Tingle from light fixtures

[ross163103]

I recently installed some LED lights to replace some flouro units. After installing them I noticed that the LED's glow slightly when the switch is in the off position; they come on at normal brightness when switched on. Plus I noticed I get a tingle if I touch the metal frames of the lights when they're off. I know this is leakage somewhere but since lights usually only have two wires how can they be grounded to eliminate this leakage? I have an RCBO installed in the system which I have seen work on another circuit but must not be working on this one otherwise there wouldn't be a tingle when touching the frame. Is it a case of the neutral and live switched? I have other LED lights in the rest of the house that don't have this issue. I noticed the flouros glowed a slight bit also before I replaced them--they obviously had the same issue.

I'd like to have a qualified electrician look at it, but this section of the house was wired by a supposedly qualified Thai electrician....hence why I'm trying to figure it out on my own. I've attached a photo of the lights with the switch off. Before anyone says anything; I know wire nuts would have been a better option but the wire from the LED lights was so small a wire nut wouldn't work so I used 3M amalgamating tape along with electrical tape to insulate the wire ends.

Thanks in advance for any intelligent useful comments.

 

[Crossy]

Glowing when "off" is invariably because the light switch is in the neutral rather than the live.

 

Your tingle is indeed leakage and the only proper fix is to ground the fitting. That said, it's high up and well out of reach, so the risk is minimal.

 

EDIT If the supply is the right way round then, if your switch runs are long, you could have capacitive coupling across the switch. A 250VAC 0.33uF capacitor across the supply at the lamp should slug it. Do ensure you get proper mains rated capacitors.

[sometimewoodworker]

Not only that but some LED bulbs will light up when you touch the screw and center contact with two fingers on one hand. I was gobsmacked when I saw someone doing it in in Big C

[Gumballl]

Quote

 I know wire nuts would have been a better option but the wire from the LED lights was so small a wire nut wouldn't work so I used 3M amalgamating tape along with electrical tape to insulate the wire ends.

You could use wire nuts, electrical tape, or even cork (not that I have tried the latter).  Basically, anything that is non-conductive.

 

I did electrical work yesterday, with live power, and although I would have preferred wire nuts, I had no choice but to rely on electrical tape.