Mankind is faced with an urgent need to save energy. Therefore, scientists are developing new equipment that meets the high requirements of our time. Such equipment consumes energy resources many times less than devices of the last century. Lighting devices are no exception. Actively used diode and fluorescent lamps. This greatly saves family budget. In a global sense, humanity is reducing the consumption of electricity and other non-renewable energy sources.
When using the presented lighting devices, many owners faced a small problem. If the light flashes when the light is off, you should take one of the following actions. This will eliminate the unpleasant effect and fully operate equipment such as an economical light bulb.
The principle of operation of the lamp
If the energy-saving light flashes when the light is off, there may be several reasons for this. To understand how to solve this problem, it is necessary to consider the principle of operation of such equipment.
Most recently, incandescent lamps were used in most homes and institutions. Their device was quite simple. The bulb studied the light through the glow of a tungsten filament. An electric current was supplied to it, which powered the device. At the same time, quite a lot of electricity was consumed. A minimum of 100 watts per hour was required to illuminate a small room.
The housekeeper is able to emit the same amount of light when consuming only 15-20 watts per hour. This appliance has a special fuse. Through it, the mains voltage (220 V) is supplied to the diode bridge. At the exit from it, a glow with a certain pulsation frequency is obtained. To make it invisible to the eyes, there is a filter capacitor in the light bulb. It is he who causes the flicker.
Switch backlight
A backlit switch may explain why the energy-saving light flashes when the light is off. For obvious reasons, such a circuit-breaking device is convenient. No need to look for the switch button in the dark. To do this, he has either a special diode indicator, or neon illumination.
This light source is connected in parallel to the contact of the device that opens the circuit. The circuit breaker of the presented type has a certain resistance. For a device with an LED, this indicator is 1 W, and with a neon backlight, 0.5-1 W.
When the device is turned off, this small voltage is first applied to the filter capacitor of the lamp, and after that, to the backlight. The resistance value of the circuit breaker is negligible. However, it turns out to be enough to charge the filter capacitor and create flicker.
The first solution to the problem
It should be noted that neon lights create more rare lamp flashes than the diode variety. She has less resistance in the circuit. Therefore, the filter capacitor charges more slowly. If the LED lamp blinks when the light is off due to a similar reason, it can be solved radically. The backlight is simply excluded from the circuit. To do this, disassemble the switch and open the backlight contact with the device.
This solution is not without its drawbacks, but the flicker problem will be solved. A conventional device that opens the circuit without backlighting will be more suitable for economical lamps.
The second way to fix the problem
As mentioned earlier, the principle of the device may be the reason explaining why the LED light flashes when the light is off. The second way to solve this problem is to add incandescent lamps of small power (25 W) to the network.
The current supplied to the filter capacitor will be distributed to the tungsten filament spiral. The flicker will stop. However, this output is only possible if a chandelier with several elements is connected to the circuit breaker. If the system uses one lamp, this option will be more difficult to apply.
Replacing an energy-saving lighting fixture with an uneconomic obsolete product would not be a good idea. Electricity consumption will increase significantly, as well as household budget costs.
Another solution
If the light blinks when the light is off, you can solve the problem in another way. If the chandelier consists of only one cartridge, an additional element in it will not be easy to install. Instead of the previous option, you can replace the incandescent lamp with an additional resistance element with a power of about 2 watts. This will be enough to get rid of annoying flicker.
This method is rather unsafe if the master does not have sufficient experience in carrying out such work. Resistance must be soldered into the circuit parallel to the lamp. This will allow you to divert the current coming to the backlight from the filter capacitor.
This option is considered the most unsafe. The resistance element may heat up. It’s better to disconnect the backlight power or purchase conventional switches. It will be safe and effective.
Incorrect connection
Another reason explaining why the light blinks when the light is turned off may be due to incorrect wiring. The network usually consists of 3 wires - zero, phase and ground. An inexperienced electrician can mix them up. As a result, the switch does not connect to the conductors correctly.
If you mix the phase and zero in places, the light will flicker. In this case, when turning off, it will not break the phase, but zero. Switching the situation will allow switching conductors. To do this, you must use special equipment, which is mandatory in the arsenal of an electrician.
Even with an indicator screwdriver, you can check which cable is energized. After testing the wiring, it will not be difficult to change the wiring if necessary.
Poor wiring
Another factor due to which the diode lamp blinks when the light is off, poor quality wiring can be. If the power grid has not been updated for many years, there may be a large leakage of currents.
In this case, you need to replace the entire power line, otherwise everything can end up pretty badly. Old wiring leads to fire and other accidents.
If the wires are new, it is worthwhile to install an RCD in the circuit and make a full grounding. Modern requirements for electrical safety allow this process to be performed using the TN-S, TN-CS system. In this case, if current leakage occurs, the RCD will shut off the power to the damaged conductor. This is an effective protection of communications and property owners from unforeseen situations.
A few more reasons
Sometimes it happens that a light flashes when the light is off due to a malfunction of the product itself. In this case, you can only recommend not to save on such devices. Also, do not buy economical lamps from a dubious seller.
But even with the correct connection and a fully functional lighting fixture, flickering can occur due to waves created by strong electromagnetic devices. If you bring a diode lamp, for example, to the TV, it will also light up. In this case, you must either eliminate the radiation source or replace the lamp with an old-style device.
Why eliminate flicker?
If the light flashes when the light is off, this is an alarm. Be sure to eliminate the reason why this happens. It is especially dangerous if this phenomenon is caused by a deviation in the wiring. Over time, this may cause a fire.
Flickering also quite quickly disables even a very high-quality LED lamp. It is not subject to repair. In this case, it is necessary to be prepared for additional costs for the purchase of new lighting devices.
In addition, flicker, constantly repeated in the dark, can be annoying, negatively affect the well-being of people. This is especially noticeable in those rooms in which a person spends a large amount of time at night (bedroom, children's room). In this case, measures to eliminate unpleasant flicker should be taken immediately.
By familiarizing yourself with the possible causes of the flickering of a diode lamp when the light is off, you can fix this problem quickly and efficiently. This is necessary to extend the life of the lighting device and to avoid unforeseen troubles in the future.