Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

LED Headlights Killing Radio Reception?

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
IslandRoadster

IslandRoadster

Former Owner of #609
Nov 24, 2018
453
387
Bainbridge Island, WA
#1
Hey everybody! Took #609 to Carl's. Been having this terrible radio reception problem (effectively no reception). I was convinced it was a short in the antenna, but Randy, Carl's son who is doing the work, is convinced my LED headlights are killing radio reception. I'm not convinced.

Anyone heard of this? Solutions?

Here are the lights I bought: 005 Super Bright Headlights 9005 35 watt - $219.00
SKU: LLL9005-3200 from Lifetime Led Lights.

Have not seen any information saying they cause said interference, but figured that the braintrust here on TMC would know far more than I do.
 
#2
Yep... I can confirm.

There's another thread here about converting to LEDs and someone had mentioned that it interferes with the reception. I kind of doubted it, until I installed my LEDs. I still get strong local stations, but the out of town ones are toast. I don't think it is the LED itself, but rather the cooling fan on them. I don't know of any fix... just live with it. I don't drive the Roadster much at night, so not that big of a deal for me. If you do find a fix, please post here.
 
  • Helpful
Reactions: IslandRoadster
#3
hanknum said:
Yep... I can confirm.

There's another thread here about converting to LEDs and someone had mentioned that it interferes with the reception. I kind of doubted it, until I installed my LEDs. I still get strong local stations, but the out of town ones are toast. I don't think it is the LED itself, but rather the cooling fan on them. I don't know of any fix... just live with it. I don't drive the Roadster much at night, so not that big of a deal for me. If you do find a fix, please post here.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I’ll keep the group posted.
 
#5
bolosky said:
I have a custom set of super bright LEDs that Carl put together. I haven't noticed any difference in radio reception, which is to say FM is OK and AM is pretty much useless.
Click to expand...

Hi Bill, we used very high-quality LED parts from the best supplier in the world.

The headlight parts in 609 were customer-supplied. They are of good quality but they don't have the filters and resistors needed to stop the hissing in the speakers.

Complaint: The customer complaint was limited to no AM radio reception and to make this worse the station is of the smaller variety and broadcasts with low power. AM radio reception is something I have had to deal with for decades, and back before all the high tech.

Cause: Roadsters have zero antennas and use a coax cable to collect the signal.

Correction: We resolved the complaint with a powered antenna. The reception is very good now. Adding a powered antenna fixed the reception. Bulbs are still a problem but no longer ruining his AM radio time
 
#6
This is not a roadster or headlight specific issue. The electronic components that drive LEDs can cause interference. My first experience was when i put led bulbs in my garage door opener and it stopped responding unless i was right underneath it. So extremely plausible the lights are interfering with the radio.


From chamberlain:
  • LED light bulbs*
    • *If you are experiencing range issues after installing an LED light bulb, remove the LED bulb and check to see if the range on your handheld remote controls has returned. If this resolves your issue, replace the light bulbs with CFL bulbs, or use a higher-quality LED light bulb.
 
#9
DrComputer said:
Radio? Who uses the radio anymore? :) I don't think I've ever tried the radio in my Roadster. Since I have the stock JVC system is has an internal hard drive and I just loaded it up with a bunch of music so that's what I listen to. The Roadster isn't really a conducive environment for audio listening anyway.
Click to expand...

When you spend a lot of money and a function does not work anymore you kind of have to wonder if something went wrong; Also it kinda stinks if all the functions do not work on your radio when it should. Especially if it's set to radio when car turns on you can hear the static.

I honestly have no clue; You said they replaced the antenna and power so really have no clue why it's not working. Did they go back into your dash or remove your dash for a second time to replace the antenna?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Back
Blog
New
Forum list
Marketplace
Menu