Bill Rice-Johnston
Member
Hello Folks
This is my first post so please be gentle.
Over the past year I have been replacing standard lamps and energy-savers with LEDs throughout our house.
This problem emerged when I installed 12W dimmable LEDs, all B22 bases, in the four ceiling lights on our first floor - two bedrooms, bathroom and hall. The bathroom and one bedroom are one-way while the second bedroom is a two-way with a wall switch and a pull cord over the bed. The hall is a two-way with one switch at the head of the stairs and the other on the ground floor (please be patient - I think some of this detail might be important).
The problem is in the dark of night all four of these lamps glow faintly.
The one-way in the bedroom and the bath glow very, very faintly, the other bedroom and the hall slightly brighter. The really interesting bit is when I switch these two off from one particular switch rather than the other, they glow less brightly.
My first step was to replace the two-way pull cord with a new one. I started here because the old one didn't 'snap' very well. This replacement resulted in no change; the lamps still glowed.
Following this, I replaced the other three two-way wall switches one at a time with still no change.
I have absolutely no idea what is happening here. We have lived here for one year. The wiring throughout the house is perhaps 20-30 years old and seems to be in good working order. The ground fault system seems to function okay. Any checks I've made on earthing for power points, fixtures, etc. are okay.
The only other possibility I can think of is that on the ground floor, I have installed dimmers for four ceiling fixtures. All four of these dimmers snap to the off position - two rotate and two push. These all seem to work just fine with dimmible LEDs. I have no idea why this might contribute to the problem but never mind.
Although it's been many, many years since I worked as an electrician, in answer to a question some of you might ask: yes, I know how to wire a two-way properly (in American we called them three-ways - I've never been able to figure that one out).
Any helpful advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Regards
Bill
This is my first post so please be gentle.
Over the past year I have been replacing standard lamps and energy-savers with LEDs throughout our house.
This problem emerged when I installed 12W dimmable LEDs, all B22 bases, in the four ceiling lights on our first floor - two bedrooms, bathroom and hall. The bathroom and one bedroom are one-way while the second bedroom is a two-way with a wall switch and a pull cord over the bed. The hall is a two-way with one switch at the head of the stairs and the other on the ground floor (please be patient - I think some of this detail might be important).
The problem is in the dark of night all four of these lamps glow faintly.
The one-way in the bedroom and the bath glow very, very faintly, the other bedroom and the hall slightly brighter. The really interesting bit is when I switch these two off from one particular switch rather than the other, they glow less brightly.
My first step was to replace the two-way pull cord with a new one. I started here because the old one didn't 'snap' very well. This replacement resulted in no change; the lamps still glowed.
Following this, I replaced the other three two-way wall switches one at a time with still no change.
I have absolutely no idea what is happening here. We have lived here for one year. The wiring throughout the house is perhaps 20-30 years old and seems to be in good working order. The ground fault system seems to function okay. Any checks I've made on earthing for power points, fixtures, etc. are okay.
The only other possibility I can think of is that on the ground floor, I have installed dimmers for four ceiling fixtures. All four of these dimmers snap to the off position - two rotate and two push. These all seem to work just fine with dimmible LEDs. I have no idea why this might contribute to the problem but never mind.
Although it's been many, many years since I worked as an electrician, in answer to a question some of you might ask: yes, I know how to wire a two-way properly (in American we called them three-ways - I've never been able to figure that one out).
Any helpful advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Regards
Bill