Electrical or Ariel problem?

[Deleted User]

Bendy_House said:

Does your TV have a signal-strength meter on it - very often found under the 'tuning' menu?

I suspect your 'ok' signal - ie currently enough to give you reception - is borderline, so anything that might interfere even slightly with that could tip it below 'usable'.

(I'm not going to say anything about the seemingly quality of these coax connections...)

This started happening a couple of weeks ago - did anything, ANYTHING, change at that point? A bulb replaced? Anywhere?

A simple check to carry out is to turn off the fan's isolator switch (on the wall outside the loo?) and see if the bathroom lights on their own still causes this.

Tv signal- I found the setting for the tv signal . Signal quality and signal strength are at 92% and 93% but goes to 0% with the light on.

coax connections- I paid an aerial company to install the aerial 4 years ago. But I assumed this was ok because I wouldn’t know any different 😔

It took a while to realise the connection between the light switch and the tv signal but I don’t remember anything changing in the home. 

I have no idea where the fan isolator switch is. There is just one switch which powers both the light and the fan 

[Deleted User]

rob7475 said:

Is the issue only when you are watching "normal" TV? If you have Sky or cable, are these affected? It may be worth checking if any work is being carried out on the TV mast for your area - it could be just enough to affect your signal.

It could be that amplifier in the lean to that's on it's way out. If you power that off, do you lose signal?

No sky or cable. 

Oohhh, I powered that thing off and I lost my tv signal. Do you think that I just need to replace this?

[Deleted User]

frugalmacdugal said:

Hi,

just for clarification,

this ariel,

this is aerial,

What about this ?

Bendy_House

I'd look at Rodders' post

[Deleted User]

Rodders53 said:

THAT is a masthead amplifier power supply unit.  https://cpc.farnell.com/c/audio-visual/aerials-satellite/amplifiers-distribution/masthead-amplifiers?brand=sac
Powering off the mains to that supply box WILL lose all signal (as the amplifier stops working).

The brown coax cable IN is bent too sharply and may not be as well screen-connected as it ought to be... may be worth a re-make?  It seems to be old-school single-screened coax, too.  

LED lamps are the more likely culprit for the interference source (when they go faulty) ... whether by radiation into the ether and picked up by aerial/cabling (especially if not double screened) OR by conduction into the mains wiring.  Noting that lighting MCB/fuse connects to Sockets MCB/fuse at the consumer unit providing a path for such interference.
Fan motors have the potential to cause interference too and suppression circuits are built in to them to stop that.  Rarely such components fail. 

Eliminate by removing the lamps one at a time... or all of the lamps to prove it's the fan motor suppression components that have gone faulty.  It might be possible to get new suppression components for the fan or fit a new one.  {NB some bathroom fans are not 230V but 12V ac aka SELV and have a separate control box / transformer where the suppressors live.}

Elimination of interference at the source (faulty items) is ALWAYS better than having to try to stop it getting into an aerial installation (especially one that needs to be amplified).

Sorry, but I did not understand any of that 😭
but I assume if I got an electrician in, I can show them what you said and they’ll understand? 

another_casualty

Deleted_User said:

This Ariel thing is downstairs in the lean to. The bathroom is directly above 

That looks ....dangerous! 🔥

Rodders53

another_casualty said:

That looks ....dangerous! 🔥

No it doesn't. imho.

That box powers a remote amplifier and turning it off stops that remote amplifier working.  No need to replace it, it won't help.

Deleted_User said:

Sorry, but I did not understand any of that 😭
but I assume if I got an electrician in, I can show them what you said and they’ll understand? 

That's not the moneysaving way.

Can you remove the lamps (led light bulbs) easily?  If so switch all off and take them all out and switch on the fan only:   
If TV is then OK the fan isn't the problem. 
If the breakup occurs then the fan is faulty.

Assuming the fan is OK then turn all off again and put back in one bulb only if TV is OK add another bulb (power off first of course) and repeat the test.

Hopefully you'll find just one bulb is giving trouble and is faulty so you can d-i-y replace.

Of course some LEDs aren't so easy to replace and you might then need an electrician or good handyman to do the tests.

Grenage

I assume the fan has an isolator one could try first.

fenwick458

it's electrical interference. it's not an electrical problem, more a side effect of electronics.
I was doing a consumer unit change this week in an are with awful radio signal, noticed for a good few hours in the morning when all circuits were dead that the radio was fine which was a nice suprise, but when power was turned back on I struggled to get a signal. kept on having to move the radio around to get it as far away from any live circuit as possible, but once all circuits were on it just wouldn't work at all
I've noticed cheap LED lights and bulbs cause a lot of interference.
battery LED lights are even worse, years ago I found out a cheap Chinese head torch would kill my radio from 20m away
Dimmers cause interference, depending on the bulbs they are dimming and the level set.

Bendy_House

fenwick458 said:

Years ago I found out a cheap Chinese head torch would kill my radio from 20m away.

I could do with one of these :-)