There are 2 lamps in the front entry way. The following conditions are all true while the LIGHTS ARE TURNED OFF.

When I put in compact fluorescent light bulbs in both lamps they both begin to flicker (when facing the house, the one on the left flickers more). If I put in a 100 w or 60 watt regular incandescent light bulb in the left lamp and keep the cfl 15w in the right, the flicker stops. If there is no bulb in the left lamp, the right cfl bulb flickers after being turned on and turned off. The right CFL does not flicker if I unscrew the left 60w bulb while turned off (and had been turned off for a while). The only way to prevent the flicker is to put in a non-cfl or non energy saving bulb in the left lamp. I'm wondering if the lamps (new hampton bay lamps, max 100 watt) cannot handle low wattage or whether the wiring is messed up. If I don't use cfl, everything works normally. One detail: the lamps are attached to a programmable switch. Has anyone seen something like this before? Should I call an electrician? Thanks.

It's the programmable switch. It's letting a leak current through that's not noticeable to regular bulbs, but it is to the CFLs. The same thing happens when you put CFLs on a dimmer.

Thanks.

So what should I do? Is this a real problem, or can I just use one regular bulb (left lamp)to soak up the leak and use a cfl on the other? Or reinstall or replace the programmable switch? Is this normal for a programmable switch?

Thanks again.

Ceiling fans are my area of expertise, not switches.. .

You can try putting one regular bulb and a CFL I have no idea if it will work. Reinstalling the programmable switch won't do anything, you can try a different model programmable switch, or a regular switch.

Hello,

I have the same problem save the programmable switch. Did you ever find out a solution to the flickering lights after they are turned off?

Thanks!

Terence

The wiring is normal I think at least for my 45 year old house. I kept the same programmable switch but maybe some are better than others. It 'leaks' a tiny amount of current and only CFL can pick it up so it flickers. Regular bulbs don't 'detect' the low current so they do not flicker. I just ended up using regular bug lights. But I don't turn it on a whole lot (to save electricity). Hope it helps.

tcat92: If that programmable switch (PS) is connected into the circuit with only 2 leads (or screws), it has to get power through the load (bulbs) which means there will be a bit of current flowing all the time. If the PS has a neutral connected to it, then there is an actual problem. The type of ballast used in CFL bulbs would cause the effect you describe. There is no way to change that. Your work-around with the incandescent bulb in the one fixture is probably the best you can do easily. A higher wattage bulb will work better than a low one. But when that bulb blows or develops a bad connection, you will be back to the flicker. Incidentally, that flickering will dramatically reduce the life of a CFL, which will negate any electricity savings that you expect at the premium price of the bulb.

tlloren: Are you saying that you have flickering CFLs with a regular type wall switch? If that is true, you have a wiring problem that should be corrected. Give a fuller description of your situation and maybe we can be of some help.

EPM

I had the same problem with flickering fluro globes when they were turned off, after some research I found the problem to be a poor earth on the house wiring. The wire to the house's earth stake was not making a good connection, I noticed one day during a heavy rain shower that the lights stopped flickering, this led me to the earth stake. I cleaned up the earth wire and the stake, then soldered the wire to the stake (still using the same wire clamp) I now have no more flickering compact fluro globes. Hope this helps others.

Just tossing my two cents in: I reached into my closet in the dark where there was a pack of four fluros next to what I was reaching for, and the shelf lit up. I took the pack out (hall was dark too) and as I ran my hand across the plastic package, the bulbs continued to flicker dimly. I have seen standard fluro tubes light up near antennas or other poorly insulated power areas, but these cfl's are so sensitive, they seem to be excitable by the static electricity in my dry house this winter. It sure freaked me out.

The cause of the flickering CFL bulb is often caused by a lighted switch that's controlling the lamp. Lighted switches usually have a small neon lamp across the contacts. When the switch is off (open) the neon lamp is now in series with the load (a standard of CFL bulb) and enough current flows to cause the lamp to glow. Unfortunately, enough current flows through the CFL's circuitry to cause momentaty pulses to the CFL's fluorescent lamp. There is no solution other than replacing the lighted switch with an unlighted one.

Ok so lighted switches + fluorescent lamps = christmas tree installation (when switches are off). There is a solution in fixing this, which is not that complicated if you know the Ohm Law and a bit of electronics. Warning: don`t get your hair stand up, take all precautions when doing this or call someone specialized (some electrician).

Still, if you have ballast starter then there should be no problems, but if you have electronic starter (like all the economic lamps have) then you`re busted.

Now actually it depends on one`s luck whether you get a flicker-free neon lamp or a very flickering one, you can`t categorize them by brand, model or wattage.

