Dirty Harry
Well-Known Member
That is the most intelligent answer I have heard in a while. That will prove 100% if you have electrical problems.
Blackstar LED's staying dimly lit when off
- Thread starter Kushfan
- Start date
Rasser
Active Member
Dirty Harry> Now your talkingSo I assume you too have danced the light fantago...I have been there many a times. Three phase is a bitch when bitten.
touching to phases with 400v makes you yell out loud.But I can't see how using the pen would involve more than one phase.
There is only 1 phase and the human body is the earth connection through the air, and it only tinkles a bit if your thumb is wet,
and come on we got 230V
Dirty Harry
Well-Known Member
I only trust a volt meter, metal probes on metal....Nothing more or less.
Progress! I called my brother who is a contractor and he told me where to trace the main hot/neutral wires to, and to switch them around, now all outlets test good and the lights shut completely off when I switch off the power from the strip. However the timer still doesn't turn them off completely so I'll probably just have to switch out the timer.
Rasser
Active Member
Congratulation ! nothing is better than figuring something out by your self -instead of just give up and call a pro.
Have you tried the tester on the timer - maybe thats reversed too. Although if there is no click sound it's properly the last fault.
ghettorigger
Member
That is really odd. How long have those leads been reversed? haha
Whats sad is that I did call in a pro when I was getting shocked while setting up my tent, he did a quick test and said everything was good. I haven't tested the timer but I do hear the relay click on and off so as others mentioned I probably just need an analog timer. The digital timer I'm using has a battery backup to keep track of time so that may just be enough juice to keep the led's barely lit.
Probably since this place was converted. Someone really "ghetto rigged" this place before I moved here haha. To top things off, the wires they used for hot and neutral are red and black. Black being the neutral and red being the hot.
squarefodder
Active Member
here is another thread realeted to the led staying dimly lit. https://www.rollitup.org/led-other-lighting/501685-led-lights-staying-slightly-lit.html
I have the same problem i went out and got a mechanical timer and still had the same issue. I have 4 different led panels and only the blackstar and a china unit stay dimly lit at night. Its so dim that it makes no difference in my grow its like the faintest moon light
here is a pic of my current set up
I have the same problem i went out and got a mechanical timer and still had the same issue. I have 4 different led panels and only the blackstar and a china unit stay dimly lit at night. Its so dim that it makes no difference in my grow its like the faintest moon light
here is a pic of my current set up
Dirty Harry
Well-Known Member
That can happen when a DIYer doesn't know the proper code for wiring. The neutral line should never be broken. The switch breaks the hot line. When reversed, and the switch breaks neutral, you can get a shock from touching metal appliances since you become the neutral/ground. That is why newer outlets are polarized. One slot it smaller than the other so when you plug in your power drill, it can only be plugged in one way.
The person has found and corrected a major safety issue.
Red wire? Someone must of used wire for 220V. It should have white, black, red, and green/copper. They used the wrong color wires and probably cut off the extra wire.
I did see that thread while searching around before posting this. So you have gone through a flowering phase with no problems from the lights staying on? The supplier said its a common issue and that some people go through 3 or 4 timers before finding one that "works". In my case I had an electrical issue. I'm going to buy an analog timer today and see what happens.
What happened was they tied into a circuit from the house to wire up the converted back house. The hot and neutral wires that were connected to the hot and neutral from the house were reversed. Those are the only two wires that power the whole circuit in the back house.
Dirty Harry
Well-Known Member
I hope to God you have a third wire, the ground, running to the back house and all the outlets. If not, you still have a shock hazard. If not, you can ground an outlet by connecting a ground wire to the ground lug and run it out of the house and connect it to a 6ft copper grounding rod driven into the ground or a metal water pipe. NEVER a natural/LP gas pipe. Remember, any appliance that does not have the 3rd ground pin on it, takes is ground from the neutral side of the outlet. The 3rd ground pin makes up if the hot and neutral are backwards. Without the 3rd ground wire connected to the outlet, the ground pin is useless and if the outlet is not polarized, you could plug in the appliance backwards and have a risk.
There was no ground, only the two wires going from the tie-in location to the conduit to the back house. I did not trace the wire all the way into the back house or pull out any outlets so I don't know if there's a ground wire somewhere. I just read the results from my outlet tester after I switched those two wires, and it said all outlets were wired correct. All outlets are polarized as well I believe (smaller slot on one side?). I think the tester would've indicated "open ground" if there was no ground hooked up? But again I don't know much about wiring. This is the tester I bought and after the wire reversal, the two right lights illuminate indicating "correct". Before it was the two left lights indicating "hot/neut reverse".
http://www.homedepot.com/buy/commercial-electric-gfci-outlet-tester-294932.html
Dirty Harry
Well-Known Member
If the tester says all good, including ground, then it is grounded in some way. I trust technology and if your tester shows good, I will take it as good. There is probably a ground rod and connection that you cant see if the did it underground. You may find a ground wire simply going into the ground somewhere...But it doesn't matter. It says your good.
So I installed the manual timer, and the panels are still on very very faintly. Way dimmer than before I fixed the electrical issue, but still lit. Do you think this will affect the flowering process? I am 2 and a half weeks into 12/12 (still no buds forming). Here is a before and after picture with the timer off.
FranJan
Well-Known Member
Does anyone think running the panels through a UPS would help solve this problem? Maybe some kind of line conditioner? I'm not Mr. Wiring or anything so I'm just wondering out loud. Plus both of my do 5x60s do this but neither of my BS240s do. Perhaps it's just the panels?
PSUAGRO.
Well-Known Member
Alright Kushfan I got some questions for you.......Do the panels eventually go off, or does it stay dimly lit constantly during lights off?? Are your plugging these panels into a grounded plug(three prong)? Is your mechanical timer a heavy duty(three prong!) unit.........If you are indeed plugging it all up(timer/outlet) and their all three prong and it stays dimly lit you have a GROUND fault(even a slight short will cause this/bare wires touching) without question due to it not discharging the current out of the line.........
And no a line conditioner will not resolve this issue/ any electricians in your fam/friends ...........good luck
And no a line conditioner will not resolve this issue/ any electricians in your fam/friends ...........good luck