Led lights flicker

[Larry L]

Once or twice a day while my led lights are on they will flicker. Not continuously but only once. , Nothing else is on when it occurs, not the inverter not the water heater not the furnace. Our batteries are charged by solar and are at 90 or 100 percent when the flicker occurs. I should add that all of the lights that are on flicker, so I have concluded that it isn’t that one of them is going bad. Any suggestions are appreciated. Larry L

[Mark J]

Originally Posted by Larry L

Once or twice a day while my led lights are on they will flicker. Not continuously but only once. , Nothing else is on when it occurs, not the inverter not the water heater not the furnace. Our batteries are charged by solar and are at 90 or 100 percent when the flicker occurs. I should add that all of the lights that are on flicker, so I have concluded that it isn’t that one of them is going bad. Any suggestions are appreciated. Larry L

We’ve been having flickering LEDs since we picked up our new 5.0 this August. First it was attributed to a loose battery wire and seemed related to being plugged into shore power. But now that that has been corrected, the lights still flicker when running just on batteries. What I’ve noticed is it is related to being in bulk charging mode, whether that is being supplied by the WFCO converter or by the solar controller. You might notice when the lights flicker that your solar controller will report around 14.4 to 14.6 volts. Once the charge drops to 13.6 you are in absorption mode. Somewhere in between, voltage-wise, is where the flickering subsides, at least for us. I’m suspecting another loose connection somewhere in the system, since after I found the loose nut on the battery connection to the 30A thermal breaker, I later had the entire ring terminal just fall right off the other end of same said cable. So at this point, I’m just assuming there exist more bad electrical connections.

I’m in the process of rewiring a bunch of the stuff that Escape did wrong and/or poorly, so if I find the smoking gun for the flickering lights, I’ll repost here.

The other possibility is that the LEDs themselves don’t like the high voltage during bulk charging. But that would seem to involve a lot more customers if your 2018 and our 2021 are having the same problems. And like you, it’s not just one fixture but all of them. Unless Escape saved a box of “special” LED lights just for us!

[Larry L]

Thanks Mark. What do you mean by bulk loading?

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by Larry L

Thanks Mark. What do you mean by bulk loading?

Bulk charging is a cycle your trailer's converter produces.......

[Mark J]

Bulk mode (sometimes called “boost”) is the charging phase that comes on first when you plug into shore power or when full sun starts hitting the solar panels in the morning. In bulk mode the chargers are basically throwing all available amps at the battery while maintaining a consistent voltage around 14.4-14.6 volts. I believe both the converter and the Go Power controller reserve some minimum time for bulk charging before dropping down into absorption phase (I presume they are smart enough to switch out of bulk early once the batteries are full). For lead-acid batteries, there is an additional “float” phase the chargers will go into after absorption phase when the batteries are full. Float mode doesn’t apply in lithium battery systems, which is what we have.

It sounds like your symptoms are similar to what we’ve observed. ETI told me to check for loose ground connections. I haven’t found any of those (yet) but did find the two bad positive connections mentioned above. The first place to look might be the ground wire connecting to the frame underneath (ours connects under the back bumper) — make sure it is tight, not rusted, and connecting to bare metal. Good luck!

[Larry L]

Hi all. Larry L again.

Maybe I didn’t make clear how seldom the flicker happens and how short its duration is. It has never occurred more than twice in a day and its duration is less than a second. I just can’t see how a loose wire could produce so consistent an effect.

[fudge_brownie]

The WFCO converter that is used in Escape's is famous. It is famous because it never goes into bulk mode. There have been several postings on this forum and on other forums (the WFCO is quite common) about its inability charge at the higher voltages that bulk would have. Now the solar panel is a different story, that would be a more likely culprit.

That said, I have the older light fixtures that have removable LED bulbs. They liked to flicker. After six years I finally found the answer to this annoyance. Turn off the switch, remove the plastic cover, remove the bulb and use an emery board to file inside the socket. This has been a recommendation for many years and I have tried it. It didn't work.

What I found is you have to be very aggressive in the filing. 30 to 60 seconds on each socket. I know you can strip off the copper, I will take that risk to keep the flicker away.

[Mark J]

Originally Posted by Larry L

Hi all. Larry L again.

Maybe I didn’t make clear how seldom the flicker happens and how short its duration is. It has never occurred more than twice in a day and its duration is less than a second. I just can’t see how a loose wire could produce so consistent an effect.

Yes, your flickering is definitely less persistent than mine.

Could your flickering be related to the solar controller? Does it ever happen at night when the sun isn’t shining?

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by fudge_brownie

The WFCO converter that is used in Escape's is famous. It is famous because it never goes into bulk mode. There have been several postings on this forum and on other forums (the WFCO is quite common) about its inability charge at the higher voltages that bulk would have. Now the solar panel is a different story, that would be a more likely culprit.

That said, I have the older light fixtures that have removable LED bulbs. They liked to flicker. After six years I finally found the answer to this annoyance. Turn off the switch, remove the plastic cover, remove the bulb and use an emery board to file inside the socket. This has been a recommendation for many years and I have tried it. It didn't work.

What I found is you have to be very aggressive in the filing. 30 to 60 seconds on each socket. I know you can strip off the copper, I will take that risk to keep the flicker away.

I also have the older fixtures with removable bulbs and do not file the socket. I use a pencil eraser on the bulbs contacts, reinstall the bulbs and they seem to stop flickering. I have only had to do this a second time once on a previously “treated” bulb. I believe a good contact cleaner would provide good results also. Right or wrong, I suspect that flickering is the result of a small amount of oxidation on the contacts.

[NuthatchBC]

The best way to stop the flickering is to remove the LED bulb and, using a clean cloth, wipe the contacts. No need to go inside the socket and potentially cause more problems.

Doug

[Vermilye]

If the flicker is an individual lamp or fixture, I'd suspect contact problems, however Larry describes it a rare short flickering of ALL the lights. Unlikely dirty contacts. I suspect either the solar controller or converter is switching between stages.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by Vermilye

If the flicker is an individual lamp or fixture, I'd suspect contact problems, however Larry describes it a rare short flickering of ALL the lights. Unlikely dirty contacts. I suspect either the solar controller or converter is switching between stages.

Agreed. Probably the converter dropping from bulk to absorption. The updated WFCO manual for the newer 8955LiS model even mentions the potential for a change in brightness. Stands to reason this would be the same for the standard 8955 as well.