Phantom Voltage


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Old 02-15-19, 06:06 AM
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Phantom Voltage

I installed 5 Philips Hue white smart bulbs last night in a ceiling fan. The lights will still flicker and/or have some very slight illumination even after turning them off. Reading through some material online last night, I believe the problem is phantom voltage. Someone suggested removing one of the Hue lights and replace with a standard incandescent bulb. Now, when I use the app or Echo to turn off the Hue lights, they all do go out (totally) except the incandescent bulb. The incandescent bulb is using up the phantom voltage (at least that's what was suggested). Is there any way to dissipate the phantom voltage, or avoid it altogether? The ceiling fan's wall switch is housed with 2 other switches in a 3 switch box. Is it possible the phantom voltage is because of the close proximity to the other 2 switches?
 
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Old 02-15-19, 07:43 AM
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That is not phantom voltage. It is real voltage. Whatever device you are using to control the light flows a small current through them when off. It is part of the device design and it causes issues with CFL and LED lights. You need to find a different device that works with LED. Most likely the one you have now does not require a neutral. You need to find one that use a neutral.

What is the device you are using now to control the lights?
 
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Old 02-15-19, 08:02 AM
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Thank you for the response. I apologize as I'm not sure what you mean by device. It's a Hunter ceiling fan with 5 chandelier-type fixtures. There's a chain at the fan to turn the lights on/off and a chain to turn the fan on/off. Then there's a wall switch that turns everything off.
 
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Old 02-15-19, 10:33 AM
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You said you use an app or an echo to turn the lights on and off. That means you do not have a regular on/off switch. You have some sort of device or smart switch. What is it?
 
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Old 02-15-19, 12:11 PM
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The fan can be turned off by a switch on the wall (toggle switch). We installed the smart bulbs in order to adjust the light bulb intensity, schedule on/off or just to be lazy at the couch and tell Alexa to turn off the lights, LOL. There's also a pull chain for the fan and a pull chain for the lights on the fan itself.
 
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Old 02-15-19, 03:31 PM
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Pull the chain for the lights. Do they go off?
If they do then the issue is your smart lights. It seems they can't be turned all the way off via the controller.
 
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Old 02-15-19, 04:05 PM
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The majority of ceiling fans are only rated for incandescent lamps and it will usually tell you in the instructions. If it is rated for incandescent bubs.... the dimmer can be damaged by the LED bulbs.
 
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Old 02-15-19, 07:00 PM
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Bulbs are good, tried a couple of them in different fixtures and they work properly.

There's no dimmer switch for the fan. The smart bulbs don't require a dimmer switch. The ability to dim is built into the bulb and controlled with an application or similar device i.e. Echo dot connected by wifi.

I'll keep trying different things.
 
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Old 02-15-19, 07:24 PM
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You turn the wall switch off and and/or pull the light switch chain and the incandescent light still lights ?
You got something wired incorrectly.

Like joed mentioned..... that is not phantom or induced voltage.
There is no amount of induced voltage in a home that will light an incandescent bulb.
 
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Old 02-15-19, 08:54 PM
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Found the problem, it WAS a dimmer, a remotely controlled dimmer. I took the fan down just to check out the wiring, etc. I forgot I installed a receiver in the circuit several years ago. It was hidden inside the canopy. I don't even know where the remote is any longer. Lights are working perfectly now. So, now I'm going to sit at my couch and adjust my lights just by talking. Thanks for all the input.
 
 

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