Need help from the forum minds please. We just installed LED shop lights, replacing the old style that used a ballast. 110v on the lights, fyi. Now the fm radio doesn’t come in, and I was told to get a noise filter for the radio, but not sure which one to get. Appreciate any help.

Did you replace neon tubes with LED tubes reusing the same fixture?

More info on the radio? Does it use an external antenna? If so, what is it? Where in relation to the lights?

Pictures would probably help.

That's odd - it is usually florescent lights that mess with radios.
Check your antenna.
FWIW, TERK powered antennas work fantastic -both on AM and FM.

We used original light fixtures, removed the old ballasts. And the radio is a standard boom box style radio, nothing fancy. The instructions on the led lights indicated that they could cause interference with the radio and that we would need a filter to remove the static. All housed in one room, about 20x8 ft. Radio just below the light fixtures, external antenna, the telescoping kind lots of them use.
We did a bit of searching, but not sure what kind of filter we need

If the LED light instructions mentioned a filter, maybe the manufacturer support site might have some info?

Manufacturers site didn’t give much info other than to use a filter to stop the interference, so was hoping others here might have had suggestions.

Maybe the tube LED lights act differently than LED bulbs(?). In my shop I have 10 ceiling fixtures with dual bulbs, which I replaced with LED bulbs. I also have two 4ft double tube LED shop lights over my work bench. I did have to move my stereo to a different place but I get no static. And I lengthened the wire antenna for best reception.

Have you considered moving the radio to a different position to see if that works?

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Wow, a topic that I know something about

Yes, LED lights cause noise for several reasons, often related to the power supply built into the LED fixture.

how far is the radio from the LED's? Can you move it further away? Distance is your friend.

Is the radio and the Light plugged into the same power strip/outlet/circuit? If so move one of them to another circuit. (this one is a long shot)


a "filter" for the FM radio won't do much good. If anything needs filtering it's the LED fixture or power line to it.

Sometimes a more directional antenna for the FM radio can help, but that may or may not be possible for you.

You can play around with snap on Ferrite "Beads" from e-bay for the Light's power line, but that too may or may not work, and can be another path to frustration, depending on how bad things are.

Not much area to move the radio, the lights span the entire length of the room, two fixtures each, 8ft bulbs, so four bulbs total. So the radio would still be close to the lights. Unless I put it close to the floor. Will have to check on the outlet, I believe they are separately plugged in, but will verify.
Like the LED lights, nice and bright, but would like to use the radio when we’re in there.
We just installed them Thursday, haven’t had much time to do much research, so was hoping the forum minds could lead in the right direction. Guess more searching is in order.
Extending the antenna isn’t too feasible either, as then it would be outside the room and exposed to elements.
We will figure it out eventually. Thanks.

Unfortunately this is an issue with LEDs. You can try a different brand, probably easier than anything else. It's hit or miss brand to brand and even lot to lot. Or try the Ferrite EMI filters radioman linked, those too will be hit or miss.

We will continue to search, will figure out a way eventually. Thanks everybody, appreciate all the feedback!

Radioman knows whereof he speaks in this instance.

To expand upon his comments: There are two paths for the interference: Airborne and through the power line. Could be one, the other, or both.

If it's through the power line the ferrite bead chokes he pointed-out may suppress it.

If it's airborne you're only option is to move the antenna away from the source of the interference.

Easy test: You say it's a "boom box" style radio. That implies it can operate on batteries. So try it on batteries. The power cord, if it's removable, should be removed. (Despite not being plugged into the wall, it can still act as an antenna of sorts.)

It's possible the lights you bought don't meet EMI (electro magnetic interference) standards for LED lamps,

You can try the ferrite beads they are made for that purpose, as discussed sometimes they work

But I would put it back on the manufacture, the fixtures should not be causing you a problem

Maybe even try a different brand of lamp or fixture and send those back

Well, radioman, and ensigmatic, thanks for that info. And rc, and others, appreciate it. Gave us better idea how to address this. The LED bulbs do meet specs, it’s just the confined space we are in which isn’t giving us enough room to move the radio farther from the lights. The ferrite filter might help.

Does your radio have any way of accepting an external antenna lead?

You may have to upgrade the radio. Get something that will accept a shielded antenna cable, and possibly mount an antenna outside.

Radioman and Ensigmatic are right on. FCC part 15 is a joke, and the ‘non-us-manufacterers’ Are all over taking advantage.

Try the chokes. Try distance to the antenna if you can. If you got these LEDs off of amazon, let it rip. A powerful negative comment seems to be the only thing that can shut these guys down.

It costs 30 to 40 cents per bulb to make these bulbs compliant. That’s a fortune x10M pieces... and a significant part of the local hourly wage.