Lights on when off!

[Madgee]

I know this has been discussed before!

My lights have always shown a 'sign of life' when switched off. After having 24hrs of continual rain they now are at the stage of being 'dim' when turned off.

My neighbours either side have the same problem. As the weather improves, so do my lights!

Is it insufficient grounding of the main supply power pole?

 

[tonray]

Maybe the neutral lead not grounded properly ?

[Mickeymaus]

If they are fluorescent tubes then the phases +- might be connected wrongly. 

[Crossy]

A supply polarity check is in order, also check if the light switch is in the neutral.

 

Interesting that the wet makes the issue worse and that your neighbours are seeing the same thing suggesting a supply issue. 

 

@Madgee do you have a multimeter to do some simple checks?

 

EDIT You will also need a long piece of wire and a big screwdriver.

[Madgee]

Thanks for the replies.

4 hours ago, Mickeymaus said:

If they are fluorescent tubes then the phases +- might be connected wrongly. 

Both the round fluorescent tubes and L.E.D. show light after death! I recently replaced an old light fitting with an L.E.D. checking that the wires were connected correctly. Same result. 

I'm no sparkie and hate playing with Thai electrics, they make no sense to me. 

4 hours ago, Crossy said:

A supply polarity check is in order, also check if the light switch is in the neutral.

 

Interesting that the wet makes the issue worse and that your neighbours are seeing the same thing suggesting a supply issue. 

Apparently my missus has been informed by someone at the P.E.A. that the wires at the outside box need reversing?

I'm not touching a thing! 

 

Yes, I've got access to a multimeter.   

 

[Mickeymaus]

Always check at the power switches that the live wire is switched off. The same you have to check at all other things with a switch like power strips. Mark at the power outlets where the live wire is. Also mark the plugs so that you know how to plug them in correctly. 

[cucme]

Looks like the neutral is switched instead of the phase. Switch the 2 wires and see what happens.

Explanation: if the neutral is switched and it's dry, the current does not find a way to the graound. When it's wet, the water will conduct the current to the ground. Worsens with salt and dirt or dust.

[RayD]

I had the same problem when my wires were mistakenly removed from the outside meter and then put back wrong.  You need to find someone to swap the wires at the meter for you. Five minute job if you have a ladder and know what you're doing. Incidentally, the PEA is only responsible for getting the supply to the meter, after that it's your problem. If there are several meters on the pole and you are not sure which one is yours, there should be a serial number on the meter and the bill.

[millymoopoo]

23 hours ago, Madgee said:

After having 24hrs of continual rain they now are at the stage of being 'dim' when turned off.

Could be lots of possibilities.

Earthing could be an issue as increasing from vaguely on to dim after rain suggest this.

If there is no earth (common in Thailand) then the issue is more perplexing.

Is there extra high voltage transmission lines or a radio station close by, these can cause induced voltages in wiring.

Is the neutral (black/blue wire) switched rather than the active (red/brown wire) as this can cause lights to dissipate the return voltage through their metal casing, increasingly so when the atmosphere is damp.

If this is happening throughout the village it does suggest something is amiss in the street wiring.

You are right not to want to play around the wiring, if it's not annoying and you have earthing/safety switches maybe better to leave it.

A previous post suggests reversing the wires in the meter, this is an extremely dangerous suggestion as it can liven the neutral, and if multiple earthed neutral system is used (MEN) it can liven up any metal cased appliance plugged in.

[Crossy]

1 hour ago, millymoopoo said:

A previous post suggests reversing the wires in the meter, this is an extremely dangerous suggestion as it can liven the neutral, and if multiple earthed neutral system is used (MEN) it can liven up any metal cased appliance plugged in.

 

Absolutely!!!

 

Unless you have made the relevant checks and determined that your supply is indeed reversed of course.

[thaibeachlovers]

Sounds like "normal" Thai electrical wiring.

So many problems caused by "electricians" that don't know what they are doing.

 

In the village I wired up an outside light the correct, safe way through a circuit breaker, and they got some clown to change it while I was away. I laughed like a drain when I came back and found they had shorted the wiring direct to earth and melted 10 meters of cable, and the light switch ( no one was injured, luckily ).

 

My wife's rental house had a problem of such complexity with multiple lights that I was unable to solve it at the time, though I did work out the problem later.

 

Not unusual to find two wires joined with black to grey and visa versa, and twist and tape seemed to be the only way they knew how to join wires.

 

MIL's house had ALL the house wiring from the breaker box going through a single piece of lighting wire.

 

Light fittings in the ceiling that had exposed live wires.

 

I found a knife blade switch in the car port behind a pile of rubbish that had been direct wired into the mains OUTSIDE the house, so not going through a breaker. Unfortunately the cover was missing, so anyone could have touched the live side and turned crispy. I can only guess it wasn't my time to die that day.

[Madgee]

I removed the cover from a dimmer switch / double light switch combo unit. Jungle of multi-coloured wires, some joined with masking tape, others so thin like speaker wire and all except one were live! 

 

Nope .... ain't gonna happen ... not touching a thing! 

 

Things work, got a safety cut thingy box that trips occasionally so I'm going to let it be, for now.

Cheers guys for the suggestions.

 

[RocketDog]

On 7/25/2021 at 10:15 AM, Crossy said:

A supply polarity check is in order, also check if the light switch is in the neutral.

 

Interesting that the wet makes the issue worse and that your neighbours are seeing the same thing suggesting a supply issue. 

 

@Madgee do you have a multimeter to do some simple checks?

 

EDIT You will also need a long piece of wire and a big screwdriver.

Crossy loves sticking screwdrivers in the ground!

 

Just kidding him, because he's correct. You know for sure you have a good ground for testing purposes. A bucket of salt water around the screwdriver doesn't hurt either.

[bluejets]

3 hours ago, RocketDog said:

You know for sure you have a good ground for testing purposes.

It's not so much that but rather that your earth reference is not "contaminated" in any way by anything flowing in the current earth system.

[RocketDog]

Just now, bluejets said:

It's not so much that but rather that your earth reference is not "contaminated" in any way by anything flowing in the current earth system.

As I said, for testing purposes. One wouldn't take a bacterial sample for testing using a dirty handkerchief.

[xtrnuno41]

However , never underestimate electric power. One wrong handling and you end up

                                                 DEAD !