ceiling and garden lights stay on even after its switched off
Anonymous user 15/03/2024 - 2.51 PM
Hello everyone,
I have had a 4m rear extension and an outbuilding done to my bungalow. We have installed led lights( link attached) ceiling lights(3 in outbuilding and 2 in extension) and 3 exterior lights to the new extension. all these lights seem to be on with minimum power. The interior lights look as if they are glow in dark but they are not and garden lights clearly have led on in it. The builder has issued an electrical safety certificate for the works and installation done by him. I spoke to the builder about lights and he says maybe lights are faulty. When i argued how can all the 10 lights have the same fault he changed his theory and said led lights are like that and they look as if on in dark! I dint agree to him so he suggested to change one of the interiror ceiling lights which he got himself and is having the same problem, glowing in dark! But when i switch off the extenstion circuit at main consumer box they go comepetly dark. i would appreciate if you can suggest what is the root cause of this problem and how to rectify it.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07MCJRLPC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B017Z5OKS0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Thank you.
Are you a tradesperson and able to answer this question?
It's caused by an induced voltage in the circuit. It happens if all the bulbs are LED and there is for example 2 way lighting, ie strapper cables lying dormant in parallel to live cores, or there are other live circuits running in parallel to the lighting circuit. It's only visible with LEDs as they take such a low current to operate. Changing 1 bulb for halogen/incandecent would resolve this
Call the electrician back who wired them. I would slightly agree with the builder though, sounds like a fitting/lamp fault. If you have got them from amazon they are probably a cheap Chinese make? Needs all stripping down and a process of elimination to find the fault
Answered23 August 2019
1
Anonymous user
Put double pole switches in, will stop it straight off. It’s just cheap led drivers allowing a tiny current through via induction from other cables. Not really faulty and probably not wired wrong, just cheaply designed fittings.
for all light to be glowing slightly as u suggest there is clearly a wiring issue that requires investigating
Myself like most electrical contractors will have the test equipment to find the fault
This problem of glowing when off can occur with LED lights when there is a reverse in polarity (live and neutral have been reversed/swapped around and rarely when earth and neutral are reversed) or when the switch controlling the lights only breaks the neutral instead of the live wire especially when an earthing system called PME is involved. Usually checking at the switches with a voltage indicator can reveal both problems. In extremely rare circumstances it can be caused by induced current where the lighting circuit cable is in close proximity to another circuit under load but this is rare and difficult to imagine so many lights would be affected. It is also plausible that a floating supply neutral in a PME system could cause this though I’ve never come across it.
I should point out that a floating supply neutral or a reversed polarity from the supply is a dangerous fault that I would hope would be picked up on by anyone working on the electrical installation and should be repaired by a network engineer ASAP, however more than likely it is just a simple reverse of polarity where the new extension was connected (silly mistake) or at the switch if the neutral is at the switch, it can be solved by un reversing things or employing a double pole switch in almost all circumstances however a double pole switch won’t solve any underlying cause with the supply but will treat the symptom of the glow effectively.
This sort of thing usually occurs when builders think they’re sparkies or Mr DIY has done it.
