Flicking CFL bulb / fitting even after replacement

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timmmay

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# 210221 18-Mar-2017 12:17

I have two sets of two light fittings in my lounge, standard not downlight. One is used regularly, the ones over the TV only occasionally. They have GE tiny spiral warm white bulbs in them - these are CFL bulbs.

We've started using the TV set recently, I noticed one bulb was flicking. No problem, I changed it, with a replacement bulb purchased at the same time as the original. The new one flickers too. It's not a really huge flicker, it's subtle enough that some might not notice it, or might notice the light wasn't quite right but couldn't work out why.

Is it just bad luck? Could it be a bad fitting or bad circuit? Should I just put an LED bulb in to see what happens?

If LED is a good idea, any suggestion for brand / model / vendor? They're still not that cheap, but much better than they used to be.

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# 1743240 18-Mar-2017 12:25

Tried putting the blubs onto another circuit in the house ?
if there is some induction in the particular circuit you might also find its "flashes" in the dark.

timmmay

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# 1743245 18-Mar-2017 12:42

Thanks for the idea. Given there were two different bulbs I'm not sure it's worth the bother of getting out a ladder yet, given I've got a shoulder injury and it would hurt. I'll keep it as my backup plan.

timmmay

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# 1744191 20-Mar-2017 07:24

Monday morning bump. Any more thoughts?

tripper1000

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# 1744242 20-Mar-2017 09:11

Yeah, as stated above, I would swap it with a different brand on a different circuit in the house. That is a fastest and most conclusive way to figure out if it is the bulb or circuit.

If you still have the first bulb you could fit that else where in the house to save climbing the ladder to remove the 2nd one in the lounge.

timmmay

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# 1744245 20-Mar-2017 09:15

tripper1000:

Yeah, as stated above, I would swap it with a different brand on a different circuit in the house. That is a fastest and most conclusive way to figure out if it is the bulb or circuit.

Ok, I'll do that then. I'd have thought replacing the bulb would've done the same thing.

gzt

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# 1744605 20-Mar-2017 16:04

I believe some downlight sockets have a capacitor fitted. Maybe it is faulty and having some interaction with the CFL ballast.

timmmay

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# 1744606 20-Mar-2017 16:05

It's not a downlight, but thanks for the idea.

mattwnz

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# 1744609 20-Mar-2017 16:09

timmmay:

I have two sets of two light fittings in my lounge, standard not downlight. One is used regularly, the ones over the TV only occasionally. They have GE tiny spiral warm white bulbs in them.

We've started using the TV set recently, I noticed one bulb was flicking. No problem, I changed it, with a replacement bulb purchased at the same time as the original. The new one flickers too. It's not a really huge flicker, it's subtle enough that some might not notice it, or might notice the light wasn't quite right but couldn't work out why.

Is it just bad luck? Could it be a bad fitting or bad circuit? Should I just put an LED bulb in to see what happens?

If LED is a good idea, any suggestion for brand / model / vendor? They're still not that cheap, but much better than they used to be.

I don't think you have said the type of bulb they are. I saw on the cheapies website, that they now have normal E27,B22 LED bulbs for $3 at the warehouse, and that looks to be the white sticker price. That is as cheap as CFLs. CFLs do havea flicker to them anyway as it is how they work. Personally if you want a good LED brand, I have found Philips to be excellent, but spendy. I am getting rid of all my CFLs becuase they produce UV which supposedly can yellow things.

timmmay

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# 1744624 20-Mar-2017 16:22

mattwnz:

I don't think you have said the type of bulb they are. I saw on the cheapies website, that they now have normal E27,B22 LED bulbs for $3 at the warehouse, and that looks to be the white sticker price. That is as cheap as CFLs. CFLs do havea flicker to them anyway as it is how they work. Personally if you want a good LED brand, I have found Philips to be excellent, but spendy. I am getting rid of all my CFLs becuase they produce UV which supposedly can yellow things.

