Hi.
Some of the lights in my house are behaving strangely. One of them behaves normally when turned on but blinks rapidly on and off every four seconds when the light is switched *off* (a bit disturbing) and another one two floors below is just not working.
I will have to get a professional electrician in to help with this because I know nothing about the subject but what could be the explanation (particularly with the light that's on when it's off)?
Eq.
What sort of bulb? (low energy by any chance?)
Could be lots of things... replace the bulb?
Yep, it's a Philips 60W energy saver.
Possibly :) I just wondered if the two things together were likely to indicate an electrical problem throughout the whole house. There was a thunderstorm last night and a three-hour power cut in the area, in case those things could be related.
Eq.
nope. Just some capacitative pickup.
If only they would sire a high resistance across the bulbs..
Would that be a Philips energy saving bulb by any chance? If so, contact them via the web site and they will exchange them. There were thousands sold through Morrisons a while back that were faulty and should have been recalled. It's caused by a tiny current flowing between earth and neutral triggering the circuit and making the tube flash quickly every few seconds. I had suspected it was my mobile phone or a nearby phone transmitter triggering it, but that wasn't the case. If I still had the official admission from Philips I would post it.
I had 6 of them replaced, all I had to do was say where I got them and also give the bar code on the box.
Philips know about the faulty bulbs but they are still being sold.
On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 22:17:28 +0100, "Paul E Collins" mused:
Change the lamp downstairs, get a decent energy saving lamp.
Its a standard issue with cfls and some lighting wiring. Solution is either of: Put a filament bulb on the same circuit as the cfl Put a high value resistor across the light fitting (switched L to N).
- Note you need a 400v resistor, not a 0.3w 200v type.
- 2x 200v Rs in series is ok
- calculate value to dissipate 0.25w.
No and no. Prime suspects would be a wire loose at switch or light fitting, or a bad switch.
NT
Since when were resitors rated for voltage, apart from EHT?
Dave
Dave said the following on 21/06/2007 00:25:
Dunno. At least the last 30 years.
Rumble said the following on 21/06/2007 10:30:
Actually, they all are.
Its about insulation breakdown an arcing between the spiral cut carbon film that forms the resistor.
Typical small stuff is rated (I thought) to about 400V..but I would be chary of using em on mains anyway. Mains rated ones are more likely to be carbon rod types.
I dont know a specific date, but it'll go back at least to when Rs were miniaturised, and maybe much further. The common 0.25w and 0.3w resistors are normally 200v rated.
NT
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