Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Weird shop LED light issue #2913186
04/21/21 10:03 PM
04/21/21 10:03 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 28,063
Irving, TX
feets Offline OP
Senior Management
feets  Offline OP
Senior Management

Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 28,063
Irving, TX
I've got a series of 8' long LED lights across the ceiling in my garage. They're plugged into ceiling mounted outlets and switched by the door.They work fine.


I moved one of them into my shop. It gets used for extra task lighting. There is a switched outlet mounted high on the wall for the window AC unit. A power strip is plugged into that and is mounted down near the floor. An extension cord runs from there to my bench where it powers that light. Nothing else is plugged into that circuit at this time. Even the window unit is unplugged.

I have not used that light in three days.

Tonight, I walked into the darkened shop and noticed a faint glow from the light. The factory installed switch on the light is turned off. The switched wall outlet is turned off. The light still glows.

Outlet on. Light on. Light is on.
Outlet on. Light off. Light is off.
Outlet off. Light on. Light is off.
Outlet off. Light off. Light glows dimly.

Any idea what is going on?


We are brothers and sisters doing time on the planet for better or worse. I'll take the better, if you don't mind.
- Stu Harmon
Re: Weird shop LED light issue [Re: feets] #2913188
04/21/21 10:05 PM
04/21/21 10:05 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 28,063
Irving, TX
feets Offline OP
Senior Management
feets  Offline OP
Senior Management

Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 28,063
Irving, TX
Outlet on. Light off.

20210421_210342.jpg

We are brothers and sisters doing time on the planet for better or worse. I'll take the better, if you don't mind.
- Stu Harmon
Re: Weird shop LED light issue [Re: feets] #2913189
04/21/21 10:05 PM
04/21/21 10:05 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 28,063
Irving, TX
feets Offline OP
Senior Management
feets  Offline OP
Senior Management

Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 28,063
Irving, TX
Outlet off. Light off.

20210421_210431.jpg

We are brothers and sisters doing time on the planet for better or worse. I'll take the better, if you don't mind.
- Stu Harmon
Re: Weird shop LED light issue [Re: feets] #2913278
04/22/21 06:48 AM
04/22/21 06:48 AM
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 1,395
Central Pa
M
moparjim79 Offline
pro stock
moparjim79  Offline
pro stock
M

Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 1,395
Central Pa
Someone posted a similar problem on here a few years back, and the overwhelming response I believe was led bulbs are hyper sensitive to voltage and will do this. The OP of the thread sort of confirmed it when he swapped to an incandescent for testing.

Re: Weird shop LED light issue [Re: moparjim79] #2913281
04/22/21 07:24 AM
04/22/21 07:24 AM
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 5,406
Michigan
O
oldjonny Offline
Don't argue with me.
oldjonny  Offline
Don't argue with me.
O

Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 5,406
Michigan
120VAC only switches one leg. There is enough leakage (and the bulbs are also usually 'cheap') that they will glow.

From an article:

Residual Electricity

When a low current level is still present within your LEDs diode, the bulb will pick it up and convert it into lighting.

This phenomenon is called residual electricity. LEDs are most likely to pick up residual electricity due to their high efficiency.

High-Resistance

Sometimes the wiring is at fault. If the neutral wire is not earthed or is at very high resistance, it can leak a small current to the bulb. This faintly powers the bulbs continuously.

Fancy Switches

Some switches have features like an indicator light, motion detection, timer, etc. These need some power to be on stand-by.

Due to the wiring, LEDs can draw on this small power and still stay on faintly even when you’ve flipped the switch off.

Operating Temperature

The filament of an incandescent bulb gets extremely hot to give off white-hot light.

When you turn off the power to the bulb, the filament takes a few seconds to start cooling down. So it continues to glow slightly as the filament is still quite hot for a few seconds.


