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rambunctious
9th June 2025, 11:01 AM
Yep you read that right.

Spent a few days in a Motel over the weekend and while watching NRL on Channel 9 Friday night I turned off the light switch to the 15 watt fluro and lost sound to the TV.
Now I have seen some odd things in electrical but never something like this.

Only way I could get the sound back was to turn the TV off and back on again just like you would to hopefully reset a computer.

Then for a while I tried to make it happen again and every time I turned off the light switch the sound did jump/flicker but not totally off as the first time.

Next morning still the same, flicker but not totally off.

I reported it to management but whether the young lady takes it any further or not is up to them, but I did tell her it could be fluro starter ? loose wires in the switch ? etc etc

On the ceiling is the fluro, then TV coax, then smoke detector, then tv power point all within about 1 metre.

It has me intrigued so any suggestions from those in the know would be appreciated ?
ErrolFlynn
9th June 2025, 11:29 AM
You've got me curious. My only suspicion is that the fluro (or starter) is behaving like a remote control in some weird fashion to mute the TV.
droog
9th June 2025, 11:53 AM
Traditional fluro's use a ballast which will create an inductive spike when turned on or off. This will often cause a flicker or disrupt sound on a TV particularly if signal strength is not the greatest.

Not sure why the sound would stay off unless it triggered the mute function on the TV.
rambunctious
10th June 2025, 08:49 AM
Traditional fluro's use a ballast which will create an inductive spike when turned on or off. This will often cause a flicker or disrupt sound on a TV particularly if signal strength is not the greatest.

Not sure why the sound would stay off unless it triggered the mute function on the TV.

Thanks for the reply Droog, pretty well what I thought, but having seen real trouble with loose wires/poor electrical (toaster lead blown out of a 3 pin plug was one experience) I didn't want to not mention it to management.
The Motel was at Amberley and the TV coverage from Brisbane.
Uncle Bob
11th June 2025, 10:51 PM
Traditional fluro's use a ballast which will create an inductive spike when turned on or off. This will often cause a flicker or disrupt sound on a TV particularly if signal strength is not the greatest.

Not sure why the sound would stay off unless it triggered the mute function on the TV.
The TV possibly has a bad capacitor or two allowing the voltage spike/sag to get to the audio processor causing it to crash.
r3nov8or
12th June 2025, 08:41 AM
Is it common in motels for lights and power to be on the same circuit?
rambunctious
12th June 2025, 05:56 PM
Is it common in motels for lights and power to be on the same circuit?
I would not think it would be and I did not say it was.
droog
12th June 2025, 06:13 PM
Is it common in motels for lights and power to be on the same circuit?

No.
Does not mean it is not for some devices in particular circumstances.
r3nov8or
12th June 2025, 08:06 PM
... I did not say it was.

I didn't suggest you did :)
r3nov8or
12th June 2025, 08:09 PM
No.
Does not mean it is not for some devices in particular circumstances.

Some I've stayed in, there is definitely the potential for dodgy work and/or DIY electrics over years/decades
rambunctious
15th June 2025, 09:56 AM
Some I've stayed in, there is definitely the potential for dodgy work and/or DIY electrics over years/decades
Yes, agree, and there is a lot of DIY electrical everywhere as I found in the Building Industry over many years but hopefully anything combined is marked in the board.
Sadly there are also a lot of dodgy electricians