Weird

[keithr0]

The wife started complaining that one of the LED globes in the dining
room was flashing. These globes are Aldi specials bought about 5 years
ago (very reliable), I thought that she meant that it was flashing on
and off while it was turned on. But no, it was giving a very short flash
every minute or so while turned off. It's on a two way switch
arrangement so the cables are quite long and I assumed that there was
some sort of capacitive coupling with another cable or some other form
of leakage causing it. However swapping the globe with another on a
normal single switch, now neither are flashing. Very strange.

 

[Phil Allison]

keithr0 wrote:
-------------

The wife started complaining that one of the LED globes in the dining
room was flashing. These globes are Aldi specials bought about 5 years
ago (very reliable), I thought that she meant that it was flashing on
and off while it was turned on. But no, it was giving a very short flash
every minute or so while turned off. It's on a two way switch
arrangement so the cables are quite long and I assumed that there was
some sort of capacitive coupling with another cable or some other form
of leakage causing it. However swapping the globe with another on a
normal single switch, now neither are flashing. Very strange.

** Many CFLs do the same thing - on any circuit that has leakage.

Depends entirely on the individual lamp.




..... Phil

 

[Jasen Betts]

On 2020-04-23, keithr0 <user@account.invalid> wrote:

The wife started complaining that one of the LED globes in the dining
room was flashing. These globes are Aldi specials bought about 5 years
ago (very reliable), I thought that she meant that it was flashing on
and off while it was turned on. But no, it was giving a very short flash
every minute or so while turned off. It's on a two way switch
arrangement so the cables are quite long and I assumed that there was
some sort of capacitive coupling with another cable or some other form
of leakage causing it. However swapping the globe with another on a
normal single switch, now neither are flashing. Very strange.

If the single switch is on a switch loop rasther than in-line you have
the same problem. Measure the AC voltage in the lamp socket with a digital
multimeter while it's turned off.

You can mitigate the problem by adding an X capacitor (X1,X2,Y1, or Y2)
in parallel with the socket. 1 microfarad should be plenty.

"x4" in this url is just noise, it's actually X2.
https://www.jaycar.com.au/1uf-250vac-metallised-polypropylene-x4-capacitor/p/RG5248

You can get something similar from an electrician supplier (like Rexel
or Ideal) Electricians seem to call it a lighting capacitor. These have
insulated leads and so are easier to install.

--
Jasen.

 

On Thu, 23 Apr 2020 22:26:16 +1000, keithr0 <user@account.invalid>
wrote:

The wife started complaining that one of the LED globes in the dining
room was flashing. These globes are Aldi specials bought about 5 years
ago (very reliable), I thought that she meant that it was flashing on
and off while it was turned on. But no, it was giving a very short flash
every minute or so while turned off. It's on a two way switch
arrangement so the cables are quite long and I assumed that there was
some sort of capacitive coupling with another cable or some other form
of leakage causing it. However swapping the globe with another on a
normal single switch, now neither are flashing. Very strange.

I've had the occasional LED light do this.