# LED light bulbs / lamps not working.



## kb1jb1 (Nov 11, 2017)

I had a strange service call today. The homeowner called and said the outlets that I changed out last month were not working. She had a lamp that she plugged into several different receptacles and it did not light. We brought it downstairs and it worked. We tried another lamp and the same results. I took out my testers and everything check out. I used my digital meter, my wiggins, and the old reliable rubber pig tail. All receptacles worked. It turns out her brand new GE LED lamps only worked in certain receptacles. I replaced her GE lamps with the cheap Costco LED lamps and all is well. Has anybody had this problem before and what could be the cause?


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## A Little Short (Nov 11, 2010)

None of this makes any sense. Are you sure the bulbs were screwed all the way in?


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

That's a weird one. Was it receps on some circuits worked others did not? Circuits on one leg or the other worked? Voltage dead same on all receps?


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## yamatitan (Sep 4, 2010)

bulbs polarity sesnitive and the lamp and downstairs outlets wired reversed?


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## kb1jb1 (Nov 11, 2017)

Black is the hot and white is the neutral at the receptacle. I checked the center tab in the lamp socket. I unscrewed the bulb and tried a different brand bulb and the light works. I plug the lamps in upstairs and it does not work. I move it to downstairs and it works. The only thing that I noticed different from downstairs and upstairs is that the upstairs is fed with multiwire circuits, 14/3 and the downstairs is not on multiwire circuits. The upstairs is also wired in old BX or AC cable. I heard that the old BX jacket is not suitable for a ground, is that correct? I have continuity between the steel box and the white wire and 125 volts between hot and steel and hot and the white. Could a bootlegged ground somewhere be causing this problem? Could the lamps be subject to RFI? This is a good example of why I do not like all this new digital technology. I just wasted 2 hours of my time that I am not getting paid for because I changed the upstairs receptacles months ago. I have to change out the downstairs receptacles next week.


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## Wirenuting (Sep 12, 2010)

What is the voltage on the neutral and a separate ground elsewhere?
I have found a bootleg will cause some LED’s to act strange.... Dim when off/not turning on/fast burnout..... etc... 

Yes old BX can make for a bad ground, I’ve seen people strip the neutral and shove it back into it to complete a circuit... (garbage disposal)


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