The lighted switches though can be divided in two groups: ones with inert gas that have a dimmer light and that DO NOT PRODUCE FLICKERING (as far as I heard, actually I did not get a hold of an older lighted switch) AND newer ones with LEDs that also have some circuit which allows some current to flow to the cathode tube. There, the electronic starter capacitor charges slowly and when the cathode tube discharge tension is reached the fluorescent lamp wants to light up... but surprise surprise: after it discharges the capacitor there is no more current to eat so it dies instantly, lighting up only 5-10% of the cathode tube.

You could get rid of this flickering by either buying incandescent lamps or replacing the light switch with a non-lighted one and when you go to the bathroom or kitchen in the middle of the night you`ll break your feet / hands / ribs or your neck and put a period to this.

OR

There are three solutions:
1. TRIVIAL: if you have more than 1 light socket, you could replace a fluorescent bulb with an incandescent one and have the led take its required current for lighting the switch through the incandescent bulb. No more flickering then. So remember: one incandescent bulb and as many fluorescent lamps as you want. But be careful with the heat the incandescent bulb dissipates: either make sure that nothing in the chandelier melts down or catches fire from intense heat or add a very very very small-intensity incandescent bulb (like 5W or 10W).
2. IF YOU ARE NOT AN ELECTRICIAN OR IF YOU DO NOT KNOW ELECTRONICS CALL SOMEONE WHO DOES, YOU MIGHT BE SORRY FOR TRYING THIS YOURSELF WITH NO EXPERIENCE. BASE ELECTRICITY SKILLS ARE NEEDED. If you have both main and neutral in your wall socket, put the switch light between the main and neutral and it won`t close the neon`s circuit when the light switch is on. Instead the lighted switch will be lighted at all times, even when the light is turned on. No worries, it doesn`t consume that much electricity. If it did, who would buy them?
3. IF YOU ARE NOT AN ELECTRICIAN OR IF YOU DO NOT KNOW ELECTRONICS CALL SOMEONE WHO DOES, YOU MIGHT BE SORRY FOR TRYING THIS YOURSELF WITH NO EXPERIENCE. MEDIUM ELECTRICITY SKILLS ARE NEEDED. Buy a couple (two) resistors (180KOhms, 1/4Watts, rated for 275Volts - these items are for 220Volt mains, do some math to get the Ohm value for 110 volts - maybe 90KOhms), tie them in series and put the resulted piece in parallel with the electric bulb. This way enough current will flow through the resistors and the fluorescent lamp electronic ballast`s capacitor will not charge anymore. It is true that when the light is on the resistors will also consume current, but let`s be honest: it`s no more than 5 dollars extra if the light would be on all year round, 24 hours per day...

Excellent, I love this forum, I reloaded (skipping cache) and still my post wasn`t here so I decided to write it again... it`s not that it appears twice (although the webmasters / moderators are bothered by this) but it`s my time.

Webmaster / moderator, please remover my first post. Also you could edit my second post and add the capacitor-solution, I accidentally omitted it this time.

----UPDATE====UPDATE****UPDATE####

Ok so yesterday I just cracked open two more CFLs and I fixed these ones as well (anti-flicker bug). The fact is that it took no more than 1 resistor soldered inside the lamp to fix this. NOT TWO RESISTORS. When I added two 180kohm resistors the flickering was still there but not that fast. The capacitor was charging slower. The fact is that I also upgraded some of the lighted switches.

So give it a try: either 2 x 180kohm resistors in series and then in parallel between the live and neutral inside the light bulb or simply one 180kohm resistor in parallel with the light bulb. Note that this is for 220volt mains. If you are on 110volt mains buy 90kohm ones and give it a try. Be sure to buy more resistors of different values (usually over 75kohms) if the electronics store is far away. They are as dirt cheap.

Please note that the CFLs usually have a resistor between one of the mains wires and the electronic board. Put the 180KOhm resistor AFTER that resistor and not before. Usually there is a group of 4 diodes (some thick black components that look alike, one next to the other, in the same part of the board, mainly where the mains are soldered. Before them the mains are soldered and after them there is a big capacitor. It is enough to solder the resistor on the part of the diodes that is exposed to the mains. There can be capacitors or coils between the lives soldering and the diodes, but those are for cutting down the sneak currents. You can either connect the resistors before the coil / capacitor or after, but NOT AFTER THE DIODES.

Here, have this basic electronic circuit diagram of the CFLs: Compact fluorescent lamp

And here a picture of where to solder the resistor (more shades of blue, more possibilities): http://a.imageshack.us/img841/4184/c...ntiflicker.png

BUT BE CAREFUL NOT TO SHORT-CIRCUIT OTHER PARTS OF THE ELECTRONIC BOARD WITH THE RESISTOR, CUT ITS FEET AS SMALL AS POSSIBLE. ALSO WATCH OUT NOT TO BREAK THE CATHODE TUBE!! IT CONTAINS GAS THAT DOES BRAIN DAMAGE.


drop me a line if it worked :)