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LED Light flashing ???

Richard10002

By Richard10002
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Richard10002 Veteran II

Richard10002

Posted
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Bought 2 of these from Litecone about 4 months ago and the one in the lounge started flashing slowly last week. Presumably something has failed, but I'm wondering what, and why? http://www.litecone.co.uk/g4-18smd-10-30v-dc-3w-warm-white-c2x11223537

I've moved the working one from the kitchen to the lounge, and it's still working fine, so I dont think it's an issue with the wiring.

LED Back.JPG

LED Front.JPG

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Dr Bob Veteran II

Dr Bob

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Posted
6 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Cheap junk

I bought a load of cheap ones from china a few years ago, less than £1 each. All started flickering within a year. 

I bought a load of cheap candles from China a few years ago.All are still flickering after a year.

  • Haha 1
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Up-Side-Down Rising Star

Up-Side-DownDonate to Canal World

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1 hour ago, WotEver said:

It’s failing. Flashing is what they usually do prior to extinguishing for good. It’s a failure of the driver circuit. 

Hate to fly in the face of received wisdom and good science but one of my (Midland Chandlers) LED lights went through a period of flickering/flashing a year or so back and after about three months reverted to normal operation – much to my surprise and delight!

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Guest

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It is correct to say that if they are flashing it is likely they will fail, however there is a possible solution.

First I am assuming they are flickering (ie rapid variations in light) rather than flashing (ie go On - Off - On etc at a visible rate).

If the former (Quite common) then in most cases fitting a small capacitor (100nF or 0.1uF) to the back of the light fiting will stop this.
From ebay something like these. Or possibly from Maplin if your quick!

What is happening is that the regulator on the LED module is unstable because of the length of wiring. Bedazzled units had exactly this problem when they first appeared, (Don't ask me how I know!) but now, as far as I know, fit such a capcitor on the module. Since the caps are only a few pence then you can upgrade for way less than going the bedazzled route. It is a little unfair to suggest these are of a lesser quality. They are simply not expected to work in the situation you have. Connect them via short wires to a battery or DC LED driver and all would be well.

Hope this helps.

 

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Flyboy Experienced

Flyboy

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, Richard10002 said:

Bought 2 of these from Litecone about 4 months ago and the one in the lounge started flashing slowly last week. Presumably something has failed, but I'm wondering what, and why? http://www.litecone.co.uk/g4-18smd-10-30v-dc-3w-warm-white-c2x11223537

I've moved the working one from the kitchen to the lounge, and it's still working fine, so I dont think it's an issue with the wiring.

LED Back.JPG

LED Front.JPG

It looks to me like there's some overheating around the connection pins, so there might be a dry joint causing a high resistance. Have a look at these joints with a magnifying glass and resolder if suspect.

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WotEver Veteran II

WotEverDonate to Canal World

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10 minutes ago, Floating Male said:

First I am assuming they are flickering (ie rapid variations in light) rather than flashing (ie go On - Off - On etc at a visible rate).

I assumed the latter, which I have seen many times. 

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Richard10002 Veteran II

Richard10002

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Thanks for all the input.... It was only last week, but I cant recall whether it was a regular flashing, (I think so), or irregular flashing.

I think I'll go the Bedazzled route for the sake of a few quid.... the mere mention of fitting a capacitor fills me with dread for some reason :(

It's definitely the furthest of my lights from the battery, so the capacitor thing makes sense.

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WotEver Veteran II

WotEverDonate to Canal World

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7 minutes ago, Señor Chris said:

Might be worth swapping it with the one nearest the battery.

 

12 hours ago, Richard10002 said:

I've moved the working one from the kitchen to the lounge, and it's still working fine

 

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Richard10002 Veteran II

Richard10002

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50 minutes ago, Señor Chris said:

Might be worth swapping it with the one nearest the battery.

 

Thanks for that:

Swapped them round, (kitchen and lounge - the lounge being furthest from the battery and the one that was flashing).

The one that flashed in the lounge, also flashed in the kitchen, (so is almost certainly goosed), and the good one from the kitchen has worked ok in the lounge for a week or so.

I'm going to order a couple from Bedazzled and see how we go.

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WotEver Veteran II

WotEverDonate to Canal World

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26 minutes ago, Richard10002 said:

Thanks for that:

Swapped them round, (kitchen and lounge - the lounge being furthest from the battery and the one that was flashing).

The one that flashed in the lounge, also flashed in the kitchen, (so is almost certainly goosed), and the good one from the kitchen has worked ok in the lounge for a week or so.

I'm going to order a couple from Bedazzled and see how we go.

Yup, as I said, flashing is usually terminal. 

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Dr Bob Veteran II

Dr Bob

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7 hours ago, Up-Side-Down said:

Hate to fly in the face of received wisdom and good science but one of my (Midland Chandlers) LED lights went through a period of flickering/flashing a year or so back and after about three months reverted to normal operation – much to my surprise and delight!

Yes, but did you install it upside down?

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Irob Contributor

Irob

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Posted

One or two of mine seem to flash a bit on start up for 10 seconds or so and particularly when the boat is cold, but i,ve had no premature failures, most have been in the boat since i bought it in 2014.

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WotEver Veteran II

WotEverDonate to Canal World

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10 minutes ago, Irob said:

One or two of mine seem to flash a bit on start up for 10 seconds or so and particularly when the boat is cold, but i,ve had no premature failures, most have been in the boat since i bought it in 2014.

Flash or flicker?

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