Energy-saving lamp flashes - the main causes of the malfunction

The principle of the housekeeper

First you need to tell you briefly about how this light source works, because it is in the internal system that there may be malfunctions.

Luminescent and LED lamp, unlike other products operate from direct current. This happens as follows: 220 V variables are supplied to the base, after which the electricity passes through a diode bridge and a filter capacitor. As a result, the alternating voltage is converted to direct, which we have at the output. It is the capacitor located on the board that can cause the lamp to flicker.

As you can see, the design of the LED and fluorescent light sources is really different, so if you screwed in an ordinary incandescent lamp and see that the blinking has passed, you do not need to think that it was a poor-quality housekeeper (although it is just a defective product).

List of Possible Reasons

So, we will proceed as follows: individually, we consider the reasons why energy-saving lamps can flash, and immediately after each option we will tell you how to remove this or that malfunction.

Switch backlight

The first and most popular problem of flickering energy-saving lamps when the lights are off is a backlit switch. This kind of light switch there is a small LED that lights up when the key is in the off position.

What is happening at this time? As you understand, when the light is off, the circuit is broken and no power is supplied to the lamp. At the same time, the backlight is connected to the switch in parallel and when it opens the circuit, the current flows precisely to the LED. The result is such a scheme for the movement of electricity: power grid - backlight - lamp - power grid.

Just this small voltage, which is necessary for the backlight to function, charges the capacitor. Bottom line - the lamp tries to turn on, but immediately goes out, because the capacitor charge is not enough for normal operation. Such attempts to turn on will be repeated repeatedly as the capacitor charges quickly. You, in turn, will see that the energy-saving lamp blinks during operation.

There are several ways to solve this problem:

1. Disconnect the LED wires from the circuit.The main thing in this case is not to confuse the veins, otherwise there are cases when a snack is phase or zero.
2. Replace the switch with an ordinary one, without indicator light.
3. Add an incandescent lamp to the circuit, which will take on this small voltage that charges the capacitor. Not the most reasonable option, especially since it is unlikely to be able to beautifully hide another light bulb in the chandelier. However, many forums write that they used just such a method to combat the flicker of an energy-saving light bulb, which gives it the right to exist.
4. Add a resistor to the circuit with the characteristics: power 2 W, resistance - 50 kOhm. This element will consume current, causing the blinking of an energy-saving lamp, in addition, the resistor has a compact size. You can connect a resistor directly near the cartridge or even in a junction box. In any case, the connection must be made with a terminal block, and it is best to use a heat shrink tube to isolate the resistor. We recommend to visually see this method in the video provided below.
5. Well, the last way to solve the problem is to connect the backlight to the network with a separate wire. In this case, it will burn constantly, but the energy costs will be scanty. The disadvantage of such an idea is superfluous wire connection.

We recommend giving preference to the first or fourth solution to the problem. If the backlight is really important for you, buy a resistor (it costs about 10), if not, just cut the wires, as a result of which the energy-saving lamp will not blink off.

Wiring Issues

If you bought a special lamp that does not blink when the lights are off, but the problem still occurred, then it is a matter of wiring. In the old wiring are possible leakage current due to damage to the insulation and poor twisting of the cores, which as a result leads to constant flashing of energy-saving light bulbs.

It should immediately be noted that the flickering of an energy-saving light bulb can occur not only in the off state, but also when the light is on. In this case, you will need to make an audit, or better - replace wiring in the house to a new one.

If the wiring is in good condition, you must do the following:

1. Disassemble the light switch and a lamp, check the quality of the connection of the wires, perhaps the reason is poor contact.
2. Check whether the electrical installation has been carried out correctly, as sometimes woe-electricians fail to phase, but the zero conductor. Besides the fact that it is very dangerous, there is also the possibility that the housekeeper will blink when turned on or after shutdown.

Rare exceptions

As you understand, sometimes a situation arises when both the wiring is normal and the switch is suitable, but the chandelier flashes and pops anyway. In this case, the following reasons may be the “culprits” of the problem:

• Poor light bulb. If you chose Chinese products of dubious production, then perhaps the "manufacturer" itself produced defective goods. As a rule, this happens very rarely, but still there are cases in life practice.
• The resource of work has run out. If your housekeeper is already many years old, then it is likely that some element on the chip has failed, as a result of which the lamp does not turn on or flashes periodically. Although manufacturers claim that modern LED and fluorescent lamps can burn for more than 10 years, no one warrants for inappropriate conditions of use. Perhaps you have frequent online voltage dropsor a light bulb is installed in a room with low / high temperature. Any, at first glance, not an important factor can be displayed on the resource of the housekeeper.
• Starter out of order. The part that is responsible for turning on the fluorescent light bulb is called a starter.Sometimes the starter fails and causes the energy-saving lamp to flash when it is turned on. Replacing this part will not be difficult even for a novice electrician, especially since it costs a penny.

Finally

In the end, I would like to tell you about the importance of timely troubleshooting. If you are too lazy to fix the flicker immediately, the bulb will very quickly fail. When we looked at the specifications of various light sources, then indicated one of the numbers - the number of inclusions. Each housekeeper has her own individual meaning, and each blink is considered an inclusion. Bottom line - the warranty period can be reduced by tens of times and the bulb will simply fail.

We also advise you to be interested before buying which energy-saving lamps do not flicker if you plan to connect the lamp to a backlit switch. A small overpayment will simplify your life and you won’t have to figure out why the energy-saving lamp blinks when the lights are off and on.

Also read:

• Surge Protector
• Why the LED lamp lights after turning off
• How to connect a light switch
• How to replace wiring in an apartment