Hello :) Requesting Help With LED

[medgrowgirl]

Ok to start off hello everyone. I am new to the forum and so I hope that I am posting this correctly, I did search already for this problem but did not find a post that covered this exact issue. I have looked all over the net for answers regarding a grow light doing this but have only found info about house lights and that doesn't really help me. This light is not in use right now but I would like to be able to use it. This is an LED panel multi spectrum, no lenses. The issue that has cropped up is that the leds seems to glow ever so slightly when the timer shuts the light off and as far as I know it continues to glow the entire time it is off. Firstly is this a problem for flowering cycle time? Will the glow disrupt the flowering cycle? Secondly, if so, is there a way I can stop it from glowing, is it a timer issue type of thing? I would deeply appreciate any help with this. Many thanks

 

[NorCalNuggets]

Damn I don't know what that is!hopefully someone on here knows.good luck!

 

[GrizzWald]

I'd say it's your timer not fully shutting off the power... Is it a digital timer? Try a timer that you manually set....

 

[Kalimaki420]

What light is that ?

Anyway I had that exact issue with my Platinum 450 lately and yes it hurts in flower.

What I found in my case is that it is a bad electric installation and you got a little shortcut of the 2 cables witch has no power on it.
Over here it is called earth and mass/ground line, so what happens is that all timers don't cut the power of but
the mass line witch normal does the job.
But if there is a connection of mass and earth line it can get mass over that security line and get that little glow.

Don't happen to 2 other LEDs I have, but it is something an electrician should look at.

For now you can try a different power line, depend on where that shortcut is you could solve the problem.
But as this is a safety issue someone should look at it anyway.

 

[medgrowgirl]

I'd say it's your timer not fully shutting off the power... Is it a digital timer? Try a timer that you manually set....

Wow thanks so much everyone for chiming in! I do so appreciate the help. Ok, so I will try to cover all the questions. The timer is not at all digital that I know of, you press in the small switches to determine when it turns on and off, but it is cheap..Ehh I know in retrospect that cheap anything is bad, but at the time I was thinking a timer is a timer. I have two other LEDs that do not glow, at least that I can see. However they were on their own timers. So I will at least try a different timer.

As far as the earth wires. I believe that is akin to our grounding system. The timer was plugged into a power strip that grounds on it's own to protect from electrical surges, if what I remember is right hehe. Could maybe that be the problem, power strip/timer combo?

I have got to say that the first time I saw them glowing in the dark it was very creepy, like the moon but inside and so barely visible I thought I was seeing things. And also if anyone else is using LEDs be sure to check this isn't happening to you, when your not on flower.

If anyone else has experienced this and figured out why chime on in!

 

[Kalimaki420]

I noticed it 1 week in flower as it is so week.

And sry I am not native English, so I am taking off the cables in your wall .

I tried 7 different timers btw.
Try to use an other line witch goes to a different surge, if that helps it is the cable in your wall.
Hope that is more understandable.

 

[medgrowgirl]

I noticed it 1 week in flower as it is so week.

And sry I am not native English, so I am taking off the cables in your wall .

I tried 7 different timers btw.
Try to use an other line witch goes to a different surge, if that helps it is the cable in your wall.
Hope that is more understandable.

Yes I completely understand thank you I am going to also try a different room and a different outlet entirely to see if that is a difference. Thank you so much for your reply!

 

[Hosebomber]

In many cases it's not the timer but a cheap driver being used. This is usually caused by a capacitor in the driver retaining a charge and slowly dissipating. There are 2 ways to test your issue that are fast and free. Plug the panel directly into the wall, let it run for 10 min and then unplug it. If they stay on (but dim), it's the driver. Then do the same, but with the timer turning off the power. If they stay on with the timer but not when unplugged it's the timer. My money is on the cheap drivers.

 

[wizgrow]

it's been A LONG TIME since electronics 101 but the bleed resistors should be discharging the capacitors - if the above does not work out, contact your light vendor and let them diagnose but most LED Lights I have seen have FRU (Field Replaceable Units) drivers. Heheh I getting old and not sure if any one uses the FRU acronym anymore

 

[Techhead]

They do sell cheap multi meters, some under $20.00. Get one of those, and test the voltage right out of the power strip. the short side of the plug should have all the voltage on it compared to GND, and there should be no voltage on the long side of the plug. So if you are looking at the power strip, and you have the grounds on the bottom, the right slot should have power, and the left side should have non. As far as the voltage being bled off keeping the lights on, they may do that but only for a few seconds. There's just no way for enough energy to keep the LED's glowing if there is no voltage coming in. You may want to do this same test on your timer, could be that's where it's coming in. If your wires are reversed in the wall, and the power is all on the long slot of the plug, then you better take that other guys advice and have your house checked. If the house power is wrong any polarized things you plug in could shock you, or damage themselves.

 

[medgrowgirl]

Hi everyone I am sorry for the delay. It was the timer, or rather any timer/power strip that it was plugged into. So I got a daisy chain power cord so the good LED stops the excess voltage from getting through, seems to be working now so, again thank you all so much for the help! I do so appreciate your time to read my question and give an answer

 

[Tejasdirt]

gotta love the good advise here.
I was going to chime in but everyone allready beat me to the punch....
HEY WIZGROW
I still remember the FRU .... Good Memories !!!!
Pax