LED bulds, and Garage door opener problems.

[42769vette]

I have searched, and cant find a solution, so I'm hoping someone here has one. I never even thought to check, but I just installed LED lights in my shop, and my garage door opener's wont work when they are on. These are the type bulbs that convert the T11 bulbs to LED, so I had to cut the ballast's out of the old fixtures, and direct wire. Since the Ballast's have been cut out, and thrown away, just going back to the original Tll bulbs would be very costly.

There has to be some way of changing the frequency on the opener, or shielding the opener. My original thought was I bought some 14GA wire, and extended the antena on my opener's to outside the building. That didn't work.

Thoughts?

 

[rkwhyte2]

I have searched, and cant find a solution, so I'm hoping someone here has one. I never even thought to check, but I just installed LED lights in my shop, and my garage door opener's wont work when they are on. These are the type bulbs that convert the T11 bulbs to LED, so I had to cut the ballast's out of the old fixtures, and direct wire. Since the Ballast's have been cut out, and thrown away, just going back to the original Tll bulbs would be very costly.

There has to be some way of changing the frequency on the opener, or shielding the opener. My original thought was I bought some 14GA wire, and extended the antena on my opener's to outside the building. That didn't work.

Thoughts?

Just kinda of a random thought but when you did the job is it possible that the opener lost it's codes while you had the power off. If this is the case then maybe all you have to do is relearn the remote.

 

[42769vette]

Just kinda of a random thought but when you did the job is it possible that the opener lost it's codes while you had the power off. If this is the case then maybe all you have to do is relearn the remote.

No sir. When I thought we had the problem figured out, I stood in the driveway, and had my wife turn on and off the lights as I hit the button. It worked perfect when the light switch's were off, and wouldn't work at all when they were on.

 

[Sigblitz]

I have boxes of new led fixtures ready to install in the garage. I didn't know that would be something to worry about.

 

[T.Lex]

Can you shield the base of the LED bulbs? I believe it is the controller that is emitting the interference. If you can limit that, it might work. You might start with the ones closest to the opener receiver.

Or, while likely more expensive, I believe they make LED bulbs that have better built-in shielding.

 

[dudley0]

Do you still have power to the opener when the lights are on? Does the opener work with lights on and the wired button?

I have installed a few of those bulbs, but only in commercial places that had no remote openers. Seems odd that the LEDs would have a frequency that would jam a remote.

I am intrigued and hope you share your findings.

 

[42769vette]

Can you shield the base of the LED bulbs? I believe it is the controller that is emitting the interference. If you can limit that, it might work. You might start with the ones closest to the opener receiver.

Or, while likely more expensive, I believe they make LED bulbs that have better built-in shielding.

How would I shield the lights? I know how to wire, but this is a bit above my pay grade.

They do make shielded bulbs, but best I can tell, they only make them for screw in lights, not tube style lights.

 

[femurphy77]

We used screw in replacement LED's for the two bulbs on our GDO without problem, perhaps small enough and low enough power to not interfere with the transceiver. Definitely making me rethink moving to LED's in our shop lights out there though.

 

[42769vette]

Do you still have power to the opener when the lights are on? Does the opener work with lights on and the wired button?

I have installed a few of those bulbs, but only in commercial places that had no remote openers. Seems odd that the LEDs would have a frequency that would jam a remote.

I am intrigued and hope you share your findings.

Yes I do. When the lights are on, direct wire button works fine. Once I had the problem, I googled it, and info on what is causing the problem is everywhere. The fix appears to be "don't use the lights" which doesn't work for me because of cutting out the ballast's. On one hand I feel like a moron for not making sure a product would work before installing, but on the other hand why the hell would I even consider this problem.

 

[42769vette]

We used screw in replacement LED's for the two bulbs on our GDO without problem, perhaps small enough and low enough power to not interfere with the transceiver. Definitely making me rethink moving to LED's in our shop lights out there though.

At least its helping someone. Had I know this, I would be a possibility I would have definitely stuck with the original lights, and changed bulbs/ballast's when needed.

 

[T.Lex]

How would I shield the lights? I know how to wire, but this is a bit above my pay grade.

They do make shielded bulbs, but best I can tell, they only make them for screw in lights, not tube style lights.

Yeah, I was afraid you'd ask me what I'd do.

So, honestly, I'd fold up some aluminum foil and wrap it around the end with the LED controller, or both ends. I'm not really familiar with the tube style lights, but I suspect the controller is at the ends, not in the middle. It'll look totally bubba'd, but maybe start by trying to wrap the ends of the fixtures with a couple layers of aluminum foil. See if it makes a difference.

If it helps, then play with it until you figure out how to make it discrete. If it doesn't help, well, all you've wasted is some time and pennies' worth of aluminum foil.


ETA:
https://emfacademy.com/aluminum-foil-emf-radiation/

 

[Fargo]

Did you use insulated/ shielded wire to run to your external antenna? You might try isolating your antenna as much as possible, and maybe using ferrite beads to further isolate it, although exactly how to do that is beyond my knowledge base. You might also try shielding the receiver housing.

Depending on how many bulbs you are talking about, I would probably try using insulated wire inside a metal conduit inside plastic conduit to the exterior and put up some grounded sheet metal around the unit housing.

 

[Rookie]

It shouldn't be all the fixtures that's causing the problem, it should be the ones closest to the garage door opener. Try disconnecting the closest ones and see if your garage door opener works. If it does, you have a few more options. Put the close lights on a separate switch or change them back. My garage door opener doesn't like the LED bulb that's installed in it. I just lay on the button until it opens, but it takes a while.

 

[indygunguy]

Wow, I think this thread just solved the mystery of why my garage door remotes quit working! Stupid LED bulb I put in the opener.

I love INGO.

 

[Rookie]

You might want to try talking to these guys and see if they can help.

Garage Door RFI Kits | RFI/EMI Solutions - Palomar Engineers®

 

[Fargo]

You might want to try talking to these guys and see if they can help.

Garage Door RFI Kits | RFI/EMI Solutions - Palomar Engineers®

That site appears to actually show how to use the aforementioned ferrites. If you go that route, please post up how you did it.

 

[T.Lex]

Wow, I think this thread just solved the mystery of why my garage door remotes quit working! Stupid LED bulb I put in the opener.

I love INGO.

INGO: a magically place where aluminum foil solves many issues.

 

[Fargo]

INGO: a magically place where aluminum foil solves many issues.

And uncoiled rice takes care of the rest...

 

[42769vette]

It shouldn't be all the fixtures that's causing the problem, it should be the ones closest to the garage door opener. Try disconnecting the closest ones and see if your garage door opener works. If it does, you have a few more options. Put the close lights on a separate switch or change them back. My garage door opener doesn't like the LED bulb that's installed in it. I just lay on the button until it opens, but it takes a while.

I have tested that. It appears that about 25 feet is the range. If the light that is on is 25' or over away from the opener then its not a problem.

 

[42769vette]

Did you use insulated/ shielded wire to run to your external antenna? You might try isolating your antenna as much as possible, and maybe using ferrite beads to further isolate it, although exactly how to do that is beyond my knowledge base. You might also try shielding the receiver housing.

Depending on how many bulbs you are talking about, I would probably try using insulated wire inside a metal conduit inside plastic conduit to the exterior and put up some grounded sheet metal around the unit housing.

I just used insulated #14 wire. So your saying insulate the hell out of the antenna?