coax..

It’s called “skin effect” in the radio world

Another ferrite bead on the TV power cable with a few loops thru the bead will decouple any RFI that is present on the 120 power feed to TV

[mmoff46]

We had our first outing in a new camper a few years ago and the LED light went out in the bathroom, I called camping world and they had one in stock. went and picked it up and installed. everything was fine until someone went in and used the bathroom, it would freeze the tv screen, called and got the right replacement for the light and everything worked right after that, different frequency, I know strange.

[Alpine2015]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I replaced the lights and the problem went away!! ChuckS - I’ll keep your info handy - just in case!