Lights, Radio interference

[rinny_tin_tin]

Hey guys, I recently put nine t8 light fixtures (4 lights in each) in my garage. Now I can’t listen to FM radio at all with the light on. The radio works fine till you turn on the lights. The interference almost completely cuts the radio out. Any ideas? Anyone else have this problem? Any fixes? I can only listen to my old cassettes from the 80’s so many times.

I thought US & Canada made devices have to comply with FCC RFI requirements. Where are these fixtures made? China I bet!

 

[brassspike]

Did anyone find a fix for this? Just put in several T-5's and now my fm is gone!
Thanks,

 

[Brad1234]

I also have this problem. Built a new garage & installed 8- 8' fixtures & my reception on my portable radio stinks if the lights are on. I have not tried it with batteries though. I had hoped that when the garage was done & I got a better stereo the problem would be gone but from reading here I don't think that it will be the case. I don't remember the brand of fixture but they came from an electical supply store. They are all hard wired with the connections inside of the lights housings. The grounds are all attached. The wiring is all new from a 100 amp box that is fed from the houses 200 amp service. The 100 amp in the garage also has a ground rod attached. The lights are on there own circuit. I don't have any help to add but just wanted added to the list of people having this problem.

 

[brassspike]

I also have this problem. Built a new garage & installed 8- 8' fixtures & my reception on my portable radio stinks if the lights are on. I have not tried it with batteries though. I had hoped that when the garage was done & I got a better stereo the problem would be gone but from reading here I don't think that it will be the case. I don't remember the brand of fixture but they came from an electical supply store. They are all hard wired with the connections inside of the lights housings. The grounds are all attached. The wiring is all new from a 100 amp box that is fed from the houses 200 amp service. The 100 amp in the garage also has a ground rod attached. The lights are on there own circuit. I don't have any help to add but just wanted added to the list of people having this problem.

Brad, I have almost the exact setup. I have a few more light fixtures, 9 six tube. They are wired in 3's. If any one is switched on, all reception is gone! Someone must have a fix for this!! If the rf is that bad it looks like the fcc would be involved!

 

[e-tek]

If these are changing or blocking radio frequencies - imagine what they're doing to your frequencies!!

 

[knucklebusted]

I built my garage three years ago and as soon as the lights were in and the radio was plugged in I had this problem and as long as I tune in the strongest station in the area, I can live with the static. The weaker stations which play fine without lights, go to full static when the lights are on. This is a pioneer receiver and T8 lights that were installed by my electrical contractor. They are bright and come on instantly but I sure wish I could listen to the radio.

At this point I'm willing to try anything as long as it is just physical and cheap!

 

[aczr2k]

After adding (6) six bulb high output hi bay lights (Hi-Brite brand) our radio also went to ****. Threw out the old boom box and put in a reciever with a antenna hookup. Ordered one of these outdoor antenna setups and now we have awesome radio signal, closest radio station is 50-75 miles away.

http://www.fmdxantenna.com/proddetail.php?prod=FMDipUS

 

[PassnThru]

I have 8 T8 fixtures with 4 bulbs each. No interference of any kind. They are Lithonias that were purchased at an electrical supply house. Not bragging or anything, just saying that it doesn't have to happen. Since the culprit is most likely the ballast, I will post my ballast model # here soon. I have the label in the house because on just failed on me and I'm looking for a replacement.

 

[Hutchins Auto Repair]

I found this searching for a solution to the same problem of RF interference from my new T-8 florescent lights in my new backyard garage. Absolutely awful. I am going to try and check all my grounds and connections, and also I found a site that suggested that the wiring inside the fixture always has a lot of extra length, and to cut it off so that there is only a straight, short as possible run from the ballast to the sockets. I will try that too, but after reading all these posts I have no faith that it will work. I really like the great light output of the T-8s, but if I can't resolve this, I will pull them down and replace with T-12s, which the posts indicate will not cause interference. I got my lights from Lowes and they are full sized, hard wired in lights, not the cheap plug in type. I am very dissapointed. Since I am a professional mechanic I have to put up with stupid, cheap, poorly made chinese or mexican junk parts all the time. It is very frustrating and just getting everything from the OEM dealer does NOT mean you are getting good US made parts. A large part of the dealer parts are chinese or mexican also. My basement is all T-12s and no interference at all. As others have stated, my backyard shop is also all metal, and I believe that may have a magnifying effect on the problem. Like another poster said, I wonder what all that electro-magnetic radiation is doing to our health! Electronic junk garbage! Just like these ridiculous newer vehicles. You know most have at least 7 computers in them now. I'm surprised that they work as well as they do! Well, best wishes to everyone!

 

[sajohnson]

I wonder if changing the ballasts (or buying fixtures with different ballasts) would help?

I have T8 lamps -- 16 fixtures, a total of 32 8 foot lamps -- and have no problem with noise at all.

