Strange socket behaviour

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Evening all, this one’s got me a bit stumped
My kid’s got one of those plug in calpol vapourisers to help her breathe at night, it’s got a little blue light built into it which is on whenever it has power.
It’s always worked fine, but tonight I moved it to a different socket in the same room.
This time, it came on very dim, and only lit up when I put my hand near (but not touching) it. Brightness was then directly related to the distance I held my hand from it.
Tried it on another socket in the same room, same behaviour (likely next socket in ring/radial from the one that also didn’t work).
Tried it on another socket in a different room, worked fine.
Tried it back in its original socket, worked fine.
All the sockets are on the same circuit (I think, I’ll check tomorrow as don’t want to disturb her again).

Sorry bit random this, any ideas anyone?
 
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Worn out socket contacts or some other failure such as wiring not connected properly at those sockets.

Try some other item in those sockets, preferably something that takes a decent amount of power like a kettle.
 
Thanks, will do tomorrow. Sockets look pretty new and seeing as there’s 2 of them doing it I suspect it’s a wiring issue.
 
Can anyone explain the hand moving close to it, causing it to come on phenomenon?
 
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Capacitive coupling, and the fact that the blue light is an LED which will light up with almost no current.
 
Try plugging a plug(any plug) in and out the socket half a dozen times and flicking the switch on the socket on and of a few times .If the sockets are not used a lot may have dirty contacts .Doing the above may clean them up
 
Could the blue light be crepuscolar, one of them that get brighter when it's dark and dim to almost nothing with the light?
 
Reading the reviews, the blue light is claimed to be a night light, and should only light when lights switched off, so maybe it is simply more are less light reaching the socket, so changing if night light activates, this explains why it comes on when your hand shields the light to the unit.
 
Evening all, this one’s got me a bit stumped
My kid’s got one of those plug in calpol vapourisers to help her breathe at night, it’s got a little blue light built into it which is on whenever it has power.
It’s always worked fine, but tonight I moved it to a different socket in the same room.
This time, it came on very dim, and only lit up when I put my hand near (but not touching) it. Brightness was then directly related to the distance I held my hand from it.
Tried it on another socket in the same room, same behaviour (likely next socket in ring/radial from the one that also didn’t work).
Tried it on another socket in a different room, worked fine.
Tried it back in its original socket, worked fine.
All the sockets are on the same circuit (I think, I’ll check tomorrow as don’t want to disturb her again).

Sorry bit random this, any ideas anyone?
the one we had for granddaughter was a nightlight and only lit when dark, which could explain the hand affecting it?

EDIT: shucks beaten again. I started my reply a couple of hours ago and got stuffed with granddaddy duties.
 
Plug in the CALPOL® Vapour Plug & Nightlight to release soothing lavender and camomile vapours that comfort your child through the night and help with clear & easy breathing. Now with a soft orange nightlight that provides a gently reassuring glow, as well as guiding you in the room so you can avoid disturbing your child while they rest. Plugs into standard UK household sockets, and nightlight is only activated when the lights go out. The CALPOL® Vapour Plug & Nightlight is suitable to use with any CALPOL® medicines.
Ours was green from a few years back, I see it's now orange.
 
Thanks all. It seems I win todays DIYnot muppet award. It’s a light sensing LED, as some of you have stated. I had no idea. It was also directly related to how much I opened the blind in a dark room.
Sorry for the waste of time but at least we know. :LOL:
 
Thanks all. It seems I win todays DIYnot muppet award. It’s a light sensing LED, as some of you have stated. I had no idea. It was also directly related to how much I opened the blind in a dark room.
Sorry for the waste of time but at least we know. :LOL:
Not a waste of time, it's only easy if you know it.
Thanks for the update.
 

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