I recently bought a floor lamp from Target. The lamp is touch activated and lit by what appears to be a "3-way" LED chip. There's no traditional bulb socket that I can see. I've never seen anything like it. Here's a photo:
I've plugged the lamp into an outlet that's wired to a wall switch so that I can turn the lamp on when I enter the room, but the lamp only responds to the wall switch when I turn it off, not when I try to turn it on. The only way to turn the lamp on is to turn the wall switch on and then turn the lamp on separately.
Does anybody know whether I'm possibly screwing something up in the connection between lamp/outlet/switch, or is the lamp itself defective?
Best Answer
It sounds like the when the lamp does not use a hard mechanical brightness switch. Responding to the brightness control is done in software. When power connection is severed, it is not able to remember its previous brightness setting, and returns to a default of "off" when power returns. You can test that by plugging it into a regular outlet, unplugging it while on, and replugging after 5 minutes.
This type of lamp is not suitable for use with a hardwired light switch or smart controller which interrupts power. Since the product doesn't clearly state that up front, you should have no compunction about returning it.
I just saw a lamp at IKEA with a similar problem. I did the "unplug" test and it did not relight on replug. It had a "power brick" with a lightweight DC cable to the lamp. See also the PC board plainly labeled where white is switch and the two active conductors red/black is Vin+ and GND-, the +-, colors, and "GND as conductor" are all hallmarks of low voltage DC power, along with the wall-wart. DC isn't bad, safer actually, but it invites more "complicated" lighting controls which may not behave as expected.