Has anyone contacted a mfr and asked them about this problem?

 

[rsizem]

Recommend trying two options to understand the pathway for the interference.
1) try a battery powered radio. If the interference still occurs, then it is radiated and a remote located antenna is the cheapest solution...make sure you use coax type antenna cable...otherwise the antenna cable will pick up the interference.
2)If the above works, then try a premium surge suppressor/line noise condition (Tripp Lite Isobar, etc).

Typically, the issue is 2) and has worked great for me in the past.

Good luck

 

[volvo]

..
... 1,000 CD Juke Box

 

[sajohnson]

Recommend trying two options to understand the pathway for the interference.
1) try a battery powered radio. If the interference still occurs, then it is radiated and a remote located antenna is the cheapest solution...make sure you use coax type antenna cable...otherwise the antenna cable will pick up the interference.
2)If the above works, then try a premium surge suppressor/line noise condition (Tripp Lite Isobar, etc).

Typically, the issue is 2) and has worked great for me in the past.

Good luck

Very good advice. Certainly worth trying before replacing ballasts or fixtures as I suggested. I kinda jumped ahead there...

I would add that 'Quad shield' cable might be worth the extra money if the problem is RF interference.

 

[sajohnson]

..
... 1,000 CD Juke Box

I know you're joking but assuming the person just wants to listen to music (not news, weather, etc) and has the CDs, a 200 or 300 CD player can be had pretty cheap.

Another option is to rip CDs to a hard drive and use iTunes to play them.

A third option would be to use one of the free music streaming sites like Pandora.com or Grooveshark.com.

 

[Brad1234]

I have had the same problem in my workshop since I built it 3 years ago. It has 8- 8ft t-8 fixtures & it totally screws up any radio. I have tried different radios, car radio, battery radio it just doesn't matter. My house garage, which is my former, workshop has 6- 8 ft t-12 fixtures & was never a problem. I have tried outside antannaes & RF filters & they were no help. I have decided that the only way I am going to solve this problem is to **** it up & replace them all with T-12's. Anybody want to buy some nice t-8 light fixtures, bulbs included?

 

[jdieter]

Is it the fixture or the difference between magentic and electronic ballast's?

 

[Tom McDermott]

Electromagnetic Interference emissions (EMI causing RFI, TVI, etc) from Fluorescent lighting is controlled by FCC Part 18. The regulation for EMI radiated and conducted emissions ( Part 18 subpart C sections 18.305 para (c) and 18.307 para (c) ) allow a greater amount of interference for non-consumer (i.e. industrial) usage than it does for consumer (i.e. residential) usage.

Look for 'low EMI' or 'consumer' or 'residential' compliance on the packaging or manual.

At one time a Home Depot I was in only had non-consumer devices (the fine print on the box said 'not for Residential use'. Hopefully the selection is broader today.

 

[RonB]

I had the same problem with new lites.Remove the cover on one of the lites and get the ballast number and manufacturer.There will also be an 800# to contact them.They sent me new ballasts with no questions asked.I think the manfacturer was accupro.They were very good to work with.

 

[Doc46]

I, too, just joined because of this thread after lurking awhile and sucking up the info. I've had the same problem with the Home Depot T8's. I called Accupro tech support;the girl asked me right off if I got these from H.-D. She said I had to replace the ballasts with residential. Today I went to H.-D., talked to guy at pro desk;He called lighting guy. The lighting guy says no difference between ballasts other than voltage. We went back to light aisle to look at ballasts; the first one he hands me says on instructions "not for residential use". I found some next shelf down said "residential". Turns out the original ballasts said they meet FCC rating for non-consumer use. To H.-D.'s credit, they exchanged my ballasts with the residential rated ones. I hooked one up- no noise. Only problem is, the light output is much lower. I guess I'll take the bad with the good: at least now I can listen to the radio!

 

[eastbaysubaru]

I'm in the same boat but my lights were purchased over a year ago so I think I'm probably SOL as far as getting replacement ballasts from either the manufacturer (Lithonia) or Home Depot. Has anyone purchased replacement ballasts? If so, did they solve the problem? Link to purchase online?

-Brian

 

[Kev442]

Whew! Looks like I dodged the bullet buying my T8's at Menards. I actually pulled the T12's due to radio interference and the 20 T8 4' fixtures I put in have no problems at all (so far!)

 

[StarWolve]

I have the same issue in my garage. Luckily, all the local radio stations that I listen to have web streaming. It might be a bad ground, but I'm going to be building a new garage next year anyways, so I'll live with it for now.

The lights were GenLyte Thomas, Day-Brite Lighting, and the model # was TT232-UNV - they are T8's in a 8' long configuration, with 2 rows of 4' tubes per fixture (4 bulbs per fixture.) The quantity was 6 for the garage, spaced in 2 rows of 3.


