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Some of my LEDs continue to glow faintly when off. I assume the efficiency of the bulbs is converting a small trickle of power into light. Has anyone experience

Some of my LEDs continue to glow faintly when off. I assume the efficiency of the bulbs is converting a small trickle of power into light. Has anyone experienced this? Anything to be done?

tilsammans 4y ago
Yes! This is fairly common. It usually happens when the power leads pick up a small amount of electricity via induction. You can place a compensator near the fixture to take care of it. (Basically a high voltage capacitor)
- pimlottc 4y ago
  Can you go into more detail about this compensator? Is this a consumer product you can buy to fix a misbehaving light or a component that the manufacturer needs to include in the bulb?
ilikejam 4y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uEmX5XClPY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uEmX5XClPY
projektfu 4y ago
For how long? LEDs produce broad-spectrum light using phosphorescence activated by discrete-spectrum light. Those phosphors will glow for a few seconds after you turn them off, or if you're really sensitive you may see a glow-in-the-dark phenomenon. When you unplug a lamp or turn off a true switch, there should be no residual current. If you are using the bulb itself to adjust the power level, like with some smart bulbs that you are supposed to leave switched on, it's possible that they never turn off the power completely for some reason. LEDs are dimmed using PWM so they may have an off setting that is like 1% of duty cycle or something, who knows.
Crosseye_Jack 4y ago
Long story short: Its the wiring. Could be a number of reasons but the most common is either its wired to a dimmer or similar which is leaking some current when its "switched off" or its switched on the netural side and the wiring is acting as a capacitor and letting some current flow. EDIT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bgUy6zA0ts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bgUy6zA0ts
- BozeWolf 4y ago
  Short story longer: if the led is connected to a dimmer, it can also be that the led is not-dimmable. Or not compatible with the dimmer.
  - pcmaffey 4y ago
    I've got dimmable LEDs on a non-dimmable switch that are glowing. I guess the next step would be to replace the switch with a dimmable one...
dghughes 4y ago
I have an old floor lamp that I converted from halogen to LED. It has a dimmer knob but even when off it didn't turn off the light it was very faint. I thought it was the potentiometer/knob leaking current. I think I also had the issue on a room that also had a dimmer switch, an actual light in the ceiling not a lamp. So it seems to be the dimmer feature that is the issue for me.
CamperBob2 4y ago
Unscrew the bulb. Is it still glowing? If so, it's the persistence of the phosphor. That's been my experience.

Some of my LEDs continue to glow faintly when off. I assume the efficiency of the bulbs is converting a small trickle of power into light. Has anyone experienced this? Anything to be done?

tilsammans 4y ago

Yes! This is fairly common. It usually happens when the power leads pick up a small amount of electricity via induction. You can place a compensator near the fixture to take care of it. (Basically a high voltage capacitor)

pimlottc 4y ago
Can you go into more detail about this compensator? Is this a consumer product you can buy to fix a misbehaving light or a component that the manufacturer needs to include in the bulb?

ilikejam 4y ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uEmX5XClPY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uEmX5XClPY

projektfu 4y ago

For how long? LEDs produce broad-spectrum light using phosphorescence activated by discrete-spectrum light. Those phosphors will glow for a few seconds after you turn them off, or if you're really sensitive you may see a glow-in-the-dark phenomenon. When you unplug a lamp or turn off a true switch, there should be no residual current. If you are using the bulb itself to adjust the power level, like with some smart bulbs that you are supposed to leave switched on, it's possible that they never turn off the power completely for some reason. LEDs are dimmed using PWM so they may have an off setting that is like 1% of duty cycle or something, who knows.

Crosseye_Jack 4y ago

Long story short: Its the wiring. Could be a number of reasons but the most common is either its wired to a dimmer or similar which is leaking some current when its "switched off" or its switched on the netural side and the wiring is acting as a capacitor and letting some current flow. EDIT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bgUy6zA0ts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bgUy6zA0ts

BozeWolf 4y ago
Short story longer: if the led is connected to a dimmer, it can also be that the led is not-dimmable. Or not compatible with the dimmer.
- pcmaffey 4y ago
  I've got dimmable LEDs on a non-dimmable switch that are glowing. I guess the next step would be to replace the switch with a dimmable one...

dghughes 4y ago

I have an old floor lamp that I converted from halogen to LED. It has a dimmer knob but even when off it didn't turn off the light it was very faint. I thought it was the potentiometer/knob leaking current. I think I also had the issue on a room that also had a dimmer switch, an actual light in the ceiling not a lamp. So it seems to be the dimmer feature that is the issue for me.

CamperBob2 4y ago

Unscrew the bulb. Is it still glowing? If so, it's the persistence of the phosphor. That's been my experience.