hid headlight causing cb problems

[Atoolnut]

Went on a group ride to Adirondacks this weekend...I had installed hid headlight but had never used the cab since install....found that with hid lit the squelch had to be turned almost all the way to 20 to reduce intereference..with hid off squelch worked at about 4-7 setting......there must be a high frequency interference from hid...any thoughts on what parts/resistors etc to stop this ...or would relocating hid ballast as far away stop interference..but not a lot of free wire to play with

Thanks for any info

Les

[Old Miner]

Ditto to that but with poor radio reception.

 

Toss a coin good lighting or bad radio reception...... Perhaps that's why they still have the cassette fitted.

 

Old Miner.

[dacheedah]

I had intermittent squelch but it seemed to be nearer to big cities and I didn't think of the HID, now I gotta look at that.

[djh3]

HMMM Maybe that splains why I get mostly gooble de gook on mine. I have had the HID in it almost since I bought it. Never tried the CB untill about 6 months after I got the bike. Maybe I'll have to try the turning off the light trick and see if its any better.

Does it buzz or pop or anything? Or just seems to be short on distance?

[Atoolnut]

Buzz and as if there was no squelch turn squelcj all way up you lose distance as well

[dacheedah]

let us know where you relocate to, I installed mine on the left side inside the fairing, actually bolted to the radio.

[djh3]

Yup me too.

[Atoolnut]

That's were mine is as well..what a out some kind of reflective material would that stop interference or resistors???

[ragtop69gs]

Does the ballast get hot and need free air flow ? If not you could try putting it in a lead lined film storage bag like the ones used to protect photographic film from air port x-ray's. That may contain the interference.

[Atoolnut]

Where would you find that...eBay?? Film protector

[ragtop69gs]

Where would you find that...eBay?? Film protector

 

I'd start there. Although I'm not sure it will block the RF that's causing the interference.

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/185375-REG/Domke_711_15B_Film_Guard_Bag_Large.html

 

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Domke-711-12B-Medium-Filmguard-Black/dp/B00009USZ7]Amazon.com: Domke 711-12B Medium Filmguard Bag (Black): Camera & Photo@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31cFsbBgUJL.@@AMEPARAM@@31cFsbBgUJL[/ame]

 

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Sima-Fss-Super-Filmshield-Rolls/dp/B002EASXVW/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1370969198&sr=8-5&keywords=lead+film+bag]Amazon.com: Sima Fss Super Filmshield (22 Rolls: Everything Else@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51EnikULCsL.@@AMEPARAM@@51EnikULCsL[/ame]

Edited June 11, 2013 by ragtop69gs

[dacheedah]

Now that I have read up on it I see that I should run my ground back to the battery and not to the frame as I have it.

[Condor]

Probably the same reason florencent lights screw up AM stations on the radio???

[dacheedah]

Thank God I never tried to run fluorescents then

[djh3]

I have to suspect the unit gets hot. Thus the reasoning for heat sink type construction.

[Condor]

Thank God I never tried to run fluorescents then

 

Hmmm?? Good thing huh?? I thought HID's ran a ballast like a flourescent. I guess I was mistaken....

[csdexter]

The principle is the same, execution different.

 

A CCFL lamp ballast will simply use a charge pump (DC-DC converter) design to make more volts from less volts so that it can strike the arc and then it simply regulates the current going through the tube.

 

A HID lamp ballast has two circuits in one: one of them is the igniter, which is similar to what a photo flash would use and the second one is the actual ballast. CCFL would use a high voltage (100-200V) with a very low current, whereas HID would use a lower one (50-60V) with a lot more current. Also, the current excursion (cold vs. hot) of HID lamps is much larger than that of CCFL lamps.

 

Having said that, the fact that your radio doesn't pick up ignition noise during normal bike usage means that shielding is indeed possible, just needs to be thought out properly. Bolting the HID ballast on the radio box is, indeed, asking for trouble.

[Atoolnut]

Csdexter thanks for info ..will relocate igniter and ballast as far away as possible

[wes0778]

When I installed (what turned out to be a piece of crap) my HID, I used double sided auto trim tape and stuck the ballast to the large flat surface of the (sitting on the seat) right side of the inner faring. I cannot say if it did or didn't interfere with the CB, but it did not seem to bother either the AM or the FM part of the radio.

[djh3]

Even though mine is hanging on the bracket for the audio stuff it dont seem to interfear with FM or Aux input stuff. Like I said the CB dont get turned on much on mine, only a couple times since I have had it and I just haven figured out how to make it work worth using I guess.

[csdexter]

To clarify, by "ignition noise" I meant the noise produced by the ignition coils and spark plugs as they fire during normal engine operation. You don't hear that on the OEM radio, which means it was indeed properly shielded.

 

Now, about the HID stuff, making sure it has a shield around it is a good idea to boot. If it's a metal case, make sure you either bolted it to another metal part on the bike OR that you have a wire running from the case to a metal part on the bike. If plastic/composite case, then doing the old fashioned trick of wrapping it in tin foil and connecting that to the metal of the bike may help. Be sensible with the tin foil: one or two layers, don't make it into a bobbin

 

Moving on with the shielding discussion, putting the culprit in a metal can only helps with radiated EMI, but there is also the possibility (especially on cheap Chinese ballasts) of conducted EMI, which walks along the power lines and is picked up by everything on the bike. If outside shielding doesn't help, I would try inserting a noise filter on the power leads going to the ballast, as close to the ballast end as possible.

[dacheedah]

Mine does not effect am fm or aux inputs. I don't use the cb that much and it operated fine before installing hid's but now continuously and intermittently breaks squelch since installing it. I only use the CB on group rides but it does get annoying to hear constant rushes of white noise, I did move the squelch to 20. I paid for the upgraded ballast so I will try the noise filter and see if that helps. Maybe it's more of a phase loop looking at running the ground back to the battery, and grounding the case to the battery - vs the frame.

[csdexter]

Just for the sake of it: is it just that the squelch triggers erratically? Or is CB audio noisy too? I mean, if you try and speak through the CB with the HID on, do people hear you clearly or with noise (compare with HID on/off).

Same question for receiving: if somebody talks to you over the CB with the HID on, do you hear noise over their voice?

 

I'm asking because due to the fact that the audio system on the Venture is more complicated that your run of the mill CB transceiver, the "squelch" actually mutes the radio/cassette as well so it is possible that the interference caused by the HID only upsets the circuitry in the radio/amp (box in front) rather than the actual CB (box in the back).

 

As part of the noise filter install, I would check and try to place the HID as far away from the cable going to the CB as I can. By that, I mean the black cable that connects the radio/amp box in the front fairing with the CB transceiver box under the trunk. It should be the one with a yellow band on the DIN-13 connector.

[Atoolnut]

The cb transmit works fine with hid on ..the high setting on the squelch ..20.. still let's me hear close rider and transmit is OK....

High squelch reduces distance?

What kind of noise filter would work best...product ID..?..eBay sells a 'cb noise filter... http://www.ebay.ca/itm/380590586293?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649.....

Is this just crap

As stated I will move ballast as far from head unit and also run a separate ground wire back to battery .the hid is powered through a eastern beaver power dist block that runs all grounds together to a single wire to battery..perhaps too many ground wires is causing a ground loop interference..I will also ground ballast to frame as well?.

[dacheedah]

In my case i hear good clean rx , no engine whine or other noise, just the annoying white noise that cuts out the am fm