Discuss HELP energy saving lamp flickering whilst off in the Industrial Electrician Talk area at ElectriciansForums.net

Welcome to ElectriciansForums.net - The American Electrical Advice Forum
Head straight to the main forums to chat by click here:   American Electrical Advice Forum

S

salisbury spark

2 way circuit - all works okay
When switch off - left with 32vac on circuit causing lamp to flicker....
Unplug lamp get 0v on circuit
Plug in normal bulb 0v on circuit
Plugged in another different energy saving lamp get 18v ac - with the switches OFF!!!!!
Take lamp out no volts accross lamp(checked just in case)

Circuit goes into breakout box - so have s/L and N at batten

Checked for earth fault from lights to sockets - 0.4 ohms

With no volts on this circuit get upto 32 volts when plug in energy lamps?

All readings taken on L and E

Old wiring (metal ccu)

Any ideas welcome.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
hey man, have had a few jobs whereby low energy lamps flicker while off. why? i dont know. all I do know that its a common thing to happen, more noticiable at night and only occuring on 2way switches
 
Last edited by a moderator:
This is quite common, its caused by capacitive leakage in the strappers. I think its got something to do with the inverters in the lamp, but dont take my word for it.
 
Thought it might be leakage between the insulation of the cable as nowhere else it can come from.

Tried it on a 1way circiut in my house and get 18 volts with an ESL in circuit.

What concerns me is maybe the more u add the higher the voltage on the installation. - If it gets over 50 volts isnt that starting to be dangerous?(from hazy memory).- wonder if the current would be there anyway because of the resistance of the cables.

Thanks guys for your replies

Have a couple of these will have to see if volts increase the more lamps added as my customer has several in circuit and i was measuring 32 volts
 
Thought it might be leakage between the insulation of the cable as nowhere else it can come from.

Tried it on a 1way circiut in my house and get 18 volts with an ESL in circuit.

What concerns me is maybe the more u add the higher the voltage on the installation. - If it gets over 50 volts isnt that starting to be dangerous?(from hazy memory).- wonder if the current would be there anyway because of the resistance of the cables.

Thanks guys for your replies

Have a couple of these will have to see if volts increase the more lamps added as my customer has several in circuit and i was measuring 32 volts

Is it not due to a capacitor in the ESL? How can current be there because of the resistance of the cable? ,and if it was "leaking" then an insulation resistance test should show it up
have fun:)
 
energy saving lamp flickering whilst off

Tested for any volts(capacitance)accross esl - none
Does the same in my house with my esl lamp?

A insulation test was in order but as not charging customer (giving estimate) - werent gonna mess around.

Will have to try insulation test on my old wiring at the w/e just to see.

Will try esl in and kill supply to lights/rcd - even dissconnect at CCU to try and find where this voltage is coming from.

TBC


MARRIED MEN- watch your wedding video backwards -you give the ring back - walk back to the car and drive off - if only......
 
Last edited by a moderator:
am pretty sure that it is not a cas of poor insulation resistance. as far as I know it is literally just a "peculiarity" of the lamp and its internal workings
 
Salisbury Spark
Have you got a security swich connected on the circuit anywhere? This is the only time Ive come across the problem, turns out there not compatible with energy saving lamps.
 
I had this on a job once, and again it was on a landing light 2-wayed

we put it down to an induced voltage as the 3 - core (2 way conversion) ran through the same holes as all the final circuits. (mutual inductance ?)

Since then i have encountered Induction Loop problems with Hearing Aids in a Church again on a 2 way with Low energy lamps fitted. (page 63 On site guide)

Not sure that i have helped?
 
i had this the other week when i changed a consumer unit. again was also the landing light on the 2 way, with energy saver fitted. mine was wired in twin strappers with single sw/wire coming from landing light switch to the rose. i also had a borrowed neutral situation that was another story, but as soon as i rectified the borrowed neutral i tried the energy lamp again and it didnt flicker.
 
I'm going with the poltergeist theory. The corrective action is to hire a priest or an exorcist to get the devil out of your light fittings.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
i was called to repair a same fault a while ago on a 2way circuit. with around 50v when off and flikering... found 2way wiring in 2core and earth with earth used as the third live common core!!! rewired in 3 core and earth and when off 0v with no flikering. hope this helps
 
REPLY TO PRIDE OF ENGLAND

Got a pir security light on my installation -and customer had an outside light (dont know if pir)

At the w/e will run a separate new cable off a reel from the ccu and try this while disconnecting the other circuits - to see if can make 'fault' go away -if so what is contributing to the voltage?

TBC
 
Salisbury Spark

PIR security light shouldnt effect it. When I said security switch I meant those timer switches, fits in place of a normal light switch and can be set to come on/off when your on holiday to make it look like someones in. Had another one Friday flickering like mad but ok with normal lamp.

Sorry for confusion. Let us know if you find out the cause.
 
Hi Guys ,had the same problem on a re-wire recently.Nothing you can do about it.The energy lamp has a capacitor in it.Because all the pvc cables are run in side by side you get a slight magnetic field hence the small voltage,this is what tries to light the lamp but there is not enough power.You have not got any faults,it is the energy lamp.Another make may stop it otherwise change lamp for normal bulb.
 
I'll just throw another brainer into this one.

Full rewire completed,same problem occurring with low energy lamps in 2w circuits.But noticed that if you touch the glass of the lamp whilst it is flickering IT ALMOST FIRES UP :eek:

....wots all that about ? ?
 

Reply to HELP energy saving lamp flickering whilst off in the Industrial Electrician Talk area at ElectriciansForums.net

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Pushfit Wire Connectors Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc
This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by Untold Media. Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock