LED brake lights in tour-pak Cause radio static

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07-19-2018 | 05:05 PM

jmeyer58

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From: NW Suburburbs of Chicago

LED brake lights in tour-pak Cause radio static

I looked through the forum and didn’t see this specifically. I have been replacing my lights with LED’s as needed. I had a burned out running light/brake lights on the tour-pak and figured why not toss in LED equivalent. The next day I went for a ride and couldn’t get my radio to tune in local stations, lots of static like the antenna was disconnected. Got home and found that when I went to accessories (no lights) radio cleared up. Oh well, back to incandescent bulbs for now and the problem is fixed. Anybody know of affordable lights that don’t have this problem.

Last edited by jmeyer58; 07-19-2018 at 05:06 PM. Reason: clarifying

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JD Holbrook (02-09-2020)

07-20-2018 | 08:45 AM

larsfum

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From: On a Lake, not far from the Gulf

Try adding a ferrite choke to the wire leading from the TP lights. Place it, or them as close to the LED lights as you can.

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JD Holbrook (02-10-2020)

04-28-2023 | 03:34 AM

cyrus799

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Joined: Jun 2022

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From: US

There's a chance that LEDs are not the only source of car radio static when the lights come on. Instead, the power source itself might be the issue.
It can be the transformer or the driver. Therefore, you will need to replace them in order to avoid static when you turn on the lights.
Understanding how LEDs function is also useful. LEDs rely on Power Width Modulation to produce light. It flickers and pulses. It produces an electric signal when it pulses. This may then have an impact on the radio. And this might be the cause of the radio's signal loss when the headlights are on.

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