It was also discussed in this thread:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39365&showall=1

 

[Big Bad Dad]

I have nine 8 ft double T12 fixtures in my garage. These are old lights that I salvaged when we remodeled an old K mart back in the late eighties. I have an old stereo, complete with 8 track player on top of my paint cabinet. I can play the FM, but the AM goes nuts when the lights are turned on. Now I have a "boom box" that I rescued from a dumpster that I use to listen to my AM talk radio with no problems.

 

[280 norris]

Same problem t-8s from Lowes.

 

[c39er]

I have 24 old mid 1980's double 8' HO fixtures that I put in my metal pole building shop in 1991.The ballasts have never failed and the radio works fine on all FM and a few AM. I replace about 4-5 bulbs a year. I am going to buy 10 cases of bulbs in the next month-so I can keep them going for the next few years. These bulbs are phased out at the end of the year? I don't want those CHINA fixtures and their possible short life span.

 

[Malibu78]

I, too, just joined because of this thread after lurking awhile and sucking up the info. I've had the same problem with the Home Depot T8's. I called Accupro tech support;the girl asked me right off if I got these from H.-D. She said I had to replace the ballasts with residential. Today I went to H.-D., talked to guy at pro desk;He called lighting guy. The lighting guy says no difference between ballasts other than voltage. We went back to light aisle to look at ballasts; the first one he hands me says on instructions "not for residential use". I found some next shelf down said "residential". Turns out the original ballasts said they meet FCC rating for non-consumer use. To H.-D.'s credit, they exchanged my ballasts with the residential rated ones. I hooked one up- no noise. Only problem is, the light output is much lower. I guess I'll take the bad with the good: at least now I can listen to the radio!

Do you remember what the part number was on the original one that came with the fixture? I just bought a new 4 bulb T8 from HD tonight to try and cure the radio issue at my shop. If its noisy I'll be heading back up there to exchange the ballast.

 

[Malibu78]

One thing I just saw on my HD Lithonia 4 bulb wrap fixture

*For residential use - does not interfere with electronic equipment

The separate ballast they sell state *ETL Listed: NO meaning it does not comply with US Standards

 

[olytdi]

Three years of this thread and no one's stumbled on a good fix. I just happened on this thread and thought "Hey that's my problem with radio reception." Same deal as others -- HD four tube fixtures (ten of them). Can't use the radio unless it's at the window and the earth is tilted just so...

I'll be moving an old 1980's stereo system (bodaciously loud and powerful) and see if an externally-run antenna will work.

Wish there was a simple fix.

 

[Unearthed]

I installed two T8, 8ft. fixtures in my shop and it made the radio useless. I removed the antenna from the radio, slid a car radio antenna plug into it and ran CB coax outside to a CB antenna attached to my heating oil tank. Problem solved.

 

[Malibu78]

Found it!
I just installed new ballast into my T8 4 bulb fixture and the problem is gone. And to think I spent the last few years just dealing with it and listening to Pandora.

AccuPro ballast - AP-RC-232IP-120-1; This ballast is for commercial use only (meaning its not electronics friendly)

AccuPro ballast - AP-RC-232IP-120; SAFE for all residential use - RADIO FRIENDLY (ie Electronics friendly)

The -1 ballasts will not have a ETL Raiting while the residential ballast are listed as ETL Listed : Yes


If these numbers don't correspond with your ballast, call the manufacture and find out if its rated for residential use / Electronics safe.

 

[Brianw]

Same here... 15 T8 lights from Lowes.. lights off, perfect radio. Lights on, all I get it static!! I took the cover off and the sticker on the ballast said cooper lighting with a 1-800 phone number so I called it and talked to there tech dept. I gave them the number off it and they said it was not one of there's!! Said they don't sell there ballasts at lowes!!? I told the guy, well I bought 15 of them from lowes and they all have your sticker on them... really didn't get an answer on that question but he did tell me the the ballasts were probably commercial and I need to go buy residential ones so I can listen the the radio... what a crock, think I paid $35 or so a piece for these lights, then bought 30 T8 bulbs. Now I gotta spend $20 X15 to be able to listen to the radio!! This is BS!!! Why do they even sell these commercial ballasts? Don't people in "commercial" building listen to the radio? What about radio communications?
My lights even mess up the TV in the house!!

I tried attaching a external antenna to my Bose radio and took it 35ft outside and it did not help at all. Might be that I need to take the radio apart and disconnect the internal antenna...? Might work... I dunno.

 

[olytdi]

That's rediculous! Replace all of the ballasts? HA. I don't know about you but putting up my 10 fixtures was quite a job 12 feet up...this is very frustrating.

 

[StarWolve]

That makes sense for why mine interfere as well - I bought commercial units for my garage. I'll have to keep that in mind when I build the new garage.

