4 foot LED lights flickering

Nigel Goodwin said:

I wasn't talking about American manufacturers products sold over here, but people who had (rather stupidly) brought their American appliances when they moved over here. As far as I'm aware they 'may' have been 220V models, as the larger machines probably are?.

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I'm with you. Not sure why one would move a washing machine from the US over the pond (wouldn't shipping cost as much as new?!?!). I never noticed, but also never looked for such a machine. I would suspect they would have to be 220V. As mentioned, not enough juice in the 120 circuit alone for the motor and heater. Could be gas heater I suppose.

If one sets their priorities, one can easily find a washing machine with on-board heater in the US (at any big box store/Home Depot, Lowe's, Best Buy). It's the only way to have like-new white cotton after 100 washes. As far as I know, heaters are only in front loading machine.

Dishwashers have heaters and run on a 15 or 20 amp 120VAC circuit. A heater need not be high-powered to heat a small volume of water given enough time.

gophert said:

If one sets their priorities, one can easily find a washing machine with on-board heater in the US (at any big box store/Home Depot, Lowe's, Best Buy). It's the only way to have like-new white cotton after 100 washes. As far as I know, heaters are only in front loading machine.

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Almost all European washing machines are front loaders, and have been for many decades - but even the very rare top loaders (I've installed small numbers of them - well under double figures) have water heaters in.

If the machine doesn't have a heater you've no way of controlling the washing temperature, and you need different temperatures for different materials.

I changed from Hyper Tough lights from Walmart to Braun lights from Harbor Freight. The new lights do not flicker when the washing machine is in use. I think the only conclusion is that whatever the problem is created byt he washing machine the new lights are not subject to or is more tolerant of.

Kart31 said:

I changed from Hyper Tough lights from Walmart to Braun lights from Harbor Freight. The new lights do not flicker when the washing machine is in use. I think the only conclusion is that whatever the problem is created byt he washing machine the new lights are not subject to or is more tolerant of.

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I refer you back to the start of this thread - which is what we've said all along.

Nigel Goodwin said:

I refer you back to the start of this thread - which is what we've said all along.

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Looks like the prize money on this one goes to post #10 that explain
Series connected LEDs with combined forward voltage exceeding the brown out voltage caused by washer.

unless the OP has already disposed of the problematic lamp, perhaps it can be disassembled snd photographed for us. Or did the garbage man already pick it up on Sunday?

gophert said:

unless the OP has already disposed of the problematic lamp, perhaps it can be disassembled snd photographed for us. Or did the garbage man already pick it up on Sunday?

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They could have gone to the trash on Sunday but they have been relocated away from washing machine.

gophert said:

Looks like the prize money on this one goes to post #10 that explain
Series connected LEDs with combined forward voltage exceeding the brown out voltage caused by washer.

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gophert said:

1) check to make sure your washer is not drawing an excessive load - nearly seized bearings, for example, and causing a brownout in your house. Some 4-foot LED bulbs are especially sensitive to brownouts because they are a row of approximately 50 white LEDs and are only on for a small fraction of the power curve. If the peak voltage drops below 150v ac or the peak exceeds 150 for a very small amount of time (typically 168v peak), then it will appear to dim. 50 is just a number, yours may have fewer in series but the idea is the same.

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If I had access to a line filter, the prize money would be sent to rjenkinsgb in post #23.
I was able to borrow some parts from work to capture the AC peak voltage. There are no reports of voltage peaks less than 165V. It can only capture the positive-negative cusp. It cannot detect the negative-positive cusp so there may be voltages on that half of the cycle that are "higher" than 150V. I thought of using a fullwave bridge, but the setup has a scan time of 10mS, not fast enough to capture and record every peak.

The middle of the thread (vs the start) seems to be the problem/solution. The washing machine is producing a feedback the "incoming circuitry" the original lights cannot handle. The new lights are a bunch of LEDs, assuming in series, and obviously not using the same incoming power circuit board. The circuit could be same with different parts, but likely a whole different design. When money allows and/or I happen accross a 15-20A line filter, I will circle back around and try one with the old lights.