LEDS lit faintly

[steq184]

Hi
I have just replaced 240v 50w gu10 bulbs with 240v 48smd gu10 leds.
The problem i have is when they are switched off the 48 leds are lit faintly, the only way to stop this is to put back one of the original bulb, obviously do not want to dot this as i want them all to match and plus the leds are more efficient......well they would be if they were not on 24/7 albeit only faint when not switched on.
Any ideas please?

 

[JohnD]

what sort of light switch have you got?

there is a tiny bit of electrical leakage. You might be familiar with the term "induced current" but people say it is capacitive coupling. Sometimes it is worse with two-way switching.

The wastage is no greater than it used to be with your old bubs, it's just that you can see it now.

The easiest way to fix it is to fit one filament (incandescent) lamp, of as low a wattage as you want, it will drain away the slight voltage.

You might be able to fix it by fitting a DP switch instead of your ordinary lightswitch, but this will depend how the wiring is run.

 

[bernardgreen]

Sometimes they glow, sometimes they flash, the cure is the same


//www.diynot.com/diy/threads/leds-flash-very-so-often.415539/

 

[steq184]

It is in a 3 bulb unit light so cannot really have a normal bulb in the fitting as would look weird i guess.
The fitting in question is a landing so has 2 switches attached.
What are my options?

 

[bernardgreen]

fit one of these

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/contact-suppressor-rg22y

as per the instructions in the thread in my earlier post.

 

[JBR]

Just out of interest, may I ask whether the occasional flicker of a lamp is in any way to be avoided? Is it likely to shorten the life of the lamp?

 

[stillp]

Not if it's an LED. They can flicker at very high frequencies for many years, for example in photoelectric switches. Filament lamps will have a shortened life, as will fluorescents.

 

[JBR]

Thanks.

 

[arkie]

Ive got 2 led bulbs the same brand the one outside is newer but its just burnt out, it was always on dim its still got some dim glow on some of the leds but its now useless, The pir made it glow and it never activated by cats so didn't have more on/off cycles than the one indoors and no sign of moister in the fitting.

I was worried it would burn out early and it did, its now got a 40w bulb in it. Only lasted a year.

Wiring in a resistor will stop the glow search the forum for recent threads on this.

//search.diynot.com/forum_search.php?q=resistor+led+glow+bulb&forum_id=8&stype=0

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Wiring in a resistor will stop the glow

No it won't.

//search.diynot.com/forum_search.php?q=resistor+led+glow+bulb&forum_id=8&stype=0

Nor do any of the posts found by that search claim that it will.

 

[arkie]

So instead of just helping or putting me right, you just say i'm wrong and leave it at that when you do know the answer or that caps or a contact suppressor may not work.

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.

http://www.myswitchshop.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=12692

" A GlowFix can improve performance in two ways:-

1. With certain combinations of lamps the addition of a GlowFix load regulator can improve the stability of the lamps at a lower brightness level, extending the dimming range when used with both V-Pro and V-Pro Eclique dimmers.

2. Due to the extremely low current required to illuminate them, some LED lamps will remain illuminated at a low glow when remote control dimmers (such as Varilight's V-Pro Eclique dimmers)are switched off. This is because remote control dimmers draw a tiny current in standby mode so that they are ready to receive a signal from the handset. This tiny current may be sufficient to illuminate LED lamps. The addition of just one GlowFix will solve this problem."[/b]

 

[bernardgreen]

Putting just a resistor across the load is unlikely to work, to be effective the resistor value ohms ) and power ( watts ) will have to be selected carefully

When the switch is OFF

The resistance must be low enough allow sufficient of the leakage current to by pass the lamp to prevent the lamp glowing.

When the switch is ON

The power rating of the resistor must be large enough to ensure it remains cool when carrying the current created by having 230 volts across the resistor.

The contact suppressor with a capacitor and resistor creates a reactive load which limits current through itself without getting hot.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

So instead of just helping or putting me right, you just say i'm wrong and leave it at that when you do know the answer

I couldn't tell you anything more than you already knew from reading the posts you linked to, none of which say to use a resistor.

or that caps or a contact suppressor may not work.

I didn't know that.

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.

http://www.myswitchshop.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=12692
.
.
.

Errr..... Why have you quoted that?