Interference from Flood LED's

I installed the marine floods on my trim tabs, and also get a TON of RF interference on FM radio. iPod and Sirius are fine, FM is wiped right out.

I hope that the foil is the answer. It would be nice to listen to the radio at night while watching the fish feed!

All I had time to do was put the ferrite couplers on the wires near the end of my light bar (NOT next to the lights). No change except that it cured the problem of my RED FLOODS flickering when not selected. Tried grounding my light bar also but no help.

Next problem..... 1 of my 6 Blue LED Floods just crapped out with 1 hour service time, not 10,000 hours service time. I need to get a RUSH order here as I am going on a camping trip next weekend to show them puppies off.

Most of my experimentation is gonna take a while because I have no easy access to my lights. Will try smaller Ferrite Cores right next to the housings as I have time to pull them out, just not right now.

Posting this hoping Phil sees it........

I understand from customer service you are working on a fix which may include a factory redesign of these modules.

I beg of you to try and keep the same footprint if possible because my installation required custom machining to install these particular lights and I cannot re-do without extensive re-work and much labor and $$$ scrapping the old project and starting over.

Also........any relief for those of us who purchased the OLD ones if they come up with an improved version?

I would kind of like to be kept up to date on the status because if a re-design occurs, with a different foot-print, I'll need to stock up with many spares to keep my mod alive should you no longer carry these specific lights, as I had 1 light fail in the first hour and you are out-of-stock.

Thanks. Those lights are very cool by the way! Hope they stay on the market for a long time.

Hi Darryl:

Not sure why one of your Blue LED Floods went out, those are one of our most solidly built products, with a very low rate of failure. You can file for an immediate Warranty Claim at https://www.oznium.com/account , using the 'helpNow' feature, and just add to the comments you need it sent USPS Priority Mail, and we'll get that out as soon as possible.

In regards to the re-design, I'm personally currently working with the factory on isolating the issue. I've also been trying ferrite suppressors, and it seems regardless of their placement, the RF interference is being emitted from the unit, almost like a broadcasting signal of 1W.

RF Foil around the entire unit, and some length of the wire has proved to eliminate the interference, so it's definitely the entire unit that must be shielded. The reason why we haven't already had a new design, is because for exactly the reason you describe. We want to keep exactly the same footprint, whilst encasing the components in a shielded skeleton inside the unit.

For customers who've been expiring interference issues, in a month or so, we will be ordering a special test batch Flood LEDs we order will have the new IR shielding, and we will provide you replacements free of charge, under your existing warranty, with an upgrade to the IR shielded version. You can also assist in Beta Testing to make sure they're up to your standards (as I will be stress testing them also.)

Hope this clears things up, you needn't worry, we will try out best to keep the same exact design, and size footprint. I'm on the case, and will keep this thread updated. I can also be emailed directly at kris [@] oznium.com in regards to this issue, or any other problem you might need to bring to my attention.


Thanks,
Kris Slevens
General Manager & VP
Oznium LLC

Sounds like 'above and beyond' customer service. Thanks a million. I feel much better about my purchase. Good luck with the mods, I'd be glad to be part of the beta testing if you need me.

Darryl

Top notch customer service, that is why i like oznium.

KRIS

Was wondering if you have, in your testing, identified the particular frequency that the LED Floods are radiating? This might help to calculate the correct capacitor to try installing between the positive and negative leads to see if that might help.

Thanks.

Hi Darryl:

I've been talking to our factory, and as of yesterday, they've identified the problem. As I've asked them, they will be adding an internal metal skeleton to shield RF emitting from the unit. As a result, it shouldn't travel down the line either. Once the new batch / samples are in I'll disperse them to boat owners / owners (like myself) who've experienced the issue to beta them, before we into go production mode.

I'm not sure of the exact frequency, but after our factory creates a new model with an interior skeleton shielding, these problems should merely be shades of yesteryear.

Kris,

That is really great news!!!!!!!!

I went to considerable trouble and expense machining a stainless steel light bar specifically for these lights. They look GREAT and I am so glad a fix may be on the horizon, can't wait to get my paws on them.

