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Spike buster photo

I have a spike buster at my hostel to power my laptop charger, monitor, phone chargers etc... It has a Line Indication system which shows the status of the supply using 3 LEDs.

Under the "All Ok" condition, only the 1st and 3rd LEDs are supposed to glow. They do that just fine. When it is powered off and the plug is removed from the socket all the lights go out (they can't run on their own). But, when the plug is inserted and the switch is not turned on yet, a strange thing happens. A few LEDs light up! I haven't:

  • Turned on the switch
  • Connected any devices (this doesn't seem to change the output)

Slow motion video for the switched ON state : YouTube Link

Slow motion video for the switched OFF state: YouTube Link

What could possibly be the reason behind this?

NOTE - Our hostel has a really poor power supply. There's a lot of fluctuation. I have observed the voltages change from 185V to 220V within a few seconds. There can probably be a lot of harmonics in the power supply due to the usage of lots of SMPS (a laptop charger for each and every one of 400 students!) Could this have anything to do with my situation?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ The second image shows: L & G Rev., so did you check it? Line and ground reversed doesn't look very healthy. \$\endgroup\$ Mar 12, 2018 at 14:31
  • \$\begingroup\$ Looks like normal crappy mechanical design to me where one LED shine over to the next due to lack of wall in between or optical alignment. Open it up and check in detail. \$\endgroup\$
    – winny
    Mar 12, 2018 at 14:35
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Chupacabras If that were the case, then that status must continue even after switching on. It's simple SPST switch. So there's no way the switch can reverse them. \$\endgroup\$
    – Kathir
    Mar 12, 2018 at 14:36
  • \$\begingroup\$ @winny Yes, the fact that the light is leaking in shows that it is a crappy design. But, I want to know how it lights up in the first place \$\endgroup\$
    – Kathir
    Mar 12, 2018 at 14:39
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Kathir I see 2 options here: your tester is faulty, or power wiring is faulty. Is there any other option? \$\endgroup\$ Mar 12, 2018 at 14:41

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