Flash of light

[Yourmotionsays]

Hi all

Over the last couple of weeks on maybe three occasions I've been in my bedroom and have noticed a very brief flash of white light, as though there's been a flash of lightening outside. The first time I thought it was a firework outside but now it's happened with my blackout blinds down. Could it be something to do with my electrics? There are some issues with damp in the room and I worry that's the cause of it (ie. the moisture in the walls is interfering with the electrics). I was next to the same plug socket on all three occasions. I never hear any sounds accompanying the flash. I got the flat's electrics checked 12 months ago by a qualified NICEIC electrician so they're all up to code as of 12 months ago.

Another theory is that when it happened just now I had my iPhone plugged in, and I know that if I hold my iPhone while it charges, I feel a slight tingling sensation on my hand. Apparently this is a known issue if you use an iPhone charger not supplied by Apple, which I do - the current leaks because they're not earthed properly apparently? I don't know much about electics, but could it be that? I can't remember if I had my phone charging the last two times it happened, but it's possible.

Should I be worrying? I thought I could be imagining it but for it to happen three times is strange.

Thanks for any help.

 

[flameport]

An electrical fault severe enough to cause a flash of visible light would almost always have some loud sound associated with it.

As for the charger - dispose of it and buy a proper one.
Continuing to use it has the risk of causing electric shock, injury or death, as well as completely destroying your iPhone and causing a fire which will destroy everything else in your home.

 

[Yourmotionsays]

Thanks for your reply. I ended up purchasing a brand new phone (I needed a new one anyway) so I've stopped using the old device and charger. However these flashes of light have persisted. Next possible culprit is my laptop. From memory it does seem to happen when I'm using it, and I've noticed when I plug the power supply into a four way extension socket, it sparks a bit. It doesn't when I plug it into the wall though. I'm going to try to take it to my local computer repair shop tomorrow if it's open to see if they can look at it. I also wonder if the external hard drive I frequently use with it (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0713WPGLL/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_sIDdGbVWJG7RC?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1) is part of the problem. It plugs into the laptop via a USB 3.0 connector and draws its power from the laptop (ie. it doesn't plug into the mains). The other thing is that the original USB cable it came with started playing up so I bought this replacement: https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/usb-cables/9015064/ I can't remember it it always happens when the drive is plugged in but I remember on at least one occasion that it was. This is the laptop I use anyway, got it in Dec 2019: https://business.currys.co.uk/catal...ore-i3-2-in-1-laptop-128-gb-ssd-blue/N697463W

Do any of those things sound like plausible causes to anyone? Hoping I find out more in the next couple of days, anyway.

 

[SUNRAY]

As for the charger - dispose of it and buy a proper one.
Continuing to use it has the risk of causing electric shock, injury or death, as well as completely destroying your iPhone and causing a fire which will destroy everything else in your home.

For what it's worth we have stopped using the chargers which came with out Ipads because we got the tingling feeling when we touched the Ipads while on charge, yes the proper official white ones as supplied by Apple. Absolute American crap. We dumped them and got some proper ones.



What bulbs do you have in your room? does your flashing occur when something else switches on or off?

Our hall LEDS glowed when off, shorting snubbing them with a resistor when switched off stopped that but they still give a quick flick when turning off the kitchen fluorescents.

 

[Yourmotionsays]

No, doesn't seem to occur when a switch is flicked elsewhere in the flat. I've noticed it once when I had my main light on and at another time when side lights were on instead. It may also have happened when no lights are on during daylight but I can't remember a specific occasion to be certain of that.

 

[SUNRAY]

No, doesn't seem to occur when a switch is flicked elsewhere in the flat. I've noticed it once when I had my main light on and at another time when side lights were on instead. It may also have happened when no lights are on during daylight but I can't remember a specific occasion to be certain of that.

Do you have any electric heating or immersion heater or anything similar?

 

[Yourmotionsays]

Got a hot water tank and two wall mounted heaters (one of which is near where I've noticed the flashes) but all have tended to be switched off when I've noticed it.

 

[SUNRAY]

Got a hot water tank and two wall mounted heaters (one of which is near where I've noticed the flashes) but all have tended to be switched off when I've noticed it.

What bulbs do you lave in your lights? LED, CFL?

 

[Yourmotionsays]

The main bulb in here is LED. Don't think it's that though, until today there was no bulb in there. Only just got round to replacing it after a couple of months of the last one packing up. Noticed it happened while it was switched on this evening but also on previous days when table lamps were in use instead. No idea what kinds of bulbs are in those though.

 

[333rocky333]

You sure the heaters were off, some convecter heaters give off a spark/ flash when the theremostat cuts in and out

 

[Yourmotionsays]

Absolutely positive.