My LED Light Strips Seem to flash

Community Playground General Discussions
#1

Hello,

I am most certainly not a genius when it comes to understanding electricity.

Currently I bought a set of LED Sticky tape lights and mounted them on the back of my TV.

I thought I would be cool to have them part of a scene, but When I plug them into my zWave plug, and they are turned off, they seem to patriotically flash.

The plug I am using is a LEVITON zWave Plug.

Anyone else ever dealt with anything like this? Perhaps someone has some information for me on how I would get this phenomenon to stop happening.

Thank you

Ben

#2

Sounds like the zwave device you have them plugged into lets through a trickle of current when in off mode. Which would explain what you are experiencing. I’ve seen this with 2 wire zwave dimmers and LED bulbs as well.

You did not specify the exact model of the zwave device so no way to tell if it is an on/off switch or a dimmer.

#3

Labor Day bug?

#4

Labor Day bug?[/quote]

Hoho!

#5

Oh boy… Patriotic, instead of periodic…

I should have spelled it correctly and not relied on spell-check…

The LEVITON plug catalog number is DZPD3

#6

As suggested above, this device is a dimmer module. Whilst it states it is for LED lamps that may not include LED strips. Leakage through the dimmer causes the flashing.
Try searching the forum for this device in case others have had the problem and found a solution.

#7

Using eg a Leviton DZPA1-1LW on/off switch should resolve the issue.

I’m using a GE plugin dimmer for 2 standard LED bulbs and they don’t exhibit the flicker issue. They come on immediately but when switched off they neatly dim down to 0%. Those are the ones that come with a Schlage lock kit.

#8

Just one other thing to check. This device requires a neutral. I assume you have that wired in correctly.

#9

It is kind of a armature setup. The LED strips connect to each other and then into a switch and then a plug, finally into the zWave plug.

I am guessing that the LEVITON dimming capibilities are the issue.

I’ll look into a straight on/off switch.

Thank you everyone for the quick replies.

There is a great community here!

Thanks again

Ben

#10

This is an indispensable tool for any US based home owner wanting to make sure their electrical outlets are up to spec. It also does not break the bank. :slight_smile:

#11

You need to describe your set up a bit more clearly. LED strips are typically 12 or 24 V DC and make us of a line Voltage to 12/24 DC power supply. These power supplies are not designed to be dimmed. Ideally they should be turned on and off using a relay contact such as are found in the Fibaro on/off controllers.