- #1
R4za
- 10
- 1
Hi everyone. I have a question that I would be grateful to receive your insights on.
In our bedroom, we have a LED strip running from a typical 12V transformer. We turn it off at night using the controller box, which is in between the LEDs and the transformer. The thing is, a couple of times per day at irregular intervals, the LEDs will light up for a fraction of a second, even as they are turned off. They also tend to create a plopping sound, and send our nearby mini fridge buzzing. Originally, I suspected voltage spikes, but putting the transformer behind voltage spike protection didn't change a thing. Then we insulated the transformer against electromagnetic influences using one of those bags computer hardware comes in, and what do you know: the flashes still happen, but they're reduced in amplitude by about two thirds.
I haven't had physics since high school, but IIRC a sufficiently powerful shift in a magnetic field would induce a voltage over the coils in the transformer, possibly allowing it to briefly overcome the resistance that the controller box uses to stop the current when the LED device is turned off?
My questions are as follows:
In our bedroom, we have a LED strip running from a typical 12V transformer. We turn it off at night using the controller box, which is in between the LEDs and the transformer. The thing is, a couple of times per day at irregular intervals, the LEDs will light up for a fraction of a second, even as they are turned off. They also tend to create a plopping sound, and send our nearby mini fridge buzzing. Originally, I suspected voltage spikes, but putting the transformer behind voltage spike protection didn't change a thing. Then we insulated the transformer against electromagnetic influences using one of those bags computer hardware comes in, and what do you know: the flashes still happen, but they're reduced in amplitude by about two thirds.
I haven't had physics since high school, but IIRC a sufficiently powerful shift in a magnetic field would induce a voltage over the coils in the transformer, possibly allowing it to briefly overcome the resistance that the controller box uses to stop the current when the LED device is turned off?
My questions are as follows:
- Is my above logic valid?
- In a home setting in a major city, what soft of thing would cause pulses like this? I was thinking either a powerful electrical device being turned on or off in our vicinity, or the building's light net experiencing either voltage spikes or very brief blackouts in its entirety, but I'm not sure how to estimate the likelihood of these things or narrow it down further.
- What strength would a pulse like this have to be to set off, but not apparently damage (over the course of a year) consumer electronic devices like this?
- Any ideas for localizing the source of these (presumed) pulses, or preventing them from permeating our home?