Why does the light flash when the light is off?

Mankind has faced the urgent need to save energy. Therefore, scientists are developing new equipment that meets the high demands of the present. Such a technique consumes fewer energy resources than the devices of the last century. Not an exception, steel and lighting equipment. Diode and fluorescent lamps were actively used . This significantly saves the means of the family budget. In a global sense, mankind reduces the consumption of electricity and other non-renewable energy sources.

When using the presented lighting devices, many owners encountered a small problem. If the light is blinking when the light is off, you should take one of the following actions. This will eliminate the unpleasant effect and fully operate such equipment as an economical light bulb.

The principle of the lamp

If the energy saving lamp is flashing 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 operation of such equipment.

Most recently, incandescent lamps have been used in most homes and institutions. Their device was quite simple. The lamp studied the light by incandescent tungsten filament. An electric current was applied to it, which activated the device. It consumed quite a lot of electricity. Lighting a small room required a minimum of 100 watts per hour.

The housekeeper is capable of radiating as much light when consuming only 15-20 watts per hour. This device has a special fuse. Through it, the mains voltage (220 V) is fed to the diode bridge. At the output from it, a glow with a certain pulsation frequency is obtained. To make it invisible to the eyes, the bulb has a filter capacitor. It is he who causes the flicker.

Illumination of the switch

A lighted switch can explain why the energy saving bulb flashes when the light is off. For obvious reasons, such a device breaking the circuit is convenient. You do not need to look for a switch in the dark. To do this, it has either a special diode indicator, or neon lights.

This light source is connected in parallel to the contact of the device that disconnects the circuit. A switch of the type shown has a certain resistance. For a device with a light-emitting diode this indicator makes 1 W, and with a neon illumination - 0.5-1 W.

When the device is turned off, this small voltage is first applied to the filter capacitor of the lamp, and afterwards to the backlight. The value of the resistance of the switch is negligible. However, it is sufficient to charge the filter capacitor and create a flicker.

The first way to solve the problem

It should be noted that neon illumination creates more rare flashes of a lamp than a diode version. She has less resistance in the chain. Therefore, the filter capacitor charges more slowly. If the LED light flashes 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 illumination contact with the device.

This solution is not without its shortcomings, but the problem of flicker will be solved. A conventional device that disconnects the circuit, without illumination, will be more suitable for economical lamps.

The second way to fix the problem

As it was said before, the principle of the device can become the reason, explaining why the LED lamp flashes when the light is off. The second way to solve this problem is to add a light bulb of low power (25 W) to the network.

The current flowing to the filter capacitor will be distributed to the spiral of the tungsten filament. Flicker will stop. However, this output is only possible if a chandelier with several elements is connected to the circuit breaker. If one lamp is used in the system, this option will be more difficult to apply.

To replace an energy-saving lighting device with an uneconomic obsolete product will not be a good idea. The consumption of electricity will increase significantly, as will the costs of the family budget.

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 version, you can replace the incandescent lamp with an additional resistance element with a power of about 2 W. This will be enough to get rid of annoying flicker.

This method is quite unsafe if the master does not have sufficient experience in carrying out such work. The resistance must be soldered into the circuit in parallel with the lamp. This will allow the current from the filter capacitor to flow into the backlight.

This option is considered the most insecure. The resistance element can become hot. It is better to disconnect the illumination power or to purchase the usual switches. It will be safe and effective.

Incorrect connection

Another reason explaining why the light is blinking, when the light is off, there may be a wrong connection of the wires. The network usually consists of 3 wires - zero, phase and ground. An inexperienced electrician can confuse them. As a result, the switch is connected to the conductors incorrectly.

If you interchange the phase and zero in places, the light bulb will flicker. In this case, when turning off, it will break not the phase, but zero. Correct the situation will switch the conductors. To do this, you need to use special equipment, which is mandatory in the arsenal of an electrician.

Even with the help of 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.

Substandard Wiring

Another factor, due to which the diode lamp flashes when the light is off, can be poor-quality wiring. If the mains have not been renewed for many years, there may be a large leakage of currents.

In this case, it is required to replace the entire power line, otherwise everything can end rather badly. Old wiring leads to fire and other accidents.

If the wires are new, it is worth installing in the circuit of the RCD and making a full grounding. Modern electrical safety requirements allow this process to be performed using the TN-S, TN-CS system. In this case, in the event of a leakage of currents, the RCD will disconnect the power of the damaged conductor. This is an effective protection of communications and property owners from unforeseen situations.

A few more reasons

Sometimes it happens that the light is blinking 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, you should not buy economical lamps from a dubious seller.

But even with the correct connection and a fully functioning lighting device, flickering may occur due to waves generated by strong electromagnetic devices. If you bring a diode lamp, for example, to a television set, it will also catch fire. In this case, it is necessary either to eliminate the radiation source or replace the lamp with an old sample device.

Why do we need to eliminate flicker?

If the light is blinking when the light is off, it is an alarm. Be sure to eliminate the reason for this. Especially dangerous if such a phenomenon is caused by a deviation in the wiring. Over time, this can lead to a fire.

Flicker also quite quickly disables even a very high-quality LED lamp. It can not be repaired. In this case it is necessary to be ready for additional costs for the purchase of new lighting devices.

In addition, flicker, which is constantly repeated in the dark, can irritate, negatively affect people's well-being. This is especially noticeable in those rooms where a person spends a lot of time at night (bedroom, children's room). In this case, measures to eliminate the unpleasant flicker should be taken immediately.

Having become acquainted with possible reasons for the flicker of a diode lamp with the light turned off, you can eliminate this problem quickly and effectively. This is necessary to extend the life of the lighting device and to avoid the occurrence of unforeseen troubles in the future.