# PSA: LED Light Bulbs Can Interfere with HomeLink / Garage Door Openers



## Golden Gate (May 8, 2018)

On 42.4 I am noticing that the radio signal for the garage door opener is much weaker. When I am using the manual function from my car, tapping "garage" I have to get much closer to the garage than I did for prior versions, and if I'm aimed away from the garage (nose forward) sometimes it doesn't work at all. Anyone else noticing this?


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## LooseChange (Feb 22, 2018)

Golden Gate said:


> On 42.4 I am noticing that the radio signal for the garage door opener is much weaker. When I am using the manual function from my car, tapping "garage" I have to get much closer to the garage than I did for prior versions, and if I'm aimed away from the garage (nose forward) sometimes it doesn't work at all. Anyone else noticing this?


I'm just going to throw this out there.. I've mentioned this to 3other neighbors and it was root cause so what the heck. If you're using led bulbs in your garage door opener remove them and test again. Even unscrew other led anywhere in your garage. I found several of these interfere with the signal. You can't just turn them off but rather just unscrew them a bit to disconnect their leads.
I know it sounds crazy and I didn't believe it myself but I can reproduce this problem. It isn't consistent all the time and my original problem actually progressively got worse so I thought my opener was dying over a few months.
Try it for what it's worth. I'm still on 42.2 so can't test your theory out yet.


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## Golden Gate (May 8, 2018)

LooseChange said:


> I'm just going to throw this out there.. I've mentioned this to 3other neighbors and it was root cause so what the heck. If you're using led bulbs in your garage door opener remove them and test again. Even unscrew other led anywhere in your garage. I found several of these interfere with the signal. You can't just turn them off but rather just unscrew them a bit to disconnect their leads.
> I know it sounds crazy and I didn't believe it myself but I can reproduce this problem. It isn't consistent all the time and my original problem actually progressively got worse so I thought my opener was dying over a few months.
> Try it for what it's worth. I'm still on 42.2 so can't test your theory out yet.


Whoa!! You are a genius... just last week I replaced the bulb in the opener with an LED bulb...which explains why opening it is easier when I return home (light not on) than when I'm trying to leave (bulb on)....

I never would have figured this out on my own... thank you! Interestingly enough, there's been no change in performance for our BMW when it closes the door, just the model 3, so makes me think the transmitter in the model 3 might be weaker. Guess I'll go back to a CFL in the opener.


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## simpsonhomer (Aug 29, 2018)

Most-not all-LED bulbs operate in frequencies that interfere with garage door openers when they are in close proximity (e.g., on the opener itself). The major garage door opener manufacturers list compatible bulbs' part numbers (if you can find them).

I replaced my interfering LED bulbs with Genie bulbs that are designed for this purpose (look on Amazon). Expensive and overpriced but they work great. Regular bulbs and CFLs don't last long with the vibration in my experience.



Golden Gate said:


> Whoa!! You are a genius... just last week I replaced the bulb in the opener with an LED bulb...which explains why opening it is easier when I return home (light not on) than when I'm trying to leave (bulb on)....
> 
> I never would have figured this out on my own... thank you! Interestingly enough, there's been no change in performance for our BMW when it closes the door, just the model 3, so makes me think the transmitter in the model 3 might be weaker. Guess I'll go back to a CFL in the opener.


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

simpsonhomer said:


> The major garage door opener manufacturers list compatible bulbs' part numbers (if you can find them).


Yep. I remember seeing the warning about LEDs when I installed a new garage door opener last year.

I've been moving my CFLs to the garage (to replace incandescents) as I've been replacing the rest of the bulbs in the house with LEDs.


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## MelindaV (Apr 2, 2016)

LooseChange said:


> I'm just going to throw this out there.. I've mentioned this to 3other neighbors and it was root cause so what the heck. If you're using led bulbs in your garage door opener remove them and test again. Even unscrew other led anywhere in your garage. I found several of these interfere with the signal. You can't just turn them off but rather just unscrew them a bit to disconnect their leads.
> I know it sounds crazy and I didn't believe it myself but I can reproduce this problem. It isn't consistent all the time and my original problem actually progressively got worse so I thought my opener was dying over a few months.
> Try it for what it's worth. I'm still on 42.2 so can't test your theory out yet.


