Electronics question?

[Rgsa8892]

We have our 2015 Salem 31QBTS in a campground that doesn't have very good radio reception The factory stereo seems to lose signal more and more as we turn on lights or any other DC powered devices I think the factory power converter isn't strong enough to handle the load is there another way I can power the factory stereo/DVD player other than with the built in inverter
I tried a signal booster but it's DC also and hooked to the same power supply so it didn't make a difference
Any suggestions???

[clr]

I would look behind the unit and ensure that the antenna is connected properly and tightly and is separate from the nest of other wires behind the stereo first. I really do not think the dc power is the issue here, the stereo uses very little power, but check the dc power cable connections also when you have the stereo out.

[Rgsa8892]

I checked all that when I put the signal booster in but when I turn the radio on it's fine as you turn a light on the signal starts to fade away turn another light on and it fades even further that's why I'm thinking its the power

[oxcamper]

Are the connections to the power inverter from the stereo correct and not reversed?

[Rgsa8892]

Yes I'm familiar with wiring stereos

[Jim Schings]

I am an EE with lots of experience with consumer electronics. I have to say, that your symptoms, if I understand them correctly are VERY strange. In the case of low power, the audio would be the first symptom. (distortion or lower volume). Adding a lamp etc to the load, would hardly make any difference in station reception. It would probably require a drop of 4 volts or more for it to bother the RF reception. If that were the case, you would certainly notice a drop in the lamp(s) brilliance. In any case, the first thing would be to check the voltage to the unit. With no other loads and then keep measuring as you add loads. As a matter of interest, does your FM and AM do the same thing? Any other devices that use this stero? CD's etc. I would try that.

[jgourlie]

What kind of light bulbs do you have??? Are they LED??

[JLeising]

Several forum members have reported that some LED lights have internal drive circuitry that emits sufficient RF to interfere with radio and/or TV reception.

[Jim Schings]

Yes, it COULD be RF issues with LED drivers, however the OP said with ANY DC powered loads.

[leefl]

Sounds like perhaps the inverter itself (if the stereo is 110v powered) or the 12v power supply (which I'm guessing is what you really mean) may be outputting a lot of electrical noise (especially when under heavier load) which is interfering with the radio signal. You could try putting an RF choke on the supply to the stereo.
It may even be that there's a faulty capacitor on the 12v output stage of the psu causing the extra noise.

[Rgsa8892]

All the electronics including the lights that I am talking about are all DC

[leefl]

Have you tried seeing if there's a difference when running off just the battery (without shore power), rather than when hooked up to power?

If my suspicion is correct, and it's due to noise from the 12v power supply, then you wouldn't get the same symptoms when running only off battery (since you wouldn't be using the power supply then)

Try that and let us know what you find.

If that does make a difference then it's possible that there's a fault with the power supply (likely a blown electrolytic capacitor on the output stage), that you'd need to get fixed

[KyDan]

Put a volt meter on the back of the radio and watch it as you turn on
more and more lights! I'm also thinking its RF interference rather than
low voltage but low voltage is the easiest one to check.

Run a temporary power wire from the back of the radio directly to
a battery- preferably one that's not in the trailer.
Turn on the lights- see what happens....

[Rgsa8892]

So can I just unplug from the shore power or do I need to direct wire to a battery

[leefl]

Originally Posted by Rgsa8892

So can I just unplug from the shore power or do I need to direct wire to a battery

Just unplug from shore power
You should have your 12v stereo and lights automatically powered from battery, which should be fine for the test

The battery won't give out any electrical/RF noise itself, so we should be able to confirm whether it's the power supply causing your issues from the results of the simple test

[Rgsa8892]

I'll try that next weekend when I go back up thanks

[Kuba]

Look into a device called RF choke. I had similar problems with my LEDs, no driver for them, nothing. As soon i would turn them on my radio would stop working. If you are familiar with stereos/car stereos they used to come connected to red/power terminal. They look like transformers, but only have two wires coming out of them. That will eliminate RF at the radio. If you are having problems in general with DC, its the switching power supply built in, ac to dc. All of them are noisy, some more some less, hth.

[Kuba]

X2 on what leefl said

[Flybob]

My money is on interference from the drivers in the LEDs. Most of the LED modules used in RVs have driver circuits that operate at Radio Frequencies. If your unit was equipped with cheap Chinese LED modules that use inferior ( noisy) drivers, they will overwhelm the input circuitry in the radio reducing sensitivity.

[Kuba]

This is what you need my friend...