Basic Electricity For Homeowners

Worth1 · January 22, 2017

CFL Blinking Syndrome.

Pulled this off instructibles some time ago the bulb was driving me nuts as to why it was happening.
There ares ways to fix this but in my opinion not worth the trouble.
You have to solder a resistor across the conductors on the bulb.
Not gonna happen.

Quote.
"When a compact fluorescent light bulb is being controlled by an illuminated wall switch, sometimes the CFL bulb will flash when the switch is off. This flashing is very noticeable when it's dark (a bedroom at night for example).

If you have a CFL bulb installed in an illuminated wall switch (these are switches that are lit when in the off position), this instructable can help stop the flashing.

First, why does the CFL bulb flash? Many times this is due to the circuit inside the CFL charging up, even when the bulb is off. This happens many times when the CFL bulb is being controlled by an illuminated wall switch, because the wall switch uses the CFL bulb itself as neutral. When the wall switch is on, the CFL bulb gets full line voltage. When the wall switch is off, the CFL bulb is the neutral for the light of the wall switch, causing a tiny current to flow through the CFL bulb.

This tiny current charges up the capacitor in the CFL bulb, until it releases it's energy. This cycle can repeat once every few seconds."

January 22, 2017	#11
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	CFL Blinking Syndrome. CFL Blinking Syndrome. Pulled this off instructibles some time ago the bulb was driving me nuts as to why it was happening. There ares ways to fix this but in my opinion not worth the trouble. You have to solder a resistor across the conductors on the bulb. Not gonna happen. Quote. "When a compact fluorescent light bulb is being controlled by an illuminated wall switch, sometimes the CFL bulb will flash when the switch is off. This flashing is very noticeable when it's dark (a bedroom at night for example). If you have a CFL bulb installed in an illuminated wall switch (these are switches that are lit when in the off position), this instructable can help stop the flashing. First, why does the CFL bulb flash? Many times this is due to the circuit inside the CFL charging up, even when the bulb is off. This happens many times when the CFL bulb is being controlled by an illuminated wall switch, because the wall switch uses the CFL bulb itself as neutral. When the wall switch is on, the CFL bulb gets full line voltage. When the wall switch is off, the CFL bulb is the neutral for the light of the wall switch, causing a tiny current to flow through the CFL bulb. This tiny current charges up the capacitor in the CFL bulb, until it releases it's energy. This cycle can repeat once every few seconds."