I said the type at the end of my first line of my question, but didn't clearly say they're cfl, just the brand and "compact spiral", which is suggestive of CFL. I have four CFL in the room and only one flickers weirdly.

Thanks for the Philips recommendation :) Note, the sun also produces UV, and probably a heck of a lot more than a bulb.

mattwnz

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# 1744627 20-Mar-2017 16:34

timmmay:

mattwnz:

I don't think you have said the type of bulb they are. I saw on the cheapies website, that they now have normal E27,B22 LED bulbs for $3 at the warehouse, and that looks to be the white sticker price. That is as cheap as CFLs. CFLs do havea flicker to them anyway as it is how they work. Personally if you want a good LED brand, I have found Philips to be excellent, but spendy. I am getting rid of all my CFLs becuase they produce UV which supposedly can yellow things.

I said the type at the end of my first line of my question, but didn't clearly say they're cfl, just the brand and "compact spiral", which is suggestive of CFL. I have four CFL in the room and only one flickers weirdly.

Thanks for the Philips recommendation :) Note, the sun also produces UV, and probably a heck of a lot more than a bulb.

You did say small CFL sprial type, but I thought that could be a smaller version, with a small type of connection, such as an MR16 pin type fitting. But if it is just a E27 or B22 fitting, you have heaps of affordable options. With older CFLs, if you take them out, you will see that the plastic fitting is always quite yellow, so they do seem to produce a fair bit of UV. But if you have any artwork in your house you don't want UV light on them, and you will want to use LEDs, as the UV emitted is supposedly a lot less.

timmmay

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# 1744633 20-Mar-2017 16:48

The old bulb was a few years old, the new bulb was purchased at the same time but has only a few hours of use. Might just get a couple of LED. It's a standard fitting, a screw one.

My main question was really should I buy LED bulbs hoping they'll fix it, or get an electrician in.

gregmcc

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# 1744645 20-Mar-2017 17:09

timmmay:

The old bulb was a few years old, the new bulb was purchased at the same time but has only a few hours of use. Might just get a couple of LED. It's a standard fitting, a screw one.

My main question was really should I buy LED bulbs hoping they'll fix it, or get an electrician in.

You still need to figure out if the problem is the bulb or the fitting.

The flickering one you took down already, try in a different light fitting, if it flickers, most likely a bulb issue, if not you should get an electrician

mattwnz

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# 1744650 20-Mar-2017 17:25

timmmay:

The old bulb was a few years old, the new bulb was purchased at the same time but has only a few hours of use. Might just get a couple of LED. It's a standard fitting, a screw one.

My main question was really should I buy LED bulbs hoping they'll fix it, or get an electrician in.

Could be a lose wire, or the connections in the fitting but replacing with an led should tell you if it is a bulb problem or not.. I had a problem like that , and it was actually the rocker in the light switch itself was causing the flickering.

Rikkitic

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# 1744652 20-Mar-2017 17:32

mattwnz:

Could be a lose wire, or the connections in the fitting but replacing with an led should tell you if it is a bulb problem or not.. I had a problem like that , and it was actually the rocker in the light switch itself was causing the flickering.

This. I have also had it. Ants in the switch. More than once. @timmmay: Just buy a 40-watt supermarket incandescent as a test. They cost nothing. If there is a physical problem with the circuit, it will also flicker.

I reject your reality and substitute my own. - Adam Savage

mattwnz

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# 1744657 20-Mar-2017 17:40

Rikkitic:

mattwnz:

Could be a lose wire, or the connections in the fitting but replacing with an led should tell you if it is a bulb problem or not.. I had a problem like that , and it was actually the rocker in the light switch itself was causing the flickering.

This. I have also had it. Ants in the switch. More than once. @timmmay: Just buy a 40-watt supermarket incandescent as a test. They cost nothing. If there is a physical problem with the circuit, it will also flicker.

The other thing I have found with ants is that they seem to eat or melt the plastic in the switches, causing the switch pivot to break. I'm not sure if it is the acid created with the decompose, but it causes a lot of damage to plastic switches. Ants are really bad in the lower north island these days.

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