Very strange electrical boo boo in a 2002 Journey.

[RCtime]

I have a new to me 34 foot 2002 Journey DL, I have been living in it qbout 2 weeks now. AND LOVE IT.
However there is a mysterious thing going on. Whenevever I turn on the light switch, located direcctly below the electrical panel which shows the holding tank levels etc. which turns on the single flourescent light, located in the kitchen area. The AM/FM radio located in the bedroom on the passenger side turns on. I woke up my wife one morning at 5.30 AM, when I awoke early, wanted to make a pot of coffee, closed the sliding door as to not disturb her.
Turned on the light. and the radio, located about 2 feet from her head awoke her to a blaring rock and roll goody from the 60.s.
You should have seen the cayous that then went on. I didnt have a clue at the time what was happening.
I finally got to the radio and punched a few buttons and turned it off.
Experiementing later. It seem to me the flourescent light is emitting some signal to the radio, which turns it on. Really strange. Any ideas? Ron

[RCtime]

I have a new to me 34 foot 2002 Journey DL, I have been living in it qbout 2 weeks now. AND LOVE IT.
However there is a mysterious thing going on. Whenevever I turn on the light switch, located direcctly below the electrical panel which shows the holding tank levels etc. which turns on the single flourescent light, located in the kitchen area. The AM/FM radio located in the bedroom on the passenger side turns on. I woke up my wife one morning at 5.30 AM, when I awoke early, wanted to make a pot of coffee, closed the sliding door as to not disturb her.
Turned on the light. and the radio, located about 2 feet from her head awoke her to a blaring rock and roll goody from the 60.s.
You should have seen the cayous that then went on. I didnt have a clue at the time what was happening.
I finally got to the radio and punched a few buttons and turned it off.
Experiementing later. It seem to me the flourescent light is emitting some signal to the radio, which turns it on. Really strange. Any ideas? Ron

[Bill Gotthelf]

Ok I got another one my 04 Vectra has a am/fm dvd player next to the bed in the rear bedroom. It also functions as a clock/alarm also. When using my direct tv remote (uhf) to change the channel in the main cabin from the bedroom the radio turns on.

[Dan Bowman]

Wow, you two really some strange stuff going on! My problem looks almost sane when compared to you two. The flourescent light over my sink will not work when I have the generator running. It will work when on house batteries. Makes no sense to me but I am working on it.

Since this is a new coach to me, I will check to see if I have any interaction with the radio for any of my lights or television remotes. I hope not..

[wagonmaster2]

Flourescent lights can really be weird. On a "97 Southwind I had the light in the kitchen caused the refrigerator eye brow panel lights to flash between electric and gas back and forth. In my 2004 Winnebago, the front living room light kept the TV remote from working the TV if I tried to use the remote from the dining table area. Had to replace the light fixtures in each case, but cost me $173 labor on the '97 to find the trouble and a trip back to the dealer, a new remote, and a trip to a TV shop to find the problem on the '04. Good luck on finding your ghosts.
Wagonmaster2

[limandlin]

I had the same problem in my 2002 Journey DL. It turns out that the ballasts in the 3 overhead flourescent lights were bad (capacitor or resistor). This is a known problem and affects a large number of coaches in that year. Replace the light fixture, not just the bulbs, and the problem will go away. My lights caused the radio to turn off and on randomly just like yours.

[skigramp]

Flourescant lights affect the remote controls on Sony TV's whether you are in your motorhome or in your stick house ...

In our stick house I had to remove the flourescant bulbs from the two table lamps that were "directly" in front of the TV because the remote would not work when either of the lamps were on (The owners manual described the problem ... but who reads the manual until there is a problem)

In our Journey we have a SONY TV in the front ... if we have the front flourescant ceiling light on the remote doesn't work ... we seldom have that light on while watching TV so it is not a big problem ... if we need the front light on I just tape a piece of paper to the front of the light fixture and the problem goes away ...

The reflected light is not a problem ...

[SCVJeff]

Since a florescent is a reasonably wide spectrum device it's possible that as it ignites and squaks the "on" code. That of course is depends on if that radio has an IR remote.

[ichn2go]

On a 03 Horizon 39QD, the rear radio would turn on occasionally, never did find out what caused it but later on it did not do it...Winnie's spirit moving around? Happy Holidays

[Joe-K]

RCTime,

I had EXACTLY the same issue. Use the link below to bring up a thread on solving the issue. I included a photograph of the capacitor to cure your problem.

Thinlite ballast capacitor