Lights Making TV Fuzzy???

[manny]

I got my lights all set up now in my canopy and put em on my tank and turned em on...and now my tv's all fuzzy. Anybody know why?

[Tim Marvin]

Are they plugged in the same outlet? If so try a different outlet.

[manny]

I thought it may have been that too Tim so I plugged my TV into an outlet across the room. Its still fuzzy though

[kaiser]

how close is the ballast to Your TV. Do You have any fans close to the TV.

[manny]

It's about 4 feet. Think I should move it?

[josh887]

check your fuse box that might help..

[Tim Marvin]

How old is your house? Do you have grounded outlets?

[manny]

Its about a year old apartment complex I'm living in and I've checked the ground with one of those ground checking devices and my outlets are grounded

[kaiser]

The antanna cable to Your tv routed along any ballasts or transformers of some kind? If it is try to reroute it or replace with a shilded cable.

[brewercm]

I'm guessing that these are electric ballast, if so make sure they are on a different circuit. The distance may be too close, you could try moving them.

[Tim Marvin]

I'll go with Kaiser, be sure no cables or wires touch from the TV to any of the tank equip.

[manny]

I think it is the antenna cable guys. I'm movin em around and rearranging em and the picture is getting better. I just need to reroute my cables. Thanks guys

[captexas]

1. If the outlets are in the same room, they are most likely going to be on the same circuit. Apartments and most houses will be like this as well unless the rooms are very large.

2. If the lights are on electronic ballasts, that is most likely the problem. Electronic ballasts emit "noise" into the air that can affect other electronic devices. This is a kind of electrical feed back. Many types of electronic equipment do this, but lighting tends to be worse. If your t.v. is on just a regular antenna and not cable, the antenna is most likely picking up some of this noise from the ballast. If your t.v. only acts up when the lights are on, that is the problem. You can try moving the antenna and the ballast further away from each other and definately try to find a different circuit for the ballast (may have to run an extention cord to another nearby room). This should help some, but no guarantee.

I install anti-shoplifting systems that work by transmitting and receiving a signal at a certain frequency. Basically they act as an antenna and electrical noise is always a problem, especially from certain types of lights and ballasts.

[kaiser]

You might even want to try a cb/ham rf interference filter. Get it from radioshack for $5.00.

[manny]

I'd only need that rf interference filter if I was using an antenna, right? The deal with my TV getting messed up was from the surge protector that I had my lights connected to was touching the cable going into my TV. Also, a cable I had routed around my room that is connected to my computer that runs to my TV was running right under my ballast box. It's not connected directly to my TV, it's connected to a switch that I can use to switch from my TV to my computer video o/p. I thought that was kinda weird that it was causing problems with my TV because the switch was switched to my cable and not my computer.

Here's another question I have. Will having my ballast box so close to my TV mess up my TV?? Do I need to move it even though it's not causing my picture to mess up now?

[Tim Marvin]

Shouldn't be a problem that I know of.

[brewercm]

Only problem I could see is if it's still causing interference like Chris said. Shouldn't mess up your television itself just the picture. Now if you place a magnetic ballast right next to it that would be different, but your screen would turn green (if regular tube type).

[kaiser]

Put the rf filter on your tv antenna in connector and hook Your cable to it. that way You can cut out most interference picked up by the cable. If You have herringbone like pattern in you tv picture You need a FM filter. If You have EMI (Electro Magnetic Interference) You atre on your own. I have not seen a filter that works good. If You think Your ballast may be too close to the TV look for distorted lines in the picture.

[Andrew]

Personally I'd ditch the tv :lol: , reef tanks are more fun to watch.

Andrew