My hallway custom LED lights have stopped working.

rfjtam · 1 Feb 2021 at 17:49

Hello.

I have made custom LED lights on one of the walls in my hallway but unfortunately they have stopped working and I cannot find the cause for it. I have 3 metres of SMD 5630 LEDs (144 LEDs per metre) cut into 6 strips that are connected individually to a WiFi Bluetooth controller which is then connected to a LED power supply.

Here is my quick diagram:

I have tested the 240v input with a probe and it definitely shows live electricity, output from the 12v WiFi controller also shows power. Strange thing is I have decided to test the LED power supply and connected it to one of the wall sockets, surprisingly it works so that eliminates a faulty power supply, controller or any other fault with the wiring.

Could this be a fault with my home electric box? LED power supply is wired to a circuit breaker where all the other home lights are wired into. I will mention these lights worked for a about 6 months with no issues.

rfjtam · 1 Feb 2021 at 17:50

Any input on this I would greatly appreciate.

ash_scotland88 · 1 Feb 2021 at 18:53

Fault with the bluetooth controller or fault with LED strip if you're happy that you're getting 12V out of the psu.

Semple · 1 Feb 2021 at 19:27

Can you bypass the WiFi controller to check/verify that the LED strips are still getting power/able to power the LEDs.

K.C. Leblanc · 1 Feb 2021 at 21:25

What sort of probe did you use to test the 240v supply? It could be the neutral has come lose.

pp111 · 2 Feb 2021 at 11:13

I am wondering if a led has failed open circuit and is tripping internal protection of the controller or the 12V psu. I would try disconnecting all the strips and then adding them again one at a time.

rfjtam · 5 Feb 2021 at 21:06

ash_scotland88 said:
Fault with the bluetooth controller or fault with LED strip if you're happy that you're getting 12V out of the psu.

Can't be, everything has been tested at works flawlessly when it's connected to one of the wall outlets. Thanks!

Semple said:
Can you bypass the WiFi controller to check/verify that the LED strips are still getting power/able to power the LEDs.

I've tried using every possible way to test the lights, the problem is in the 220V cable that goes into the power supply.

K.C. Leblanc said:
What sort of probe did you use to test the 240v supply? It could be the neutral has come lose.

It's one of them screw drivers that light up if there is live electricity when in contact. I think the lose neutral is most probable just need to ask someone to have a look at it. Thank you!

pp111 said:
I am wondering if a led has failed open circuit and is tripping internal protection of the controller or the 12V psu. I would try disconnecting all the strips and then adding them again one at a time.

As I said before the power supply works perfectly when connected to one of the wall outlets so it must be a lose neutral as mentioned above.

Thanks guys.

pp111 · 6 Feb 2021 at 09:02

rfjtam said:
As I said before the power supply works perfectly when connected to one of the wall outlets so it must be a lose neutral as mentioned above.

I guess so. Seems odd that it just failed like that and yet nothing else on the same circuit did. Did you check your Neutral voltage? It sounds stupid but faults can leave the neutral high which then causes issues with very low power circuits.

K.C. Leblanc · 6 Feb 2021 at 14:26

rfjtam said:
It's one of them screw drivers that light up if there is live electricity when in contact. I think the lose neutral is most probable just need to ask someone to have a look at it. Thank you!

Makes sense, those screwdrivers don't use the neutral as a return path. They use your body, this does make them more then a bit dodgy.

I personally don't think they're a good idea for two reasons.

One if you don't have good contact with earth they might not light even if a circuit is live. Meaning you could attempt to work on an energised circuit.

Two, look inside, next to the lamp you will see a tiny resistor. That's basically all that's limiting the current and preventing you from being toasted by 240 volts.