[nippa&pippa]

to ask stupid questions...:exit :laugh
Why the a light in hallway keep flick (not bright) every 30secs when light is off....more noticable at night when house is dark...did made me jump like hell when i notice it first time when my dd fell out of bed soon after we moved!!
just only one light in the house, in hallway, keep flicking. Is low energy watt bulb are blame? or something to do with nz's light/building requirements as safety things?
shed me a light on this.....:o

[sizzlingbadger]

I would suggest getting an electrician in to look at the wiring especially if you've got a suspect smell in the kids rooms as well.

[barryp]

Everyone's risk tolerance varies, but there's no way I could sleep in any building that had flickering lights (when they're ostensibly turned off). OFF means OFF, it doesn't mean low-level-flash once in awhile.

If the bulb is fluorescent, I can easily imagine the socket has been wired improperly, or if there's a dimmer I can imagine that it's leaky. You can assess those possibilities yourself with a continuity tester or a multimeter. You can also try turning off every OTHER circuit breaker besides the one this light is on to see if this problem goes away - if it does, you MUST get a competent person to service it.

If you look at the socket yourself, be aware that even with the wall switch turned off, you can still get quite a shock if you're not careful, so flip the breaker before get busy with a screwdriver.

[IanW99]

Had exactly the same problem with one of our low energy bulbs.

Replaced the buld with a different one and no problem at all since then - I did assume that the bulb was faulty (although don't understand why it should have enough energy to flash when switched off)?

Ian

[nippa&pippa]

Thanks guys for your helps. I thought might be something to do with bulb, I will wait till another guy PM me with more informations..Thanks again.:cheers

[barryp]

I did assume that the bulb was faulty (although don't understand why it should have enough energy to flash when switched off)?

Ian

That's exactly my point - if the socket is wired properly that CANNOT happen; there will be zero energy flow. If the socket is wired improperly (putative ground is actually neutral, say), you can get voltage across the bulb when the switch is 'off'. This may or may not produce flicker, depending on the bulb. Replacing the bulb does not fix the problem - you're just replacing a bulb that can be activated with low voltages with a bulb that requires a larger delta to light up. The problem is not with either bulb.

[zardell]

- I did assume that the bulb was faulty (although don't understand why it should have enough energy to flash when switched off)?




I'm no electrician, but I would assume that the only way a light bulb can give light (flicker or otherwise) is if there is electricity going to it...:uhoh

Sophia - get an electrician in a.s.a.p would be my advice.

Julie

xx

[Sam B]

That's funny, the bulb in our bedroom light in our new house does this, little pulses of half light every 5 seconds or so. Weird.

[IanW99]

Did a bit of investigating this 'problem' and found the following:-

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 ....

Another website said that there have been reported problems if the light switch switches the neutral line instead of the live. Their suggestion here (from the bulb manufacturers) was to replace the bulb with a different one.

It should also be pointed out that most CFL (compact flourescent lighting) bulbs should not be used with dimmers etc (just in case anyone is doing this).

Ian

[g1234ray]

Hi
Sorry about jumping in on your messages but reading through them, some appear to have the answer, I am an Electrician ( sorry living in UK ) so can't nip round to fix it, but it does point to either a loose wire or faulty light switch at the wall.
As you know electricity whichever country you are in is dangerous if you do not know what you are doing, so if at all worried get someone in who is competent with electricity. If you do take a look yourself make sure the power is turned off at the circuit breakers.
Graham@ http://rightdiy.blogspot.com

[nippa&pippa]

Thank you to all of you. We will look into what is the problems with our light/power with electrician if my OH unable to fix it himself (He has completed 1 year of 3 years electrician evening course before we came out to NZ..he couldn't work out what is might be the problem before he could start! but he did thought it is might be faulty circuit)

[Leccy-Lee]

As another sparky here (currently in Wellington) that is sounding like a loose connection to me, or a faulty switch with worn contacts, should be easy to fix for somebody in the know (if there wasnt the cook straight between us id pop round).

Obviously if you take a look yourself, please be sure to turn it all off at fuseboard first, its only us trained fools that enjoy live electricity!

Any smell that is kinda of a "fishy" kind of smell is quite possibly electrical, old accesories and bakerlite fittings if faulty can smell like old rotten fish and is often very distinctive when a smell is electrical.

If you have one possible loose connection in home, then may pay to get the whole wiring checked and certified. Best way to put ones mind at rest.

If you need advice over phone, PM me for my mobile number..

[Nathan]

If you're waffling on calling an electrician, call the fire department. I'm sure they can tell you a couple stories to convince you to call an electrician.

[zardell]

If you're waffling on calling an electrician, call the fire department. I'm sure they can tell you a couple stories to convince you to call an electrician.


Good point !!!

Julie

xx

[nippa&pippa]

Believe or not...one of our neighbours (that cows and bull in our field belong to) is a fireman-cum-farmer!!!!! Hmmm, I will ask micheal about it when he pop over to check his cows...
Seem to be odd with 7 years old house to have loose circuit.