Fluorescent Light Makes Device Disconnect Sound

techmonkey74 · 27 Dec 2010

Got kinda a off the wall one here: With my recent purchase of my new Windows 7 computer I added a fluorescent light above my workstation. Its around 21" long and mounted about 3 feet above my monitor and PC. Sometimes when I first turn on the light I hear the "bong-bong" sound of the device disconnect sound from the PC. This does not happen every time but I would say about 60% of the time it happens. I do not see any indication than something actually "unmounted" but this does have me stumped. I know a fluorescent light does put out a frequency but I have not heard of anything like this. I have stopped using the light for not until I can figure out if it is actually interfering with anything. Anyone have any idea what could be causing this?

jenkins · 27 Dec 2010

techmonkey74 said:

I know a fluorescent light does put out a frequency but I have not heard of anything like this. I have stopped using the light for not until I can figure out if it is actually interfering with anything. Anyone have any idea what could be causing this?

I think you've answered your question. The problem-causing thing is the fluorescent light. For some reason, flurorescent light causes touchscreens to lag and touch-pens miscalibrate too.

Why is the fluorescent light causing this problem? That I have no idea. But it may be related to what you mentioned about fluorescent lights giving out a frequency.

WindowsStar · 27 Dec 2010

techmonkey74 said:

Got kinda a off the wall one here: With my recent purchase of my new Windows 7 computer I added a fluorescent light above my workstation. Its around 21" long and mounted about 3 feet above my monitor and PC. Sometimes when I first turn on the light I hear the "bong-bong" sound of the device disconnect sound from the PC. This does not happen every time but I would say about 60% of the time it happens. I do not see any indication than something actually "unmounted" but this does have me stumped. I know a fluorescent light does put out a frequency but I have not heard of anything like this. I have stopped using the light for not until I can figure out if it is actually interfering with anything. Anyone have any idea what could be causing this?

This is not strange at all; I have seen this happen many times when the light is close to the computer.

Fluorescent lights product IR so if your computer has an IR port on it that is why you will have issues, I have seen the lights interfere with the auto light sensors on monitors or laptops, some web cameras have issues as well. Typically you can change the color temperature of the light and resolve the issue. Many times the lights that have a color temperature of 6300K have fewer issues. If that does not work increasing the distance from the light and the computer maybe the only absolute fix. -WS

techmonkey74 · 27 Dec 2010

WindowsStar said:

techmonkey74 said:

Got kinda a off the wall one here: With my recent purchase of my new Windows 7 computer I added a fluorescent light above my workstation. Its around 21" long and mounted about 3 feet above my monitor and PC. Sometimes when I first turn on the light I hear the "bong-bong" sound of the device disconnect sound from the PC. This does not happen every time but I would say about 60% of the time it happens. I do not see any indication than something actually "unmounted" but this does have me stumped. I know a fluorescent light does put out a frequency but I have not heard of anything like this. I have stopped using the light for not until I can figure out if it is actually interfering with anything. Anyone have any idea what could be causing this?

This is not strange at all; I have seen this happen many times when the light is close to the computer.

Fluorescent lights product IR so if your computer has an IR port on it that is why you will have issues, I have seen the lights interfere with the auto light sensors on monitors or laptops, some web cameras have issues as well. Typically you can change the color temperature of the light and resolve the issue. Many times the lights that have a color temperature of 6300K have fewer issues. If that does not work increasing the distance from the light and the computer maybe the only absolute fix. -WS

Thanks for the info!, I will double check but I don't think my computer has a IR port but obviously the light is causing some sort of interference.

Golden · 27 Dec 2010

WindowsStar;1149929
[COLOR=#323232 said:

This is not strange at all; I have seen this happen many times when the light is close to the computer.[/COLOR]

Fluorescent lights product IR so if your computer has an IR port on it that is why you will have issues, I have seen the lights interfere with the auto light sensors on monitors or laptops, some web cameras have issues as well. Typically you can change the color temperature of the light and resolve the issue. Many times the lights that have a color temperature of 6300K have fewer issues. If that does not work increasing the distance from the light and the computer maybe the only absolute fix. -WS

+1. Fluorescent lighting lighting emits a significant amout of "noise" in the near infra-red range of the electromagnetic spectrum. This can impede the flawless operation of IR receivers.

IR recievers typically work in the 980nm range, but the sun, for example, emits energy at the 980nm range too (thats why you can have difficulty using your TV remote to change channels in a very sunny room).

The solution is to use a cooler fluorescent tube as WindowStar suggests. My suggestion is something cooler than 6300 Kelvin (the colour temperature closest to natural sunlight).