Nowadays LED lights are popular in our daily life. Compared with halogen lights, they are more expensive, but they are energy-saving and much brighter with a long life span. Hence, many people prefer to pick these and use them in homes, public places, and jeeps.
When driving a jeep after getting off work, many people would like to listen to pieces of music and news on the radio. It seems like a good way for them to relax, but you will be annoyed with buzzing sounds after turning on the LED headlights. Such sound entirely ruins your good mood. If you encounter this problem, how will you remove these boring sounds?
Reasons for radio interference
We refer to these buzzing sounds as radio interference. Radio frequency conveys between 100 kHz-300GHz. Radio interference takes place when your radio receives the signals in this frequency range. Of course, in addition to LED lights, many electronic devices that are close to your radio also give rise to this problem, such as frog lights and door lights.
Find out the culprit
Since many devices are possible to bring about this problem, the next step we will do is to find out the source of causing radio interference. You can do it with an AM radio. You should make sure it is workable with new batteries. Switch to a station on the lower end of the dial and make sure there are no sounds emitted by the AM radio. Now it can be regarded as a sensing device. Bring it near every electronic device to look for the culprit. You cannot find out the source until you hear the buzzing sound.
Possible solutions to fix the radio interference
After you identify the culprit, choose a solution listed below to fix the interference depending on your jeep situation.
- Change the LED bulbs
If your jeep has been used for a long time, I think you need to upgrade your LED bulbs. You have to make sure the ones you buy are fit for the standard. Of course, high-quality LED bulbs are a little bit expensive, but they are durable. Picking the bulbs of well-known brands is your top choice because poorly-made LED lights are one of the common reasons for radio interference.
- Change the transformer
The transformer that powers LED bulbs may be a problem. Replace the old transformer with the high-quality one that offers better EMI suppression. But you should check the voltage of the LED bulbs before using this solution because this way cannot be used in LED bulbs of more than 12V voltage. You needn’t install a ferrite core after successfully changing the old transformer.
- Use shorter or shielded cables
Using shorter cables is another possible way. The longer your cables, the more unnecessary signals you will receive. This is one of the reasons causing more interference. But shortening the length of cables is just playing a role as an adjuster. It cannot remove the interference completely. You can also use shielded cables, which is an effective way you can adopt.
- Install ferrite cores
Ferrite cores are widely used in a variety of telephone lines, USB cables, and network lines to shield external electromagnetic interference. You commonly see these wrap around the cords of chargers for laptops. Now you can install them at the output or input of the transformer. They are easy to install and convenient to use. You just open them by unlocking the elastic clip fasteners and then wrap the power lines. After installing these, you will find the interference is eliminated and the quality of the signal is improved. At the same time, you needn’t worry about the price because they are cheap.
Conclusion
When you find LED lights interfere with your radio, you can try to use one of the solutions listed above to figure the problem. But if you think these are difficult for you, look for an experienced electrician who will quickly find out the culprit and handle the issue for you.