Flickering lights !!!

[EIDR]

Good Evening Guys,

Need to pick your brains....

Just finished 2nd fix for a local builder and I am having a nightmare with flickering 12v under cupboard lights.

The problems is in the kitchen, the lighting circuit and power circuits to the kitchen are seperate to the rest of the house other than the common consumer unit.

The lighting in the kitchen consists of 4 switched circuits.
1) 11 12v downlights - 50w each dimmed via a Richmond Lighting remote dimmer pack.
2) 3 12v downlights - 35w each dimmed via a Richmond Lighting Grid dimmer
3) 5 12v under cupboard lights 20w each dimmed via a Richmond Lighting Grid dimmer
4) 7 meters of LED strip fixed under counter tops switched from double pole grid switch.

All of the downlights are on individual transformers (MODE) and the under cupboard lights are 2 to each transformer (except the for one)

LED are Collingwood 24v drivers powering white LED's

The Under cupboard lights and LED are powered from the ring final via a FCU.

The problem is, the under cupboard lights flicker on the following occasions.
1) when the 11 downlights are dimmed
2) When the LED's are switched on (but not off)
3) When the kettle of other reasonable load is switched on.
4) When either the hob or oven are switched on (both on seperate circuits from each other and the ring final)

I have Looked at this for so long now that I have now got brain freeze!

Any ideas guys??

Appreciate the help.

Mark

 

[Mac]

This may sound stupid mate,but have you taken the dimmer switch out and tried a normal switch.Could be a transformer problem,or a loose connection.

 

[EIDR]

You know what, the obvious things never spring to mind on site!

I have not tried changing the dimmer out for a switch, will try that tomorrow.

But surely that would not explain why they flicker when the oven is switched on.??

 

[Spudnik]

No but its one less thing that COULD be causing the problem

 

[monkeyelectric]

I've had a dodgey transformer cause flickering before

 

[EIDR]

Hmmm, thinking about it, that dimmer module is the only one of the three fitted that buzzes.

Just cannot get my head around why other circuits affect all of the under cupboard lights.

Thanks for your thoughts guys.

Already swapped all three transformers out, two are on one side of the room and the third the other side.

 

[EIDR]

Just for interest, solved the flickering light problem today.

Poor contact at DB on light circuit MCB.

4.5 unpaid hours later !!!

Mark

 

[Spudnik]

Thats life im afraid!

And it normally is just something as simple as loose connections, especially with this type of fault.

 

[Mac]

Just for interest, solved the flickering light problem today.

Poor contact at DB on light circuit MCB.

4.5 unpaid hours later !!!

Mark

Learn by your mistakes.Always check the connections

 

[TPES]

Same problem here, no transformers, there 230v wall lights.

Its a tripple plate dimmer

1 x dimmer controling 2 x wall lights
1 x dimmer controling 1 x wall light
1 x dimmer controling 1 x wall light

4 lights all the same.

The 2 single wall lights controlled individualy are the ones that flicker, only on say 50% turn of the dimmer.. When turned to 100% it stops and there at full brightness.

When they do flicker it is very obvious and annoying.

Could it be a wrong rated dimmer switch? its done it ever since the customer fitted the dimmer.

 

[Andyfm]

Has the dimmer got a minimum rating on it ( they`re sometimes 60 - 250 w) and is the wattage of the single lights over it?