leds glowing with light switch off. varilight eclique dimmer

[cypher007]

I have a problem with my megaman candle bulbs and varilight eclique dimmer.

the dimmer uses a small amount of current to power itself. this is bringing on the led's dimly all the time.

varilights solution is to use a glowfix costing £24. I wondered if a capacitor and resistor across the led's like ive read elsewhere would fix it a.k.a contact suppressor.

 

[bernardgreen]

varilights solution is to use a glowfix costing £24. I wondered if a capacitor and resistor across the led's like ive read elsewhere would fix it a.k.a contact suppressor.

Yes a contact suppressor or two should work.

The amount of "off state" current varies from dimmer to dimmer and as a result the size of the capacitor may need to be increased by having two ( or more ) contact suppressors fitted.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

varilights solution is to use a glowfix costing £24.

I wonder what's inside that...

 

[cypher007]

im wondering myself. the unit is quite large 56mm by 23mm. is it ok to connect the contact suppressor across the lamp? wont that cause a problem with it being 100ohm's across 240v?

 

[bernardgreen]

The capacitor limits the amount of current flowing and has a much higher impedance than the resistor.

A capacitor without a resistor would be effective but the resistor has two functions

[1] it is ( should be ) a fusible resistor which acts as a fuse if the capacitor goes short circuit.

[2] when suppressing a contact it protects the contact by limiting the current from the capacitor when the switch closes ( not applicable when used across a lamp )

In some devices the capacitor is constructed in a way that enables it to self heal a short circuit inside the capacitor by "burning out" the shorting area. When this healing happens the resistor limits the "burning" current to be just enough to burn out the short but not enough to allow the burn to cause more damage,

 

[cypher007]

great replies, hopefully saved me a bomb, as I have a contact suppressor I used at our old house to stop cfl's, in a 3 bulb fitting, taking it in turns to blow. I had it across the light switch in that case. must remember to remove it before the tenant get there. it worked but did make one cfl flicker when you turned off the lights.

anyway got a new problem with them, which may fix with the contact suppressor, yesterday the light in the lounge came on by themselves when my missus truned on the bathroom lights, thought maybe I imagined it. but today my missus recons they dimmed down on there own, again after bathroom light. then my missus turned the bathroom lights on while I was in the lounge, and a couple of times the brightness blipped. looking at the wiring it looks like the lighting circuits mainly have been rewired, as its the new colour scheme. any ideas?

 

[cypher007]

ok fitted one I had seems a 100ohm with a 0.1uf cap:

http://uk.farnell.com/lcr-components/rc-suppressor/rc-suppressor/dp/9520996

didn't seem to make any difference. also ive now discovered the missus isn't bonkers after all, well not regarding the lights coming on by themselves at least. it seems if we turn on a reasonable load like the kettle it brings on the lights. im guessing whats happening is the dimmer isn't getting enough current, and so is resetting. I noticed this when I first installed the dimmer, once the breaker was switched on the lights came on full.

if I fit more suppressors I might run out of room inside the light fittings cover, which hold the light on the ceiling. I could probably get another 2 max in there.

two questions will this defo fix it? as the missus is threatening to make me remove the whole godam mess. I assume the extra suppressors go in parallel?

 

[cypher007]

seems you can get a higher capacitor version:

http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?SKU=1438448&MER=bn-me-pd-r3-manu-pow-1

any ideas on the best value? when I put a multimeter across the light, before I fitted the suppressor there was 24v ac.

I suppose I could ask varilight how much current there dimmer needs.

 

[cypher007]

p.s. ive got the same dimmer now fitted upstairs to an existing light fitting that had a crabtree touch dimmer on it. ive changed the 4x gu10 halogens for megaman 6w diffused dimmable led's and it all works fine.

just wondering if there is a "glowfix" type device already fitted inside the light, might take the cover off and have a look. its either that or these candle leds are bu*gered or crap.

 

[cypher007]

tried to get varilight to tell me the current used by there dimmer via email. so far they seem to be avoiding the question.

Bernard Green please come back need more advice.

 

[bernardgreen]

O.1μF should pass ample current for any dimmer (unless the dimmer has glow in the dark switch locator )

It should also be able to cope with the current created by the capacitance of a few tens of metres of cable ( Live to Switched Live capacitance that is in parallel to the switch / dimmer )

I assume you fitted the contact suppressor across the lamp and not the switch.. ? It is sold as a contact suppressor but is not used as one here

 

[cypher007]

I fitted it across the leds, or in parallel. the suppressor was an old one I had. ive just bought another one from maplins, same spec. the dimmer is one of these:

http://www.theinternetelectricalsto...-home-automation-dimmers-order-now-1220-c.asp

it does have an led backlight.

should I fit the new one instead and see if it works? if not should I fit it in parallel or series with the old suppressor.

 

[cypher007]

checked the contact suppressor and it seems to make no difference whatsoever im going to buy a normal candle bulb to see what current this things pulling.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I wonder at what point you'll wish you'd shelled out for the Varilight Glowfix. If that doesn't work you can get your money back.

 

[bernardgreen]

The illumination of the switch will pull considerably more power through the lamp when the switch is OFF than a normal switch.

It is a bit strange that a 0.1 μF cannot supply enough power to illuminate the switch.