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Stereo whine with RGB on


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I am curious if this is a problem on all newer Malibus or just mine?

With the RGB light system on, the tower speakers emit a terrible high pitched whine. You can hear it best with music paused but RGB and stereo on.

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I can't answer for the newer models, but I just overhauled my entire stereo this past winter. I had the same whine you're talking about. I tried 2 different RGB controllers, Wetsounds and Plashlights (the Plashlights controller is much better). The same whine was there with both. I tried wiring it directly to each of my batteries. This didn't work either. I tried wiring it to the switch. Whine was still there. I ordered an isolator to try. This worked on the standard RGB colors. When I would mix colors, the whine came back. The only solution I found was to get a 3rd small battery (motorcycle), and wire the controller to it. I'm not sure how relevant this is for the newer boats, but this is what I had to do. 

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RGB lighting is digitally controlled, and thus potentially a big emitter of RF energy.  It is possible that a small capacitor installed at the power connection and maybe at each end of the LED lines might keep the string from acting like an antenna.  One would have to play with values to find what works while still allowing the RGB string to work properly.  RF choke ferrite beads are another option.

If you have an oscilloscope and can see the frequency of the RGB string while it is working, try a capacitor that gives about 1,000 Ohms at that frequency.  For example, if the digital frequency was 1 MHz, a 150 pF capacitor would give about 1,000 Ohms of impedance.  The idea is to attempt to shunt the digital signals to ground while allowing enough signal for the system to work. 

On the power input, shunting all of the digital noise to ground is the goal, so 10 Ohms or so would be even better.  That would be about 15,000 pF for a 1 MHz signal.

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dealer replaced the "RGB module" on my 2021 M240 and it fixed the issue.  I know of 2 others with same problem.  

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2 hours ago, dppendar said:

dealer replaced the "RGB module" on my 2021 M240 and it fixed the issue.  I know of 2 others with same problem.  

Very helpful. Thanks.

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