Lights flickering slightly when off..

[Richard]

Called by a friends earlier,

2 high frequency fittings slaved off one-another, switched by an IP rated switch. Both work fine. However, when the switch is off, they both flicker ever so slightly. Theres no neon at the switch, and no chance of borrowed neutrals AFAIK ect.

I wasn't in the position to go exploring this evening, but I'm thinking probibly a dicky switch. Would anyone one have any other experiences?

Thank you

 

[nickblake]

I would check the polarity at the fittings have come across flickering lights like this before when the polarity is wrong

 

[Lucien Nunes]

+1 for what he said, as with reversed polarity the capacitive leakage from the switched side to earth could easily be enough to cause a flicker. Even with the correct polarity it could be capacitive leakage between the two cores of the switch cable, particularly if cabled with a low capacitance to earth e.g. singles in PVC conduit. I had a really annoying one that flashed quite noticeably every few seconds, on just the tiny amount of leakage from a totally sound cable. I put a suitable resistor across the fitting to cure it.

 

[Richard]

Thank you gents. I would probibly have checked this anyway but i'll take extra note. Thank you