Philips energy saving bulbs flash when light turned off

[Rapunzel]

Hi

I have two Philips energy saving light bulbs in different rooms of my house. Both of them flash every few seconds when the light is turned off. It does not happen with normal lightbulbs or with any other brand of energy saving bulb. It does not happen all the time, but does happen most of the time.

I have searched on Google Groups and found a couple of other people with the same thing happening. Various possiblities have been put forward for why it might be happening but nobody seems to know for sure.

Does anyone have any idea why this happens and could it be a symptom of a dangerous wiring problem?

Thanks

[Creative]

Ok for this to happen there is a few reasons

1. the wireing was not correct (( most common )) check for live neutral reversals, if there's more then one switch make sure it's not wired to other lights ....
2. Floating neutal / ground potential (( some times )) not so common in cities but if your outta town and your ground rods are old expect it ...
3. Induced currents (( now this normally only happens in long wire runs and high voltages but it's not hard to induce 20 volts in a hundred feet of wire )) and this in turn will charge the capacitor on the other side of the diode bridge and when it store enough current it'll atempt to fire the bulb and drain the capacitor in the light and it'll turn off and cycle again and again and again ....

And you won't notice these effects with a normal light due to the fact it's just a resistor and it may of been softly glowing all this time and unless it's pitch black you'd never see it .... did the lights in those sockets before seen to either last a real long time or short time ???

CreativeMod@hotmail.com

[TIEpilot_sv]

I must first say that, I have switches w/neon indicators (in the wall), when I disconnect the neon light (parallel to the swith) the flashing disappear, but if I reconnect it, flashes again.

Maybe the PHILIPS Fluorescent family isn´t suitable to be used plus switches w/neon pilots.

SO PLEASE check what kind of switches do you use ...

Waiting more suggestions/technnichal explanations ...

[TIEpilotsv]

The BRAND isn´t the problem, is the kind of bulb that you are using and the electric environment.

For example I changed from PHILIPS RESIDENCIAL DECO GLOBO to another kind of PHILIP fluorescent LIGHT (ESSENTIAL LINE), and the problem dissappear even if the switch w/NEON pilot still are connected ...

If you have a solution for the DECO GLOBE, please e-mail it to me, juancarlosgh@hotmail.com

[Creative]

you could put another neon indicator across the bulb it self in the junction box but this might cause you neon in the switch to misfire ... Oh leviton have I got a switch Idea for you, for those people that like lighted switchs ... And it's flouresent friendly to boot ... and it last longer then neon's .....


Creative

CreativeMod@hotmail.com

[guest]

We see the same thing. We get regular flashes on our energy saving lamp on a two-switch curcuit. If we move the bulb to another two-switch circuit, then the bulb flashes in its new position. However, if we put the lamp into a socket on the same lighting spur, but controlled by a single switch, then we do not get the flashing.
<p>
If we replace the energy saving lamp by a conventional bulb, then we can see no flashing, which suggests the lamp is not getting a dangerous amount of energy off the circuit, which also suggests the danger to us may be small (but don't take my word on that).
<p>
My guess is that in the two-switch configureation we have a two-core cable running between the switches with one core connected to the live circuit, and the other connected to the lamp when it is switched off. This length of wire is acting like a transformer - giving you a small voltage on the lamp line, but almost no current.
<p>
Can anyone come up with an example of a lamp that flashes but is not controlled by two switches?

[Brian Ship]

[highlorddave]

I too am having light flashes when the bulb is off, and i am not very technically minded so could someone explaing to me ( in lay mans terms ) how i can stop the flashing.

Its driving my wife mad during the night so i would be very happy if someone knows how to help.

thanks
dave

[gellfling]

Hi,
We are having some of the energy savings fluros flash when the light is turned off
we have changed them for other energy savings lights and the issue stops.

Can some one please explain why this might happen?

Regards

gellfling

[cliver]

The phenomenon of lamps starting to flicker after switch-off is caused by a small current which continues to flow through the lamp. This causes the lamp trying, unsuccessfully, to switch on again.
(The low current continuously charges the built-in capacitor; if the charging is completed, the capacitor will initiate a pulse to start the lamp, similar to normal switching of the lamp; however, since the current is too small, the discharge inside the lamp is not strong enough; hence the lamp will extinguish, after which the same sequence will be repeated).

There can be several reasons for a continuous small current:
· the lamp is operated on dimmer or electronic switches (the latter including photocells, timer devices, dusk-to-dawn sensors, and switches with a built-in ‘neon’ orientation light).
Our lamp packaging contains an explicit warning, NOT to use the lamps in these applications.
· The wiring in the house is not optimally isolated, leading to a magnetic field, resulting in a small current flow.

We are investing alternative lamp electronics designs.
Until then, we advise consumers, NOT to use electronic energy savers in the specific luminaries/fixture where the phenomenon occurred.

From June 2003, our PLE Master lamps are equipped with an electronic device, which solves the problem of continuous flickering in installations with a neon switch.
Still, lamps should not be operated on dimmers, movement detectors and timers.
_________________
Philips Lighting, The Netherlands

[gellfling]

Thank you Phillips for the answer, will ask our electrician to check the voltage.