Hue bulb flashing. If the Hue bulb is flashing, the plug may be giving pulsating current to it. The wiring of the Hue bulb may not be correct.
The dimmer of the bulb may have problems. The bulb may be damaged. A reset may be required for the bulb. Bulb’s dimmer may not be compatible.
My Hue bulb wasn’t working. I read the Philips guide and the hue bulb issues on it, then on the internet I found about hue bulbs a lot more and flashing reasons and even buzzing reasons was on the internet.
I fixed my Hue bulb flashing really fast. My bulb issue was with its app, and the app wouldn’t let the bulb stop flashing or would not let it stop buzzing.
I fixed my bulb by reading the guide and getting help from Philips.
Read to learn!
Hue bulb flashing
Having Hue bulbs is great as they can be dimmed, and you can set the bulb’s brightness to your level.
But the more bulb features in it, the more the bulb is difficult to fix. The lights that can be dimmed are controllable by apps, so the app may make the bulb misbehave by flashing it.
The dimmer switch may be incompatible. Same for the dimmer switch whose lifespan ends. The bulb may have an internal Hue issue.
Power surges also affect the dimness of the bulb and make the bulb flash like crazy. Hacked bulbs aren’t impossible either.
Loose bulb sockets are pretty common. Troubleshooting Philips is a simple task and ending flashing problems too. Let’s see more.
Pulsating current
Bulbs start with the current and remain lit with the current. Electricity is necessary to ignite bulbs, be it hue or simple bulbs. But the current needed by the bulbs is smooth.
They receive AC and convert it to DC. But still, current smoothness is a major factor. Sometimes the current coming to them is not smooth.
Rather, the current to the bulbs is in pulse or spikes. The pulses or spike will turn the bulb on when they arrive, and the current when the pulse is finished will also end and turns off.
When the current is in pulses, the bulb will keep flashing. To remove the flashings of the bulb, you need to control the pulses of current.
Having a stabilizer at the house to get the bulb stable is handy, but turning the bulb when current produces spikes are better and safer.
Turn all devices off when the bulb is flashing because of spikes, as all devices can get fired with the current in pulses. Unstable current isn’t just flashing the bulb but frying its circuit too. So turn the Hue bulb off.
Electrical fluctuations
Electrical fluctuations are similar to spikes, but they differ because surges come only once, and surges overflow is really dangerous.
The current in surges isn’t good because it can fry the bulb and its capacitor, making the bulb flash.
Lighting from the sky and overflow of current from behind the main board cause power surges.
The breakers may fry too, and if the dimmer switch and the bulbs get free because of these surges, they may react to make the bulb flash.
Install better breakers and fuses to save the bulb from power surges and flashing.
Unadjusted socket
The socket being unadjusted mean the bulb isn’t adjusted right, and the bulb is loose. Loose bulb, be it Hue is the same.
The intermittent flashing is caused by loose bulbs that aren’t hooked in the socket properly. The bulb socket should be checked if the bulb flashes.
The terminals of the bulb and the socket may not be touching properly, causing the flashes. The loose contact makes the current unsmooth.
The flashes, as mentioned in power spikes, are caused by the disrupted current.
Just turn the Philip bulb off and take the bulb off from the socket, and then properly attach it and turn it, making sure the bulb’s terminal and socket’s terminal are perfectly aligned with each other.
After placing the bulb in a tightened manner, power the bulb and check the flashing in the Hue bulb by Philips. The flashing, when properly aligned, won’t happen.
Incompatible dimmer
Let’s see the dimmer’s compatibility issue. The dimmers for the Philps Hue are specially designed to work with the bulbs.
The specially designed dimmers lower the brightness and increase the brightness at a level matched by the bulb.
But the dimmers used traditionally with fans are not compatible with the bulbs.
The dimmer of the fans and the dimmers of the bulbs are different from each other. The traditional dimmers are not made for bulbs.
If you have a traditional dimmer installed with the bulb, the bulb may flash because the dimmer doesn’t cooperate with it.
The traditional dimmers won’t work with the bulb even if you install a new dimmer of the same kind.
Only the dimmers, specially made for Hue bulbs or other bulbs, are compatible with the bulbs. Getting the Hue dimmer by Philips is better as they ensure the bulb and dimmer compatibility.
Expired dimmers
Dimmers have a life span too. Dimmers don’t work forever. They expire after some time. The dimmer may flash the bulb after its lifespan has ended.
The lifespan of dimmer switches is 10 years at most. But the dimmer switches may expire because of electrical surges and spikes.
So having an electrician check the wiring of the house and the dimmer switch with the wiring checked is a great idea to elongate the dimmer’s and bulb’s life.
Knowing when the dimmer switches have expired and replacing them on time may save the bulbs and won’t cause problems like the bulb flashing.
Changing the bulbs and transferring to LEDs is great, but the quality of the dimmers and capacity of the dimmer should also be checked.
People who change houses should be more varied in the dimmer and Hue bulbs, and if the bulb is flashing, they should change the dimmer.
Bulb issues
The problem with dimmers isn’t the only problem related to lifespan. Bulbs have a lifespan too. The life span of a Hue bulb isn’t that long.
The life of a Hue bulb may be only 3 years, like the warranty given by Philips.
The bulb may even die before three years, but the bulb can be replaced by contacting Philips if it expires before time.
Check the lifespan of the bulb and see the lifespan time.
If the life span of the bulb has ended, get the bulb replaced or fireplace the Philip bulb by yourself to stop the flashing.
The lifespan of the bulb isn’t the only problem. The dimmer may damage the bulb and cause the bulb to flash. The power surges damage the bulb and make it flash.
The bulb should be checked for issues. If the bulb is fried, then the charge in the bulb’s capacitor may damage the bulb more and flash it.
If the bulb keeps flashing, get the bulb replaced. The random flashing won’t stop until they are looked at and replaced.
The Hue bulbs by Philips are repairable but can’t be prepared by you, and it’s better to get a new Hue bulb.
Wiring issue
The wiring of the bulb is an issue itself. The flashing may be caused by improper wiring of the house.
Check some other plug to see the bulb’s flash. The wiring is the issue if the bulb doesn’t flash in the other plug. Get it checked and fixed.
App issues
The Philps light can be controlled by the app, and you can set the dimming through the app.
The random flashing may be caused if the Hue app has some bugs. Reinstall or update the app to remove the bugs and stop the flashing.
Hacked
The hacking issue is the last issue, and it’s kind of spooky, but the Hue bulbs, as they work remotely, can be hacked.
If the Hue bulbs have been hacked, replace them with other bulbs and add encryption so no one else can control the bulb, which will stop the flashing.
Conclusion
All issues with Hue bulbs have been listed above. The Hue bulb issues are solved too. Be it the dimmer or wiring, or even the app of the light; all are fixed.
Contact Philip’s support for more Hue bulb queries and fixes. Check the bulb timely. Thanks for reading.
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