headlight kills wifi

danny788
danny788 Posts: 8
edited September 2016 in Commuting general
Cycling home last night, i notice that my speed/odometer (cateye velo) isn't working. After a bit of checking, it appears to be, when ever i turn my main front light (lifeline 400) to constant beam (flashing not problem), this appears to block the speedos signal.

Does anyone else get this problem? I going to try to move the sensor higher up the fork, to see if that helps. Not much space on handle and stem of my road bike to regiggle the light/odometer position, but will have a think.

Dan

Comments

  • thistle_
    thistle_ Posts: 7,218
    Yes, although it was with a Magicshine headlamp and a Cateye speedo (not sure which make).

    It blocked the signal on some settings but not others (may have been OK on flashing and low power but not full). The speedo was mounted on the stem and I found not coiling the loose cable from the light around the stem seemed to help.

    I've not noticed it happen for a while. I'm not sure if that's because I don't look at the speedo as much these days, or whether the new cable I put on the lights gives more shielding somehow? (it's thicker than the original stuff).
  • mr_evil
    mr_evil Posts: 234
    It's unfortunately common for LED lights to use PWM with insufficient filtering and shielding, so they emit a lot of interference. You can possibly fix it by wrapping the light in aluminium foil.
  • Mr Evil wrote:
    It's unfortunately common for LED lights to use PWM with insufficient filtering and shielding, so they emit a lot of interference. You can possibly fix it by wrapping the light in aluminium foil.

    Wrapping something in foil that needs to disperse heat is probably not a great idea :)
  • timmyotool wrote:
    Mr Evil wrote:
    It's unfortunately common for LED lights to use PWM with insufficient filtering and shielding, so they emit a lot of interference. You can possibly fix it by wrapping the light in aluminium foil.

    Wrapping something in foil that needs to disperse heat is probably not a great idea :)
    Stops aliens tracking you though.