Help please, Smart bulbs
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Discussion

RenPug

Original Poster:

654 posts

198 months

Wednesday 30th December 2020
quotequote all
I have purchase 6 Meross smart bulbs and set them up as below, all in the main ceiling fittings.

2 in the lounge
1 in the hall
2 in the master bedroom
1 in the second bedroom

All are setup and working fine except the 2 in the Master bedroom, they are very dim even on 100% and occasionally flicker. I have tried resetting them and starting again and no change.

If I remove them and place them in the landing light they work fine but as soon as moved back to the bedroom they don't work properly again.

I guess it is something to do with the actual fittings but not sure what, does anybody have any ideas?

Thanks

colin79666

2,224 posts

143 months

Wednesday 30th December 2020
quotequote all
Does the bedroom have a dimmer switch?

RenPug

Original Poster:

654 posts

198 months

Wednesday 30th December 2020
quotequote all
colin79666 said:
Does the bedroom have a dimmer switch?
No, but there's a thought.

The lounge has 2 switches, both the normal style and it works fine. The bedroom has 2 switches for some reason, a normal switch by the door and a pull cord switch in the far corner, could it be this causing issues?

colin79666

2,224 posts

143 months

Wednesday 30th December 2020
quotequote all
Sounds very much like something odd with the wiring or a bad bulb holder. Does a standard LED bulb work ok in the fitting? If it is replacing an older incandescent or halogen bulb you will find LEDs aren’t as tolerant.

RenPug

Original Poster:

654 posts

198 months

Wednesday 30th December 2020
quotequote all
colin79666 said:
Sounds very much like something odd with the wiring or a bad bulb holder. Does a standard LED bulb work ok in the fitting? If it is replacing an older incandescent or halogen bulb you will find LEDs aren’t as tolerant.
I've found a standard LED Bulb and done some testing, there are 2 light fittings so front (FR) and rear (RR) there are also two smart bulbs

FR - Standard, RR - no bulb, works fine
FR - no bulb, RR - Standard, works fine
FR - Standard, RR - Smart1, works fine
FR - Smart 1, RR - Standard, works fine
FR - Standard, RR - Smart2, works fine
FR - Smart2, RR - Standard, works fine
FR - Smart1, RR - Smart 2, issue present
FR - Smart2, RR - Smart 1, issue present

I'm stumped as to what it could be. If I take both bulbs and put them either separately in the lounge or together, they work as they should but put them in the bedroom and they just don't.

CoolHands

23,607 posts

225 months

Wednesday 30th December 2020
quotequote all
So if the problem is in the bedroom only, then maybe the wiring needs checking

colin79666

2,224 posts

143 months

Wednesday 30th December 2020
quotequote all
A right head scratcher this! It really does sound like the next step is for investigation of the wiring since you have tested every combination and that rules out a dud bulb. Perhaps there is something else on the bedroom light circuit that causes something odd with the current going to the smart bulbs, say an en-suite extractor fan?

Probably time to call in an electrician to investigate unless you are confident and competent yourself.

dickymint

29,173 posts

288 months

Thursday 31st December 2020
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Is there a different app you could try?

RenPug

Original Poster:

654 posts

198 months

Thursday 31st December 2020
quotequote all
dickymint said:
Is there a different app you could try?
I can control them on the Meross app and no change there either, shows 100% but are still very dim.

I'm going to buy a pair of the bulb holders and swap them over to check, thats the limit of my electrical skills so if they still don't work I'll have to get a Spark to come take a look.

RenPug

Original Poster:

654 posts

198 months

Sunday 3rd January 2021
quotequote all
To finish this off in case it is of any use to anybody at a later date i bought 2 new bulb holders including the ceiling pendants and also a standard switch instead of the pull cord one.

I had planned to swap them one at a time and try between each change to see if it was fixed.

As it happens I changed first pendant and the fault has now gone. Can only assume either the connections were loose or just degraded from age.

Either way, nice simple fix, thanks to all who suggested ideas.

dickymint

29,173 posts

288 months

Sunday 3rd January 2021
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Well done nice to see closure thumbup

colin79666

2,224 posts

143 months

Sunday 3rd January 2021
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Excellent and nice to see it doesn’t become one of those threads you find in a Google search years later that has no resolution.