Never, ever argue with an IDIOT. They will drag you to their level and then beat you with their years of experience
Re: Weird shop LED light issue [Re: oldjonny] #2913305
04/22/21 08:43 AM
04/22/21 08:43 AM
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 8,828
Ontario, Canada
S
Stanton Offline
Don't question me!
Stanton  Offline
Don't question me!
S

Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 8,828
Ontario, Canada
This was quite common with early LEDs - ten years or so ago.

Re: Weird shop LED light issue [Re: feets] #2913363
04/22/21 11:28 AM
04/22/21 11:28 AM
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 12,180
Looking for a way out of Middl...
IMGTX Offline
I Live Here
IMGTX  Offline
I Live Here

Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 12,180
Looking for a way out of Middl...
It's just our government run by aliens running surveillance on you.

Nothing to see here. Move along. eek nervous runaway

Re: Weird shop LED light issue [Re: IMGTX] #2913376
04/22/21 12:04 PM
04/22/21 12:04 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 605
NW Iowa
M
Mopariowa Offline
mopar
Mopariowa  Offline
mopar
M

Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 605
NW Iowa
I had the same issue with some Christmas lights. I do the Christmas lights to music and had them plugged into some controllers. Everyone on the Christmas light forums said that it was a polarity issue for strings that could be plugged in either way. Plugged them in the other way and they quit doing the dimly lit thing.

Re: Weird shop LED light issue [Re: Mopariowa] #2913378
04/22/21 12:12 PM
04/22/21 12:12 PM
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 1,695
central il.
S
second 70 Offline
top fuel
second 70  Offline
top fuel
S

Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 1,695
central il.
It's picking up the unbalanced load running on the neutral.

Re: Weird shop LED light issue [Re: second 70] #2913494
04/22/21 04:27 PM
04/22/21 04:27 PM
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 6,545
Downtown Roebuck Ont
Twostick Offline
Still wishing...
Twostick  Offline
Still wishing...

Joined: May 2003
Posts: 6,545
Downtown Roebuck Ont
I've seen 12V automotive ones do that on truck and trailer tail lights. Because it takes almost no power to get an LED lit, I just assume it's a bad ground on another circuit backfeeding or moisture in a junction conducting across pins. I have LED strobes on my float that you can see dimly flashing at night in the winter when the roads are wet with deicer slop. Power bleeds from the tailight pin to the center pin on the 7 wire when it gets dowsed with salt water. Turn off the tail lights and the strobes go ALL the way off.

Kevin

Re: Weird shop LED light issue [Re: oldjonny] #2914722
04/25/21 12:15 PM
04/25/21 12:15 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 7,538
Albany, NY
67SATisfaction Offline
The member whose name is actually Art
67SATisfaction  Offline
The member whose name is actually Art

Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 7,538
Albany, NY
Originally Posted by oldjonny
120VAC only switches one leg. There is enough leakage (and the bulbs are also usually 'cheap') that they will glow.

From an article:

Residual Electricity

When a low current level is still present within your LEDs diode, the bulb will pick it up and convert it into lighting.


thumbs
Some of the household bulbs we have replaced with LED's now give us 'nightlights' which is convenient for the kids..
- Art


65 Satellite hardtop 361/4bbl console 727 2.76
67 Satellite convert 383/2bbl column 727 3.23
67 Lancia Fulvia Sport 1.3 Zagato. Alloy body, 1.3L V4 DOHC 4-spd
67 Lancia Fulvia Rallye 1.3. Alloy panel, 1.3L V4 DOHC 4-spd
71 Alfa Romeo GT Junior 1300 Zagato, 1.3L 4cyl DOHC hemi 5-spd
82 Alfa Romeo GTV6 2.5L SOHC hemi V6 5-spd transaxle
75 Maserati Bora US spec 4.9L DOHC hemi V8 5-spd ZF
77 Maserati Khamsin Euro spec 4.9L DOHC hemi V8 5-spd ZF
07 Aston Martin DB9 6.0L DOHC V12 6spd transaxle
Re: Weird shop LED light issue [Re: 67SATisfaction] #2914755
04/25/21 01:21 PM
04/25/21 01:21 PM
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 19,237
north of coder
moparx Offline
"Butt Crack Bob"
moparx  Offline
"Butt Crack Bob"

Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 19,237
north of coder
i replaced all the four foot, four tube florescent bulb lights in my garage with two tube/strip LED lights, using the four tube light fixture tin work. [30 lights total]
it's like daylight now ! cool
when i shut them off, they do "glow" slightly as has been mentioned.
i used 5k or 6k rated LEDs, i forget which. i want to replace the four tube fluorescent bulb fixture in the kitchen, which has a suspended ceiling. when i went shopping for a drop in replacement, i found lots of "warm white" units. what is the difference between "warm white" and the 5 or 6k units i have in the garage ?
beer

Re: Weird shop LED light issue [Re: moparx] #2914870
04/25/21 06:49 PM
04/25/21 06:49 PM
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 1,395
Central Pa
M
moparjim79 Offline
pro stock
moparjim79  Offline
pro stock
M

Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 1,395
Central Pa
Originally Posted by moparx
i found lots of "warm white" units. what is the difference between "warm white" and the 5 or 6k units i have in the garage ?
beer


How warm were those white units? Just kidding. The difference is the color/intensity

Re: Weird shop LED light issue [Re: moparjim79] #2915116
04/26/21 11:18 AM
04/26/21 11:18 AM
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 30,247
Florida STAYcation
dIc dOc Deity ! Offline
The village idiot's idiot
dIc dOc Deity !  Offline
The village idiot's idiot

Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 30,247
Florida STAYcation
I know the ORANGE MAN dissed the LED stuff but I’m a fan !

The bulbs last FOREVER and use A FRACTION of wattage of regular ones up

Re: Weird shop LED light issue [Re: dIc dOc Deity !] #2915133
04/26/21 11:52 AM
04/26/21 11:52 AM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 4,131
Canada -- Posts: 4034 -Registe...
5
5thAve Offline
Doesn't care what this says anyway
5thAve  Offline
Doesn't care what this says anyway
5

Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 4,131
Canada -- Posts: 4034 -Registe...
I don't have much in LED which is strange since I work with it all the time but I have a nightlight in my trailer that's LED and it will stay working long past the power being cut.

Re: Weird shop LED light issue [Re: 5thAve] #2915143
04/26/21 12:09 PM
04/26/21 12:09 PM
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 8,340
Crook County, ILL
Mastershake340 Offline
master
Mastershake340  Offline
master

Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 8,340
Crook County, ILL
I posted here a couple years ago about a weird issue I had where a hall light started blinking off and on even though the switch was off. This was with an LED bulb.
I changed the light switch to a new one, no luck.
I finally gave up and put a incandescent bulb back in the fixture, and now it turns on when the switch is on, off when the switch is off. Fortunately I have a fairly good stock of incandescent bulbs stashed away as I have no desire to spend a bunch of money having an electrician trouble shoot and possibly have to rewire my 64 year old house!

Re: Weird shop LED light issue [Re: feets] #2916798
04/30/21 12:35 AM
04/30/21 12:35 AM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,271
central IL reg Nov 18, 1999
Stroker Offline
top fuel
Stroker  Offline
top fuel

Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,271
central IL reg Nov 18, 1999
I have an outside light on a grain bin that does that.
An electrician explained it like a previous poster, that it takes such a small amount of juice that it's running off what's bypassing the switch.
Since I don't use mine year round, I turn off the breaker.



Re: Weird shop LED light issue [Re: Stroker] #2916807
04/30/21 01:18 AM
04/30/21 01:18 AM
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 11,408
Fulton County, PA
C
CMcAllister Offline
Mr. Helpful
CMcAllister  Offline
Mr. Helpful
C

Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 11,408
Fulton County, PA
I have 96 4' T8s on the ceiling of my shop. I'd like to go LED, but Holy $$$$, Batman.

Thought about doing half and half.


If the results don't match the theory, change the theory.






Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.1