OK...Fitted a new floodlight to the garage. Old one worked fine, coming on only on demand.

New one is LED and there appears to be enough current leakage from the light on the switch to just about trigger the LEDs but not enough to power them up for more than an instant. Hence light flashes every second or 2.

Disconnected the switch and the problem has gone away.....so definitely the source of the problem....

I'd like to keep the little light on the over-ride switch if possible (any surgery to the switch will necessitate replacement, I think as it's sealed and the plugs covering the screw holes won't come out without being damaged in the process..

Will a mains relay solve my problems? concerned that the leakage will be enough to trigger the relay, also....

If it will, please could you point me in the right direction?

If no luck, I'll just go out and buy a new switch and disconnect the little red light.

Thanks in advance.

Stephen

[Edited on 22/4/17 by stevebubs]

if its a conventional 'red light' on the switch, then that would be a neon, with a resistor, from switched live to neutral so should not cause a problem
however, you can get induced currents depending on the wiring layout.

one solution is to put a small 'tungstan' bulb (or suitable resister) in parallel to the led, that should dissipate the leakage

edit:
it may be the design of your switch, (also similar things happen on 'dimmer switch' circuits)
see bigclives videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzWz_guJHvY

[Edited on 22/4/17 by gremlin1234]

Do like the bigclive videos for some reason I'm not quite sure of!

is the light on the switch on when the led flood light is off?
ie acting as a backlight to find the switch?
if so then yes the current through that will cause issues in the led circuit.

coincidently bigclive published a new vid today about a backlit switch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZphMbpij1Ls

Nice videos but the favourite appears to be butchering the switch and losing the LED/neon

S

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Originally posted by gremlin1234
is the light on the switch on when the led flood light is off?
ie acting as a backlight to find the switch?
if so then yes the current through that will cause issues in the led circuit.

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I thought that was what I said in my OP? Apologies if it wasn't clear.

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What I'm trying to figure out is a way to fix it without butchering the back-light on the switch.

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Originally posted by gremlin1234

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I thought that was what I said in my OP? Apologies if it wasn't clear.

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sorry, I was thinking of the normal arrangement of warning/pilot light on when switch is on. - makes more sense to me now ;-)

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What I'm trying to figure out is a way to fix it without butchering the back-light on the switch.

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simplest to just put a low* (or even high) wattage incandescent bulb in parallel to the led light.
*(ie a pygmy bulb)

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yes a mains powered relay could do what you want.

[Edited on 25/4/17 by gremlin1234]

Recommendation? I can only seem to find relays that are switched by low voltages..

Would this work?

https://www.discountfiresupplies.co.uk/product/280/555/Easy-Relay-240V-Mains-Relay-(230V-AC-50_60Hz-Coil)-in-White-or-Red-Single-Gang-Box

Looking at the spec sheet, I suspect it should..

[Edited on 25/4/17 by stevebubs]

[Edited on 25/4/17 by stevebubs]

quote:

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Originally posted by stevebubs
Would this work?

https://www.discountfiresupplies.co.uk/product/280/555/Easy-Relay-240V-Mains-Relay-(230V-AC-50_60Hz-Coil)-in-White-or-Red-Single-Gang-Box

Looking at the spec sheet, I suspect it should..

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Originally posted by gremlin1234

quote:

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Originally posted by stevebubs
Would this work?

https://www.discountfiresupplies.co.uk/product/280/555/Easy-Relay-240V-Mains-Relay-(230V-AC-50_60Hz-Coil)-in-White-or-Red-Single-Gang-Box

Looking at the spec sheet, I suspect it should..

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it should, but strangely, just using the coil as the dummy load would probably make it work too

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