These LED Floods are awesome. I can think of a million and one uses for them.

I'll post pics of my installation at some point.

Thanks Oznium for coming through!

Hi Darryl & Folks:

After much R&D from the factory, and the building of an internal RF shielding skeleton, we've gotten the samples in from our factory. So far tested on radios & TVs, no signal interference! An iPhone created more inference once we added the shielding mechanism.

Testing tomorrow on satellite radio & GPS, will keep you updated with details.

Good to hear. I thought mine were fine, and we finished wiring everything up (taking the boat out tomorrow) and flipped them on with my instruments and radio on, and they screw EVERYTHING up lol

Now I just need Phil to stop by and redo my one-off finished wood trim that houses two of those floods

FANTASTIC NEWS!!!!!

Can you please make sure and test around VHF radios also. I suspect you'll have no issues there either.

Exciting STUFF!!!!!!

Thanks Kris and everyone who put the time in to work on a resolution!

did the footprint end up being the same

diy_darryl wrote:

FANTASTIC NEWS!!!!! Can you please make sure and test around VHF radios also. I suspect you'll have no issues there either. Exciting STUFF!!!!!! Thanks Kris and everyone who put the time in to work on a resolution!

Same footprint, I'll have proper pictures taken by Danny. I'll also ask him to check UHF / VHF, but I think these are proper!

More details to follow as soon as they're available. Thanks again for hanging in there guys, and being quite understanding.

Been two and a half weeks since this thread was updated.

Just bumping to the top and asking if there is any recent news on this issue?

Thanks.

Got a sample from a different factory, and confirmed that they don't produce RF interference.

How well do those Floods fair out in the daytime?

Last thing I would want it to get rear ended, because someone cant see my brakes.

Daytime Pics?

Phil wrote:

Got a sample from a different factory, and confirmed that they don't produce RF interference.

Okay.....a sample from a factory other than the one you got the last RF-FREE samples from? It seemed testing was going well two and a half weeks ago but no further updates were given.

Still the same footprint, if these are indeed from a 'different' factory?

Do you know when these will be available?

We never got the sample from the first factory. There was a mis-understanding.

Still the same footprint, yep.

Just a guess, but I think they'd be available in about 8 to 10 weeks.

Killerzracing92 wrote:

How well do those Floods fair out in the daytime? Last thing I would want it to get rear ended, because someone cant see my brakes. Daytime Pics?

They do okay. I have been running them for about 3 months and I can see them clearly enough, I havent had anybody stop short on me and no problems with cops. I guess they are fine.

Just bumping to the top.

Waiting for the NEW lights to arrive.

Yep, thanks for the bump diy_darryl.

The factory says the RF free model heats up quite a bit more than the other one, which is obviously a problem. Still working on the fix.

Same here! Be nice to have the radio on without static every time I brake :p
Thanks for the update Phil

The old style gets about 120 to 130 degrees fahrenheit (which is OK), while the new RF free model is testing at 158 degrees fahrenheit (way too hot). The factory says they can't make the RF free model any less hot. So we're in a stalemate.

Phil wrote:

The old style gets about 120 to 130 degrees fahrenheit (which is OK), while the new RF free model is testing at 158 degrees fahrenheit (way too hot). The factory says they can't make the RF free model any less hot. So we're in a stalemate.

Never surrender!

I've never seen or played with one of those units, but I have a few ideas that might get you going in the right direction.

Being that the housing appears to be metal, I would assume you could probably go a LONG way in reducing this noise simply by connecting the ground of the "guts" to the metal case (if that has not been done already). It might not be perfect, but it is something that may not have been considered at this point.

If it is not metal... Maybe the inside could be shielded with some sort of Mylar or other conductive covering. Basically, anything you can do to improve the Faraday "cage" effect.

Maybe you can alter teh architecture in such a way that there is a very large ground plane between the components/signals and the LED. This can help shield some of the noise.

What frequency is the EMI radiating at? Is it focused in one range, or across the board? If there is one particular frequency causing you problems? A well selected cap on the line that drives the LED can do wonders if that is the case.

