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Question for electricians!!


coachmac9

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Problem: I am replacing all my lighting to LED's and all has gone fine till I got to my vanity lights...they are 110 instead of the 12 volt so I got the correct bulbs and after installing them I noticed when I turned them off they still have a faint glow like "off" is not really off...hope that makes sense...ideas??? Bad switch? Not grounded properly?? I re-installed the old bulbs and this doesn't happen. No electric problems anywhere else.




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There could be several reasons for that.

1. Your light switch has a "convenience" light (to help locate it at night), motion detector or timer. All of these sit in-line of the circuit and receive a small amount of current through the switch. Regular bulbs will not produce light at that level, but LED's being so efficient, they may "glow" slightly. The fix: Change out your switch to remove any "accessory features".

2. Some high intensity LED's use a phosphor that is actually phosphorescent. The fix: Over time the "glow" will fade. OR... try a different brand of bulb.

3. You have a dimmer switch. Many incandescent dimmers are not compatible with LED's as they may still emit a very small amount of current in the "off" position. As above, your incandescents won't emit light at those levels, but LED's may. The fix: Install an LED compatible dimmer.

One additional with an incandescent dimmer. They operate by lengthening or shortening the "pulse" for brighter or dimmer light. That can also cause your LED's to flicker on an off.

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42 minutes ago, coachmac9 said:

It has a "night light" feature

A yep. That'll do it. ;)

If you still get a glow then next on my list would be to ensure I'm not using "high intensity" bulbs. However... since I know they are just phosphorescing, not actually pulling any juice and will gradually dim in a bit.. I don't know if it would be worth a trip to the store to bother returning/exchanging them. 

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Have the same problem at S&B.  The switch has the night light feature and the LEDs in one bathroom (with only 3 bulbs) glow when OFF but the other bathroom (same bulbs and switch) with 10 bulbs do not glow.  My guess is the small current passed by the switch is enough to "glow" three bulbs but not ten.  I consider the slight glow a nice night light for the grand kids.

Lenp

USN Retired
2002 Winnebago Ultimate Freedom

2012 F150 4x4

2018 Lincoln MKX

2019 HD Ultra Limited

 

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23 hours ago, lenp said:

My guess is the small current passed by the switch is enough to "glow" three bulbs but not ten.

One of the engineer folks told me that this low voltage "could" shorten their life. Of course, using them does that also! :D

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

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