Why are me ceiling lights doing this?

Stapes · Sep 2, 2022

Hi all, does anyone know why my living ceiling lights have started to do this? Their LED lights linked to a dimmer, and have worked for the last couple of years since I moved into the place. Is this something that I can fix myself or should
I leave it to the pros?

littlespark · Sep 2, 2022

Does the rate of flashing change with the dimmer switch setting?

Is it a modern dimmer designed for LED lights?

Are they “dimmable” LED’s?

Normally a mismatch with LED and simmers cause quite a fast flashing rate… so this is quite unusual.

Even a loose connection would be random… this is regular.

davesparks · Sep 2, 2022

First question is: has anything changed which coincides with this starting to happen? Anything at all, changing a lamp (bulb), any electrical work in the property, any power cut etc etc.

Do they flicker when switched off only?
Do they flicker when switched on?
Do they all work as expected when switched on?

Stapes · Sep 3, 2022

littlespark said:
Does the rate of flashing change with the dimmer switch setting?

Is it a modern dimmer designed for LED lights?

Are they “dimmable” LED’s?

Normally a mismatch with LED and simmers cause quite a fast flashing rate… so this is quite unusual.

Even a loose connection would be random… this is regular.

Yes it’s a modern dimmer and has worked perfectly fine for the last couple of years. The bulbs haven’t even been changed, it just happened overnight so to speak!

Stapes · Sep 3, 2022

davesparks said:
First question is: has anything changed which coincides with this starting to happen? Anything at all, changing a lamp (bulb), any electrical work in the property, any power cut etc etc.

Do they flicker when switched off only?
Do they flicker when switched on?
Do they all work as expected when switched on?

Nothing at all has changed, not even a bulb! It just started happening one evening when I switched them on. They only flash once switched on, not when they’re off.

The video shows one half of the room (8 bulbs). The other half of the room (6 bulbs and linked to a separate light switch/dimmer) works perfectly fine and switch on/off and dim as expected.

littlespark · Sep 3, 2022

Really starting to think of a loose connection now. Likely behind the dimmer switch.

Just to rule out a faulty dimmer… can it be replaced with a standard rocker switch?

Stapes · Sep 3, 2022

littlespark said:
Really starting to think of a loose connection now. Likely behind the dimmer switch.

Just to rule out a faulty dimmer… can it be replaced with a standard rocker switch?

I don’t have one to hand but I think I’ll open it up to check whether there are any loose connections, but it seems strange the regular/consistent flashing.

Thanks so much for replying. It’s at least given me a starting point to investigate further.

davesparks · Sep 4, 2022

Stapes said:
Nothing at all has changed, not even a bulb! It just started happening one evening when I switched them on. They only flash once switched on, not when they’re off.

That points to a faulty dimmer as the most likely problem in my opinion.

There are other possibilities but I think that most likely.

Avo Mk8 · Sep 4, 2022

This may be a red herring, but in the video I don't see the first bulb top right flashing or lighting at all. I wondered if that bulb has gone, thus reducing the load slightly and causing the flashing effect. You might try replacing that bulb to see if anything changes?