I have an associate who has a puzzling problem with a lot of lighting outlets in a hotel. They originally had 60 watt incandescent lamps in their bedroom fixtures, and also in the bathroom fixtures. In trying to reduce energy, they replaced the incandescent lamps with 13 watt CFLs. For some strange reason, the CFLs flicker on and off, even when the light switches are turned "off." They checked voltages at the various receptacles and sockets, and found voltages from 11 volts to 51 volts with the switches turned off. So, in other words, the CFL ballasts appear to "strike" on and off occasionally, at all times of the night and day.
It seems possible that those voltages were always there at the receptacles in this 7-year old hotel from the start, but the problem did not manifest itself due to the existing incandescent lamps not being affected by such low voltage levels? Some of the switches, the ones for the bedroom fixtures, are 3-way switches, with one switch at the bedside and the other one at the doorway entrance. However, the switches for the bathrooms are just standard switches. The switches were changed out, in selected rooms, thinking they might be the problem, but the condition did not go away. A receptacle tester was also used to check receptacle polarity and found no problem. The main service transformer neutral grounding and bonding has also been checked, and appears to be correct. The lighting panelboards have also been inspected, but they too seem to have no issues. How can there possibly be such voltages at the receptacles when the switches are turned off?? Has anyone run into this situation before? Any thoughts on this problem would be much appreciated.
Ron P.
It seems possible that those voltages were always there at the receptacles in this 7-year old hotel from the start, but the problem did not manifest itself due to the existing incandescent lamps not being affected by such low voltage levels? Some of the switches, the ones for the bedroom fixtures, are 3-way switches, with one switch at the bedside and the other one at the doorway entrance. However, the switches for the bathrooms are just standard switches. The switches were changed out, in selected rooms, thinking they might be the problem, but the condition did not go away. A receptacle tester was also used to check receptacle polarity and found no problem. The main service transformer neutral grounding and bonding has also been checked, and appears to be correct. The lighting panelboards have also been inspected, but they too seem to have no issues. How can there possibly be such voltages at the receptacles when the switches are turned off?? Has anyone run into this situation before? Any thoughts on this problem would be much appreciated.
Ron P.
