G9 LED Strobe Effect

[TJDB]

I've recently installed a couple of light fittings which take G9 bulbs... (http://www.darlighting.co.uk/sestina-5-light-g9-flush-decorative-rods-and-crystal-beads-ses5350.html). Instructions were in the box and bought the bulbs before opening the box... my error!

The light fitting istself is dimmable but I haven't fitted it to a dimmer, just a regular light switch. I had regular LED bulbs in the previous fittings. I bought some non dimmable LED bulbs and there is no flickering but if I move quickly (like waving my hand) I get a strobe effect. Any thoughts on fixing this?

If I swap out the bulbs for dimmable LEDs will it fix it or do I need to get a different light switch? Fallback is to go to regular bulbs but aside from the additional power consumption I've found they don't last long which will rack up the cost.

 

[omega015]

but if I move quickly (like waving my hand) I get a strobe effect.

What do you mean move quickly? Do you have some kind of movement sensor or are waving your hand in front of your eyes creating a strobe affect? (sorry couldn't help myself).

You have a regular on/off light switch and non dimmable bulbs so there shouldn't be any need for buying anything dimmable. You say the fitting is dimmable but I assume that meant the original bulbs could be dimmed. It could be you have some cheap/faulty LED bulbs, which ones did you buy?

I still don't quite understand the strobe effect you mentioned and only when you move? Or could they be pulsing at a certain frequency that you only notice when there's movement. Have you also tried only having 1 LED bulb in the fitting just in case they are interfering with each other in some way?

 

[SFK]

TJDB,
When you say "The light fitting itself is dimable" I guess that that is just a silly marketing comment on the Light Fitting box as I presume that the wiring inside the light fitting is simply a wire to the Bulbs, with no other electronics.

If this is the case, then there is no issue with whatever bulb you put in and the strobe effect is likely to be the LED Bulb using poor electronics to reduce the 240V to the required voltage for each of the LEDs inside the bulb. Some bulbs simply chop the 240V sine wave at the points where it is at the correct voltage and this leaves lots of points where the bulb is actually off, causing the flickering. I will see if I can find a link to this.

My suggestion is get another bulb from a different supplier and try that. I mistakenly bought some G9 bulbs of the wrong colour (they made my room blue/white), so they are going spare and if you PM me I would be more than happy to post you one if you want to try a different bulb from a different supplier.

sfk

 

[SFK]

TJBD
Here is the Video from BigClioveDotCom that nicely explains why LEDs flicker if they use poorly designed driving electronics (note the nice schematic at 6m10sec):

sfk

 

[TJDB]

Thanks for your thoughts. Dimmable light fitting is marketing, it's just direct wiring. Strobe effect is the slicing of the sine wave, I can only see it when there is fast movement... I can see it when my children run through the room!

Agree that low quality bulbs is definitely a possibility, they were £10.98 for 5 from amazon. Perhaps I'll try getting a good quality one on my way home and trialing it.

What makes me a little unsure is that the instructions don't say it's compatible with LED but it could just be because they wanted it to be dimmable which requires a little more work with installing with LED>

 

[omega015]

Manufacturers of light fittings sometimes omit relevant information or include unnecessary information. They might not of specified LED just because they were either lazy, poor marketing, didn't want the agro of customers saying it doesn't work when it could be due to dimmers, poor led bulbs etc... or they were manufactured before LED bulbs became popular. From the link you posted there is no reason why that fitting is not suitable for LED.

 

[TJDB]

So follow up question... I don't want a bulb that only points light down like the Philips bulbs. Is there a good manufacturer that does LED bulbs that shine light all around?

 

[omega015]

You could try Toolstation, they have a variety of different style G9 LED bulbs and if you have issues you can take them back easily (assuming you have a local store) They also delivery FOC with £10 I think.

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p15518 (then click the catalogue image on the right for more bulbs)