 

[RonB]

Please read post #58,accupro sent new ballasts with no hassles.

 

[HeyNow^]

New fixtures in my one year old Pole Building installed by electrician. Same problem. Here is what I did to solve the problem. I had some shielded COAX laying around. Ran it from my receiver antenna connection, strung it out the door about 35 feet from the building and attached it to a set of rabbit ears I had laying around. Static free now. I just wrap the coax back up and set in inside my building. Pain, but better than farking with new lights 12 feet above the floor. Give it a try, you have to move the antenna far enough away from the lights interferrence. Worked for me.


Good luck.

 

[Strawboss]

Hello All,

I have the same problem. Flip my new T8 lights on and radio gets all fuzzy. I can get some stations, but definitely less than before with my old T12's.

New T8's are from Menards. I have (8) American Fluorescent 4 bulb 8 footers ST240-8RSE8 for about $40 each. Ballasts are Keystone KTEB-432LBF-1-TP-PIC. Keystone has specs for these ballasts on their website. Website says "Meets FCC Part 18 (Class A) Non-Consumer Limits". I found some other ballasts on their website that says Class B residential, but they use 1.51 amps instead of the 0.93 amps of the ones I have.

It would be nice to stick with the lower power consumption, but I would really like to be able to get all the radio stations again. I am going to call American Fluorescent and Keystone on Monday to talk to them. American Fluorescent's website says to correct the condition with a "radio interferance filters". I have been looking on the web, but there is nothing really straight forward that I have found.

My radio is an old Kenwood receiver which in its time was pretty high end. Prolly an 80's unit I would guess. It has 75 and 300 ohm FM antenna inputs and separate AM antenna input. I messed around with the antenna a light bit with no luck. I was just using some old speaker wire for my current antenna.

If anyone has a good fix for this besides getting residential ballasts, a post would be much appreciated.


Thanks!

 

[Cobra6]

I have a friend who got the Lithonia Lighting T-8 tandem units from HD -
He hooked them up, radio sounded like "50 pounds of bacon frying".

He called the number on the box and they sent him new ballasts, so he replaced them all when he installed the rest of the lights - a little hassle, but not too bad.

 

[raddksn]

find out what breaker# the lights are on. if on even# breaker plug raido into odd# breaker odd#'s are (a) incoming line even #'s are (b) incoming line

 

[TommyD]

Look for 'low EMI' or 'consumer' or 'residential' compliance on the packaging or manual.

DING DING DING!

Here's the answer. Look at your ballast and see what it's intended purpose is.

I had my gay-raj wired by a professional sparky. I installed a killer sound system and, turning on the lights to admire my work, BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! I brought in a battery operated radio so I could listen to something while figgering out the problem and when I got within 5 feet of my gay-raj BZZZZZZ! OK, got my car and backed in the gay-raj for tunes, get past the metal doors and BZZZZZZZZ! WTF!? I found this thread and tried EVERYTHING, co-ax wire for antenna, movine the stereo here and there, RFI filters in the radio wire...you name it. I finally got tired of listening to my 8 tracks (yeah went with them instead of cassettes) and cassettes and went ahuntin' on the internet and found this thread. I saw Tom's reply and swished through the rain to my gay-raj, ripped apart one of my 6 T8 tandems, tore out the ballast and putting on my strongest reading glasses, read the words. Right there it said COMMERCIAL. I called Sylvania and upon talking to Ester she said it's none of Sylvania's issue, talk to your electrician. I got a call in to see how WE can fix this. I paid him for a proper install and he got the lights his supply house gave him.

I also just bought a plug and play fluorescent light made by Lithonia from Home Cheapo that caused my radio in my gar-aje to go BZZZZ. I took out the screws holding the chain to the joists and put it back in to the box. I'll bet my left wire nut that it's got a commercial ballast in it.

Thanks to all you who posted on this thread and thank you Tom for the direction.

You REALLY need an intro forum here. Thanks for having me.

 

[PassnThru]

DING DING DING!

Here's the answer. Look at your ballast and see what it's intended purpose is.


You REALLY need an intro forum here. Thanks for having me.

The intro forum is actually on this section - look up at the very top and you'll see 'Introduce Yourself Here'. Yeah - I did the same thing.
People need to go to a local electrical supply house. They took care of me and the price wasn't that bad. I've got 8 Lithonia fixtures - each with 4 bulbs. And absolutely no radio interference. Really - I probably got lucky because I didn't even know this could be an issue when I bought my lights. What I did know at the time, from experience, was that the lights at Home Depot and Lowes had given me one problem or another many times before.
I believe it's fairly obvious at this point that the ballast is the issue in the majority of these cases and it could have been avoided by not buying the cheapest lights that could be found.
Sadly - no one is going to find this thread in time because they aren't searching for the problem before they buy the lights - only after.