My opener has been on the fritz since this spring and never considered the LED lamps! I actually just went to Home Depot to pick up a couple CFLs (since when I changed out most all the lights in my house to LED, those all were recycled), and found out my state has a mandatory 'recycle' fee with each CFL purchase that was more than the cost of the bulbs themselves, so passed on them and will stop at a portland store tomorrow instead.
I had been assuming the blame of it not working well as from a couple metal clamps that are on the interior of the top door panel - thinking they were acting as antennas messing with the signal. 
When inside the garage, it works perfectly, but even just feet outside the garage sometimes takes multiple attempts.


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## Mosess (Sep 13, 2018)

LooseChange said:


> I'm just going to throw this out there.. I've mentioned this to 3other neighbors and it was root cause so what the heck. If you're using led bulbs in your garage door opener remove them and test again. Even unscrew other led anywhere in your garage. I found several of these interfere with the signal. You can't just turn them off but rather just unscrew them a bit to disconnect their leads.
> I know it sounds crazy and I didn't believe it myself but I can reproduce this problem. It isn't consistent all the time and my original problem actually progressively got worse so I thought my opener was dying over a few months.
> Try it for what it's worth. I'm still on 42.2 so can't test your theory out yet.


I have that issue with my garage doors as well. Great idea with replacing the bulbs to none RF ones. I had to set the homelink to close the garage door at 5ft away from it when leaving (very tight tolerance) due to the interference from the existing bulbs in the openers.


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## Mosess (Sep 13, 2018)

garsh said:


> I think you should try playing with the distance setting in the car's Homelink configuration screen before dismissing that possibility. I've noticed that the car activates the opener at a very different distance depending on whether I'm pulling in forward or backing in. It's not a very accurate measurement, and it's very dependent on orientation.


I think you may bee having a different issue with your garage door opener and it is RF interference. I figured this out a few months ago and never looked back. One of the threads here had a discussion about garage door openers and someone mentioned RF interference coming from the LED lights in the opener housing interfering with the remote signal. So I bought these RF free LED light bulbs for both my garage door openers (Yes they were ~twice the price of standard LED bulbs) and as soon as I installed them, I was amazed. My garage doors now consistently closes/opens every single time the HomeLink or our family hauler (XC90) tells it to.

Garage Door Opener LED Bulb, 100W Equivalent LED A19 Light Bulb, 1600 Lumens Ultra-Bright 3000K Warm White, Non-Dimmable, Standard E26 Medium Base, UL-listed, Damp Location rated, Pack of 4


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

Mosess said:


> I think you may bee having a different issue with your garage door opener and it is RF interference.


I think you meant to reply to the OP, not to me.

I avoided this issue by putting CFLs in my openers.


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## Mosess (Sep 13, 2018)

garsh said:


> I think you meant to reply to the OP, not to me.
> 
> I avoided this issue by putting CFLs in my openers.


You're right. 
Note on CFLs, they are not ideal as they contain mercury so upon disposal you have to be super careful not to break the glass and send them to proper recycling that handles these products, but smart of you to avoid the standard LEDs that interfere with RF.


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## JWardell (May 9, 2016)

...CFLs can have noisy supplies as well...


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

JWardell said:


> ...CFLs can have noisy supplies as well...


Interesting. I guess I got lucky with my current bulbs.


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## JWardell (May 9, 2016)

garsh said:


> Interesting. I guess I got lucky with my current bulbs.


It all depends on the supply design of the bulb, and they have probably gotten noisier as costs have fallen. Also, if it's on a dimmer or the door opener doesn't give it full power, the lights will probably be much noisier than on a non-dimmed line.
Unless you have a spectrum or EMC analyzer kicking around at home, you could use a phone app or your laptop to look at reported noise on your wifi signal strength. (On a Mac open Wireless Diagnostics, ignore the assistant dialog that pops up and select Performance from the Window menu) Watch the noise levels change as you walk around your garage and turn your lights on and off. If you don't see change, they probably aren't affecting wifi.


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## Rick Steinwand (May 19, 2018)

Whatever you do, don't buy these bulbs. My odds of my garage door closing only increased by 50%.


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## Wennfred (Jul 14, 2017)

This is the LCD light that came out of my Marantec 270 garage door opener. This caused interference with the Cars Homelink unit. I removed it and now the Homelink workings 100%, the problem I was having was when leaving the garage. Without this LCD light, I now get the message when leaving that the garage door will close after 30 feet.


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## Wennfred (Jul 14, 2017)




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