Are these LEDs being driven by a switching circuit, or are the driven by a DC-DC converter? I suspect they might be a switching circuit... but maybe you can convert these to a DC-DC type topology. Something as simple as a 7805, a few caps and a current limiting resistor.

I'm not sure what they are trying to do to reduce the noise that is increasing temperature...

If I had a little more details... I might be able to offer up a little better suggestions. Hopefully there is something in my ramblings to help you over the hump. I love engineering because it is fun to find a solution when none seem to present themselves.

Cartman

That is definately NOT GOOD NEWS!

I use mine in a marine environment so they are on all the time at night. This renders my VHF Radio and FM Radio unusable.

I spent a crapload of cash fabricating a custom Stainless Steel lightbar specifically to house 8 of these lights.

I think it is at least time for Oznium to place a warning on the product page divulging the fact that these lights emit RF interference. I am a bit torqued off now because had I known about the issue there is NO WAY I would have wasted my money!

I can't use mine either, the radios on the boat are deemed useless.


I'm waiting, hoping something will come out of this. A new footprint would indeed be a pain in the ass, since I also have a custom fabricated piece.

For the people that have used these for car applications are you have the same problem with interference? I'm thinking of mounting these on the inside of my xB's hatch to be trunk lights. Also they would be mounted on plastic trim. Anyone mount these on plastic and have the plastic warp or melt?

I have some mounted on the back of my tv using a dab of hot glue, and they have never warped the plastic, or made the glue hot enough to release.

Been a while since i posted but i have the led flood and use it for a light in my shanty for ice fishing and noticed the same thing radio going wacky when it was lit. Not so much a emergency problem for me but i would like a fix to listen to the tunes.

Kennymester wrote:

For the people that have used these for car applications are you have the same problem with interference? I'm thinking of mounting these on the inside of my xB's hatch to be trunk lights. Also they would be mounted on plastic trim. Anyone mount these on plastic and have the plastic warp or melt?

We had been using the same flood for a few years and only recently did a few people say there was interference on boats
I have never taken a CS call stating there were issues in cars and I know we have a lot of customers who use them in cars.

D A N N Y

What's the latest news on this issue OZNIUM?

Are we just out of luck with these defective LED's??????

We may have some more info very soon! I was just talking to D A N N Y about this yesterday.


We'll keep you posted, for sure.

The latest news from what I understand is that some samples arrived at the warehouse and are being tested and if they pass waterproof, heat, and RF tests we'll start production on a new batch.

I wouldn't really call the LEDs defective, they work just fine. But no worries if the RF interference causes some trouble, we can replace for you.

LOL! Well I suppose an LED's primary purpose is to emit light and these do a wonderful job at that so I suppose not 'defective', per se, but have a few undesirable traits. Fair enough?

Thanks.

Any word yet if the new led's past the test yet?

Phil,
While I commend you for trying to solve the RF problems; it is a little disingenuous of you to state they are not "defective". These Leds produce enough RF to cause potential marine safety issues. I also believe they violate FCC RF emission standards.
Maybe it is time to add a disclaimer to your advertising; "Not safe for marine applications".

CBHaws wrote:

Phil, While I commend you for trying to solve the RF problems; it is a little disingenuous of you to state they are not "defective". These Leds produce enough RF to cause potential marine safety issues. I also believe they violate FCC RF emission standards. Maybe it is time to add a disclaimer to your advertising; "Not safe for marine applications".

They are not designed specifically for marine, they work for marine.
So many of our products are able to be used in such a wide variety of forms.

Unfortunately the latest tests have gotten better with the RF, TRogers can comment as well.
There is still a small bit of RF.
Its because of the High Power LED itself, so we're trying to look for alternatives. Sure it is an issue we'd like to correct but the amount of people experiencing problems is very smallllll.
We will continue to work on the issue though

D AN N Y

The testing I have done with the new unit shows minimal rf emitting from the wiring, so they somehow choked that. But the actual unit itself is still emitting enough rf to drown out a radio signal if held near the antenna.