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LEDS causing odd Radio Problem

Pfatt2

Member
Morning all,

I replaced my incandescent landing lights with higher powered LEDs. When you hit the LED switch, the GNS430 immediately goes into receive mode and all you hear is static and transmissions (and you see the RX indicator on the radio).

You cannot turn this off with the squelch. It does occasionally go off byu itself but it returns just a moment later. Quite bizarre.

Any thoughts/fixes?

Thank you
 

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Name brand, source and price? Details.

Not bizzare nor higher powered, most likely. Cheap designs can be bright but are loud. Ferrite chokes might help, best to swap in known higher grades.

LEDs should be silent if suitable for planes or even a lawn tractor.
 
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Known Issue if not widely admitted

I went with the first generation of Zip Tips LED lighting. Very Noisy on two different radios. Went through LOTS of attempts to get them quiet over a couple years including ZipTip Gen II and III.

For me it was the power assembly and the wire powering the aft facing lights that was broadcasting the RFI. But others apparently did not have any problems.

I still have the noise whenever the brighter lights switch on or off. (Landing, Taxi. Strobe) But it is below squelch threshold these days so just perceptible with the squelch off. More so on one radio than the other.

Good luck, be patient!
 
Very Bizarre Ultimate Resolution

I have been ripping my hair out over this problem the entire day. I put the incandescent bulbs back in only to find that the3 LEDs were not what was actually causing the problem. Even when (sometimes) turning the landing lights on, the noise would be back. This problem really also only occurs when the engine is running. When you turn on the landing lights, the noise would return 50% of the time. Now, couple the above with the fact that my number 2 radio has not been working properly at all. The volume would simply not work. You could hear (ATIS) in the background, on the ground with the engine not running but the volume knob did nothing.

Long story even longer... I simply had to stick to the basics because I took delivery of this plane last week with none of these issues. I got no less than 9 totally differing opinions, all of which would have cost me a bundle. The only other electronic thing I did to this plane since I bought it was to insert a double-USB charger into the cigarette lighter adapter (which has a little blue light on it when you plug it in, and I had a 7" USB cable plugged into it). Low and behold, engine running and both radios not working properly, I simply unplugged the 7" cable and all the problems simply vanished. Both radios work completely as they are supposed to. Big fat lesson learned. Stick to the basics
 
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Wrap a magnet

I’ve wound the wires through a round magnet and was able to choke out the noise. Can’t remember where I got the magnet but it came in two halves and it just folded over.

Good luck on your fix.
 
I have been ripping my hair out over this problem the entire day. I put the incandescent bulbs back in only to find that the3 LEDs were not what was actually causing the problem. Even when (sometimes) turning the landing lights on, the noise would be back. This problem really also only occurs when the engine is running. When you turn on the landing lights, the noise would return 50% of the time. Now, couple the above with the fact that my number 2 radio has not been working properly at all. The volume would simply not work. You could hear (ATIS) in the background, on the ground with the engine not running but the volume knob did nothing.

Long story even longer... I simply had to stick to the basics because I took delivery of this plane last week with none of these issues. I got no less than 9 totally differing opinions, all of which would have cost me a bundle. The only other electronic thing I did to this plane since I bought it was to insert a double-USB charger into the cigarette lighter adapter (which has a little blue light on it when you plug it in, and I had a 7" USB cable plugged into it). Low and behold, engine running and both radios not working properly, I simply unplugged the 7" cable and all the problems simply vanished. Both radios work completely as they are supposed to. Big fat lesson learned. Stick to the basics

I’ve had the same issue. A high quality USB cigarette lighter adapter won’t make that noise. This is the one I got that’s quiet: Car Charger, Anker Quick Charge 3.0 39W Dual USB Car Charger Adapter
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01K9MQ...t_i_ZC4MBVAN133TARGXXDN7?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
 
OP Pfatt- thanks for saying- new to you plane and feedback that it was the USB charger.

LEDs and USBs can be louder than improperly shielded strobes and dead diode packs- the 2 legacy noises. Their switching power supplies are for some reason neglected from rfi/emi standards.
 
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