Simultaneous failures of remote controls

[David Utterback]

Yesterday, the dust collection remote control in my shop failed. A few minutes later, my wife said she was unable to close the garage door using the remote in our car. The garage door opener works when using the wall switch and the dust collector works when directly connected to the outlet.

I replaced the battery in the dust collection remote to no avail. After searching the web, I am at a loss to understand the problems. Any suggestions or resources would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
David

[Matt Day]

It was obviously done by aliens.

[Malcolm McLeod]

It was obviously done by aliens.

Meh...my money is on Russian collusion!!

David, any changes in radio-related signals? Maybe a new tower? License changed to allow more power? Neighbors on both sides of me reported truly bizarre effects they attributed to AM radio station tower nearby (music, with NO radio, heard in their detached garage, g.door openers not working, etc.). ....I was apparently immune to any of this.

Maybe new wireless device in your home? Someone close-by?

(Should be fairly easy to rule out kids playing with an EMP nuke at high altitude, but with the recent shutdown, monitoring may have been spotty.)

[Bill Orbine]

Does your garage door open when you try to turn on the dust collector? Vice Versa? I've heard of remote erroneously swapped before.

[David Utterback]

I brought the dust collector remote receiver and transmitter upstairs and plugged it into an outlet at the other end of the house and it worked fine. Without it plugged in anywhere in the house, the garage remote works very intermittently. The dust control remote does not work upstairs at the same end of the house with my basement workshop. Maybe a neighbor on this end with some new device. Too late to check tonight (and too cold as well). Hmmmm….

[Frank Pratt]

I can't offer a solution, but I have a related problem. Normally, I can open the garage door from 2 or 3 houses away, but every few weeks, (or months, there's not pattern) it won't open until my bumper is about 1' from the door. It happens whether I'm using my car remote, or any one of the 3 other remotes. The button on the wall is OK because it's hard wired. It has been thus for 20+ years. The most likely thing I can think of is that there is a source of RF interference coming from somewhere in the area. No idea how to fix the issue & it is frustrating.

[Charles Lent]

You need a short wave radio that can be tuned to the frequency of the remote. Then you can listen to see if anything else is on that frequency. To get the radio on the exact frequency, tune the radio back and forth a little as you activate the remote. Some remote controls can be shifted to other frequencies, so see if that is possible with your controls. Years ago, doctor's diathermy machines played havoc on the 50 meter ham radio band, but newer machines were shielded better and didn't cause as much trouble, unless you lived next to the doctor. All kinds of sources of the interference are possible. You will have to hear it and then trace the source by moving the radio around to find the stronger points and then keep moving closer to get a stronger and stronger signal, until you can locate the source. It's usually easier to just change the frequency of your remote controls to one that does not have the interference.

Charley

[Nick Decker]

Are you using any LED light bulbs near these remotes? The cheap ones can cause problems, known issue.

Why? LED bulbs emit a radio frequency to operate their circuitry. This is regulated by the FCC, but apparently not observed by many Chinese manufacturers.

[Jacob Reverb]

Anybody nearby running a TIG welder with high-frequency arc initiation?

[John K Jordan]

Do you live in a suburb, business area, industrial? Is the shop in the house or in a detached building.

Sure sounds like some new EMF source, powerful if it's not coming from your property. New cell/emergency/broadcast tower next door? Any military facilities near?

Do you hear any electrical arcing in or around the house? That can transmit electrical noise. I might try turning off all breakers on the property except the one that feeds the garage door opener (or the DC) just to see if anything changes.

Maybe check with neighbors in various directions to see if any others have had problems starting at the same time. If so, call the FCC - they can locate the source.

I'd also look at the AC power in the house with an oscilloscope to make sure it's clean, but most people don't have one at hand. Electrical noise could be coming in from some problem at a switch yard.
If you can determine the operating frequencies of the remotes it might suggest ways to check for interference.

One test might be to shield the receiver and transmitter from interference and see if they work together inside but not outside. This would prove their functionality as long as the power was clean. Unfortunately rigging for such a test would probably be a LOT of work to rig unless you happen to have a big Faraday cage handy! (These are typically rooms with grounded copper foil or copper screen fastened to or embedded in the walls - a big cardboard box covered with aluminum foil might be the simplest.) But it might be a lot simpler to disconnect the remote receiver and carry it to a friend's shop in another area.

Know any ham radio operators? They might be able to check for RF interference.

JKJ

Yesterday, the dust collection remote control in my shop failed. A few minutes later, my wife said she was unable to close the garage door using the remote in our car. The garage door opener works when using the wall switch and the dust collector works when directly connected to the outlet.

I replaced the battery in the dust collection remote to no avail. After searching the web, I am at a loss to understand the problems. Any suggestions or resources would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
David

[David Utterback]

Yes, I did install new LED lights this over the past several days. My shortwave receiver @2.4 MHz emits a lot of static near them when turned on. Older LED do not seem to have the same characteristic. There is also increased static when holding the receiver near many household outlets.

I am getting a very strong audible response (~500 Hz) around the refrigerator. When I opened the breaker for it, the signal was gone. I will remove all the new LED's and see if the problem resolves.

If you have a mobile SW receiver, you may want to do a base line screening of the fields in your home or shop. Without a comparison, I am unable to find what might be new and what is not.

Thanks for all the input. Once again, SMC has been very useful to me. (I had forgotten all about my SW receiver until the comment from Charles.) I will let you know if I get the problem resolved.

Thanks again,
David

[Nick Decker]

David, if it's the LED lights it should be as simple as turning them off to see if the problem goes away.

If you just installed the LED bulbs before the problem started, my money's on them.

[David Utterback]

That is what I thought, Nick, and it did not help to turn them all off. But the problem is now resolved, even with all the LED's switched on, after re-booting our wi-fi (new in December) and opening and closing the breaker for the refrigerator. Not sure if either was the problem. Holding our breath that it will not occur again.

David, if it's the LED lights it should be as simple as turning them off to see if the problem goes away.

If you just installed the LED bulbs before the problem started, my money's on them.

[Frank Pratt]

Glad yours is working again. Mine will crap out, like I described, for a few days or weeks at a time & then just start working properly again. Until the next time.