60Hz Flicker in LED lights - whether dimmed or not

Thread Starter

roweder

Joined Feb 2, 2017
28
To start off, I don't care whether or not I can dim these bulbs, I just don't like the 60Hz flicker they have.

I have LED lights in my apartment with a really annoying 60Hz flicker. They flicker on full brightness, they flicker dimmed, and the ones that aren't connected to a dimmer flicker too.

Is there any type of product I could connect to these bulbs, or daisy chain them off of, that could remove this flicker?

Here is the light:
20180827_122450.jpg
20180827_125553.jpg

The funny thing is, I have old Phillips bulb-style LED's from like 2016 that are "non-dimmable" and don't flicker. I also have phillips bulbs that are dimmable and don't flicker.

I can tell these bulbs flicker with my own eyes and I can verify it with the 960fps video my phone can record. The phillips bulbs I mentioned don't even flicker when recorded at 960fps and slowed to 30fps.
 

Reloadron

Joined Jan 15, 2015
7,501
Some people, such as yourself, can apparently see and notice 60 Hz flicker, I can't. I see dl324 posted as I type and I agree. Nothing you can really do about it other than find LED fixture which reduces 120 VAC 60 Hz to a DC level to power the lamps.

Ron
 

Thread Starter

roweder

Joined Feb 2, 2017
28
These lights are my landlord's so I can't return them, but I am willing to replace them myself and just hold on to these until I move out, and then put them back.

I was about to do exactly this with these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072DYK1KC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

but they flicker too.....

It seems like my best option would be to find a version of this product that has a driver, or at least a bigger driver than those tiny surface mounted components on the same circuit board as the LED's. I have found a few candidate products, but they are all 3000K but my apartment is supposed to have 2700K according to local code, at least according to my landlord.
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,846
Go to a local home improvement store and see if they have something you can see in operation. The stores here have displays so you can see before you buy.
 

ErnieM

Joined Apr 24, 2011
8,377
LED lights that run directly off the AC line will always do the flashy thing. To prevent that one would need to build a complete AC to DC converter into each bulb. That means adding capacitance and capacitors are expensive and prone to failure.

The market just would not support such a beast.

I've converted over just about all of my house to LEDs now. I may have some CFL's about I haven't noticed but think I got them all. The bedroom overhead has decorative bulbs not available in LED, and the LEDs I tried there don't dim off my Leviton dimmer so I leave the Edison types.

I did this despite being one of those that can see the flashy thing.
 

ErnieM

Joined Apr 24, 2011
8,377
I have found a few candidate products, but they are all 3000K but my apartment is supposed to have 2700K according to local code, at least according to my landlord.
I agree the color temperature of bulbs is not a "code" issue. Most probably it is your landlord's preference. 2700K is too yellow for my taste anyway. My preference is closer to 3,000, with 3200 being the whitest I enjoy.

I would love to make an AC line LED power supply that converts the dimming AC wave into some sort of DC signal. Over a certain frequency (200Hz or so) I can't see the flashy thing so even PWM could work. I know that from a LED driver I ounce made where I was limited in the lowest PWM frequency I could make, as I recall that was 200 Hz and unless I vigorously shook the LED I could not perceive and flash.

If I could make it small enough I could put it into the top of the light fixture. Doesn't need much power either, my largest fixture has 6 x 8 watt bulbs for 48 watts, so a 100 W supply would work on everything I have.
 

ErnieM

Joined Apr 24, 2011
8,377
https://www.richtek.com/m/~/media/AN PDF/AN022_EN.pdf

Also, the use of a current regulator can cut down on flicker as can the use of simple Valley Fill and perhaps other types of power factor correction.
Interesting device. Does any commercial producer of LED lighting use this? Can I go to Home Depot and buy one?

Lately I've been having fun with LEDs around the house. My wife is doing a major (for us) upgrade of the interior and I am adding strip LEDs for some drama.

In the kitchen I want some extra light over the sink work area. I used devices similar to those below in the last spin of the kitchen. Under counter lighting was just evolving so I adapted some 12V IKEA halogen lamps. Unfortunately they would burn out after 2-3 months and were a PITA to replace. I found these LEDs and the first set lasted 5 or 10 years.

Looking for a new set I came across this style. What is interesting is the inductor and capacitor on the backside. No flashy thing!

I bought a set this morning and will try them out in my kitchen when they come.
PIN LED.jpg
 

Tonyr1084

Joined Sep 24, 2015
7,853
The bedroom overhead has decorative bulbs not available in LED, and the LEDs I tried there don't dim off my Leviton dimmer so I leave the Edison types.
The type of LED I have in my bedroom fixtures are (3 out of 4) LED and (1 out of 4) standard incandescent bulbs. In the video I didn't show the LED's as it was not my intention to show what sort of LED's I had, only that I dim them in the following manor. Somewhere in my house I have LED's that look like the candle stick bulbs. In fact, I know exactly where one is - in my garage, on my heater. Yes, on my heater. I put it there only for the purpose of letting me know in a glance if I turned the heater on or off. (quick back story to that: I don't run the heater all the time. Only when I'm going to be out there in the cold weather. I can forget to turn it off and have it run all night heating a space for no good reason, so I put the light on it so I'd know when it was on. Glancing from the garage door I know in an instant if I forgot to switch the heater off.)

 
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