strange behavior from home appliances

[strantor]

Recently something weird has started happening:

• My TV "input selection" menu will pop up and cycle thru HDMI1/HDMI2/AV1/etc. over and over and over as if someone is holding the remote control button down.
• My satellite set top box will play/pause/play/pause really fast as if someone is holding the remote button down.
• My pedestal fan (with IR remote control) will start and stop at random during the night.

In all above scenarios, the problem is corrected by powering down the affected device and powering back up.
In all above scenarios I have removed the batteries from the remote control(s) to eliminate the possibility of a stuck remote button.
In all above scenarios I have turned off the lights in the room to eliminate the possibility of IR from my LED bulbs causing interference.
The TV and satellite box are in the same room, but the fan is in a different room..

Any ideas? I sometimes use a phone app called "Peel remote" which uses my and my wife's built in IR blasters in our phones to control the TV and satellite box. I have yet to eliminate that as a cause but generally the phone has to be pointed directly (intentionally) straight at the device to work.

 

[MikeMl]

Any other IR generating appliances in the house? Printers, calculators, etc?

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

There's a project I did years ago for a remote control tester, you could make one of those to see if there's any stray IR signals flying about.



Obviously you don't need to make it in a nice box, you could just 'throw it together' for testing purposes.

Interestingly I see the page is dated 2003, and I used it to make another one for a friend just the other week

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

I have one device that has a fit once in a while where it shows a constant blink of IR reception. I haven't nailed it down and haven't tried.
Ceiling fan, mirrors and TV being on could be the issue.

I did have an issue where the furnace blower motor was preventing X-10 from working. A filter on the furnace fixed that.

Does the fan have temperature control?

 

[dr pepper]

Point a remote at your 'phone and press a button, if you can see light from the remotes led your 'phone camera is infra red sensitive, most are but some are not.
If you have a 'phone that is infra red sensitive point it around the room when its dark looking for sources of infra red, also have a look through the window to see if something outside is generating it and interfering, be carefull the neighbours dont get people round in white coats though.

I have a cheap import inverter welder for bodging up the landrover, it sometimes turns things off, tv's, the washing machine etc, I doubt its infra red, it'll be rf or mains borne noise.

 

[throbscottle]

Could a signal be coming in through the window from somewhere?

 

[strantor]

I had ruled out the signal coming from outside since AFAIK, IR can't pass through glass. But maybe some IR can pass through some glass.

Thanks for posting nigel I'll check out your project.

 

[Externet]

Cover the appliances infrared receiving windows to discern if it is really an 'ambient' signal.

 

[tronitech]

Poltergeist?

 

[tcmtech]

Bwahahaha! My first test run of my new home invasion petty annoyance machine has proven success!

Now to just increase it power by 100,000 and float one above every city under a drone so that all of the world loses even more time and sleep to petty at home annoyances. !

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I had ruled out the signal coming from outside since AFAIK, IR can't pass through glass. But maybe some IR can pass through some glass.

IR passes through MOST glass with no loss - although some double-glazed units 'may' be coated and reduce it considerably.

 

[alec_t]

AFAIK, IR can't pass through glass. But maybe some IR can pass through some glass.

Well, you can certainly feel the sun's warmth through glass; even double-glazing.

 

[strantor]

A night vision camera or a webcam with night-time IR lights can't see through windows

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

A night vision camera or a webcam with night-time IR lights can't see through windows

That's got nothing to do with it

The reflective surface of the glass will reflect a certain amount back, and that swamps the camera.

 

[StellarRat]

You might have a remote that is going bad. Or, you have a new neighbor that has the same brand of equipment and their remote is interfering with your stuff. Or, someone might intentionally be messing with your equipment using a high powered IR emitter. I've seen those advertised as "gag" electronic projects. Of course, YOU probably don't think it's funny. Another possibly, some IR emitting device is doing something really weird. I think there are other devices that use IR that aren't remote controls. One thing you could try is closing your curtains to isolate your room from the outside and see if the problem continues. You might also try uninstalling any remote control apps from your phone and see if the problem stops.

 

[killivolt]

A single device would be reasonable for outside ambient sources to affect a device, but multiple devices being affected, is poltergeist or an individual.

I agree with StellerRat.

I say look for a very short, person living in your house, probably 10 to 16 years old or someone with a strange sense of humor who lives nearby.


An Old Side Story:

" A TV turning on by itself" We service the set with a power supply issue, not this? The customer brings the set and we plug it in to the test bench and of course no issues.

The customer picked up the set and we got a phone call three days later, now they have "a time of the day occurrence" So, we went out to wittiness the event, and as the sun came into the room it turned on.

The problem was the customer re-situated the set in the room, creating an issue that didn't exist before.

My Vote is either Poltergeist or someone is fooling with you.

kv

 

[strantor]

My TV remote went missing last week; chief suspect is the dog. The wife reports that the phantoms disappeared with the remote.

I find it hard to fault the remote since I saw it happen with the batteries out of the remote, though I suppose the remote could have had some capacitive charge enabling it to cause disruption from the grave.

 

[Dr_Doggy]

new tv's have some kind of weird e-star IR cancellation device in them,which causes feedback loops

use a cell phone camera to find where the tv is emitting the IR and cover it with dark tape

also , covering the IR receiver in the effected device will stop the issue instead of rebooting device

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

new tv's have some kind of weird e-star IR cancellation device in them,which causes feedback loops

Sorry, I've never heard of any such thing - and I've never seen (or heard of) any new TV that does anything like that, and I install LOT'S of new TV's.

 

[Dr_Doggy]

I swear I have, I forget exactly, maybe it was the screen brightness that flickered, i remember i couldnt see it with my eye, but i think i(we) resolved it by changing a setting in the tv, i even forget if it was e-star, but something like that.

this was like 2 yrs back now,