Here's one for the electrical/electronics gurus.Our new Wayne-Dalton iDrive garage door opener operates its associated light fitting via an IR beam: the opener proper installs right above the door, while the light fitting can be mounted to any convenient outlet within "view" of the opener.The light operated correctly when it was first installed, but then would sometimes switch on but not be able to be switched off except by killing the power to that circuit -- and even then the light would sometimes switch on and stay on as soon as power was restored.I called Wayne-Dalton Customer Service. The rep. asked whether we had fluorescent lights in the garage. I replied that we did but that the problem existed even when the fluorescents (CF) were turned off. The rep. then said, "We have found that fluorescent lights can interfere with infra-red sensors even when the lights are turned off." I told her I couldn't see how that could be, but there was no point in arguing, because she was only reciting her official spiel.They are going to send a new light unit and a new motor-control board (mine is an older revision, it appears), but . . .Please tell me that there's no way a switched-off fluorescent can interfere with IR circuits.Perce

"There is no way a switched-off fluorescent can interfere with IR circuits".Unfortunately, there are few absolutes other than death and taxes.The tube is a reflector - it could be reflecting other IR sources onto the detector.A warm, but switched off tube is still a source of IR.There are other straws, about as likely.It is, of course, pure bs. Even if it wasn't, garages often have them, so it should have been designed for. You could simply have argued that - and that the unit, by their own definition, was unfit for purpose, with an intrinisic, designed-in flaw. Unless their literature said not to be installed in the proximity of such lighting.In the UK, they would probably have asked if any other electrical equipment, eg washer, drier, freezer, etc was installed or used in the garage (which they often are) and blamed that...

Fluorescent lights interfere with Infra-Red devices even when switched off!?!?!?

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John Savage 20 years ago

Probably in your case, but not always. I live in a block of apartments. The building's stairwell and garage area lights are on a timeswitch--an old fashioned mechanical relay arrangement that goes THUMP when it switches on.

One cloudy afternoon as I felt my way down the stairwell in the half gloom rather than switching on a dozen lights just to go a few flights, out of the corner of my eye I imagined I caught a brief flash of light from a CF fitting I was passing under. Intrigued, I waited, and waited, and discovered to my amazement that every 4 or 5 minutes this globe would give a momentary low-intensity (to my eye) flash of light! It was just an ordinary CF globe that I'd installed.

I have not been able to come up with a satisfactory explanation for this. In case there was a leakage current, I made sure after that to always have at least one globe an ordinary incandescent.

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Daniel Prince 20 years ago

You could always unscrew the CF bulbs from the sockets and remove them from the garage. If you still have the same problem (I STRONGLY suspect you will) you will know for sure that their explanation was BS.

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Percival P. Cassidy 20 years ago

And I just noticed that the Revision Date on the manual is 10/06/04, whereas the DOM code on the unit is 0903. How on earth did W-D have this thing sitting around for a year before they boxed it up to ship out?

I've still heard nothing from W-D about my replacement parts, but I've emailed them and told them I hope to get a prompt response.

Perce

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Don Klipstein 20 years ago

I have found some CFs to flash from leakage current. Ones with glow switch starters (and magnetic ballasts) may have the starters very dimly glow or flicker a purplish color.

I saw this mainly when I tried switching a CF with the Radio Shack "Plug-N-Power" switching system. The receivers intentionally leak some current to detect whether a load is in place. I suspect CFs could even have extra wear from dimly glowing or flashing when "off" with the "Plug-N-Power" system, since their filaments will not be at the proper operating temperature. Starters may not like to be glowing all the time.

However, I do not expect the much lower leakage currents found elsewhere to cause much wear to fluorescents.

- Don Klipstein ( snipped-for-privacy@misty.com)

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Percival P. Cassidy 20 years ago

The replacement light unit and motor control board arrived today, but I haven't had a chance to install the board yet. It looks as though they've changed from IR control to RF control for the light: a loop on the circuit board where the IR diode was on the old one.

Still no replacement wall control; the newer ones have a "vacation lock" function, which I think could be very useful.

Perce

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Paul Hovnanian P.E. 20 years ago

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I think this might be the key.

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Paul Hovnanian P.E. 20 years ago

Do you have a CFL installed in the garage door light fitting?

Its very possible that the (electronic) ballast presents a load that the lamp control circuit (probably a solid state control like a Triac) can't handle.

Its not very likely that the interference is with the IR link but with the lamp control.

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Paul Hovnanian P.E. 20 years ago

Does the system operate correctly if you remove the CFLs completely?

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TKM 20 years ago

There is certainly no way a fluorescent lamp which is switched off can interfere with any type of control.

However, operating fluorescent lamps can interfere with IR controls. It doesn't seem to be a widespread problem, but I've heard about situations where IR controls used for TV and other A/V systems don't work in rooms with fluorescent lighting. The reason is the frequency of the IR signal. If it is close to or a multiple of the frequency that the ballast sends to the lamp, then the lighting signal will swamp the IR receptor.

TKM

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Percival P. Cassidy 20 years ago

On 09/09/05 03:11 pm Paul Hovnanian P.E. tossed the following ingredients into the ever-growing pot of cybersoup:

I didn't try that. I have now received and installed the free replacement light unit and motor-control board, and they work fine -- but the light unit is now controlled via an RF link instead of via the earlier version's IR link. So it's quite possible that W-D had enough problems with fluorescents in garages (surely a rather common situation) interfering with their IR-signalling system (when the fluoro. lights were ON) that they felt obligated to scrap the IR in favor of RF.

Perce

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Percival P. Cassidy 20 years ago

On 09/09/05 05:26 pm TKM tossed the following ingredients into the ever-growing pot of cybersoup:

I have now received and installed the free replacement light unit and motor-control board, and they work fine -- but the light unit is now controlled via an RF link instead of via the earlier version's IR link. So it's quite possible that W-D had enough problems with fluorescents in garages (surely a rather common situation) interfering with their IR-signalling system (when the fluoro. lights were ON) that they felt obligated to scrap the IR in favor of RF.

Perce

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Paul Hovnanian P.E. 20 years ago

[snip]

There is one more thing you can check, if you don't mind doing a little research just for the heck of it.

See if any of the lamp sockets into which the CFLs were installed have their hot and neutral leads reversed. The screw threads of a lamp should be neutral.

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Fluorescent lights interfere with Infra-Red devices even when switched off!?!?!?

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