Flickering red light

cherry76

Just noticed flickering red light when I switch  computer on. Shall I be concerned, its surge protector? Also been advised not to use cube for extension.Thoughts pl! Thanks

On-the-coast

It wouldn’t worry me (without reading the handbook for that surge protector I’d guess it just meant it was doing its job). 

Why do you have 3 cables plugged in for one computer?  If any of those are high current (heaters, hair dryers etc) or high power factor (fridges etc) I’d plug those in somewhere else. 

ThisIsWeird

By 'flickering' do you mean a kind of vibrating, shimmering, or is it actually going on and off?
If the former, that's typically quite normal for a neon, but the latter would be concerning.
The green light - an LED - is steady, yes?
Does the red still flicker when the black plug is removed? If so, I would not worry.

LightFlare

do you have multiple plugs running off one of those 3 on the cube as well ?

I would be concerned about the safety if so

cherry76

ThisIsWeird said:

By 'flickering' do you mean a kind of vibrating, shimmering, or is it actually going on and off?
If the former, that's typically quite normal for a neon, but the latter would be concerning.
The green light - an LED - is steady, yes?
Does the red still flicker when the black plug is removed? If so, I would not worry.

The green light is steady, the red light blinks continuously have not noticed it before. It’s just I had a fire safety checks yesterday and the fire officer mentioned I should plug the multi plug on its own socket. I just noticed it when I use the computer this morning.

cherry76

LightFlare said:

do you have multiple plugs running off one of those 3 on the cube 

Only the kettle, microwave and toaster run on the cube, have been doing it fior years. No other multi plug connected. The other socket is for fridge//freezer. They are still being sold. 

ThisIsWeird

cherry76 said:

ThisIsWeird said:

By 'flickering' do you mean a kind of vibrating, shimmering, or is it actually going on and off?
If the former, that's typically quite normal for a neon, but the latter would be concerning.
The green light - an LED - is steady, yes?
Does the red still flicker when the black plug is removed? If so, I would not worry.

The green light is steady, the red light blinks continuously have not noticed it before. It’s just I had a fire safety checks yesterday and the fire officer mentioned I should plug the multi plug on its own socket. I just noticed it when I use the computer this morning.

'Blinks'? At what rate? And does it do so when you unplug what's going in to it?

LightFlare

cherry76 said:

LightFlare said:

do you have multiple plugs running off one of those 3 on the cube 

Only the kettle, microwave and toaster run on the cube, have been doing it fior years. No other multi plug connected. The other socket is for fridge//freezer. They are still being sold. 

I’m confused - your 1st picture shows a cube with 3 plugs and a single by the side, which you say are all appliances 

The 2nd picture shows a muti plug strip. Where is that plugged in ?

cherry76

Sorry for the confusion, the cube with 3 plugs and one by the side are in the kitchen. The second one with multi plug is plugged in main socket in my bedroom for computer, printer and a few others. 

victor2

cherry76 said:

LightFlare said:

do you have multiple plugs running off one of those 3 on the cube 

Only the kettle, microwave and toaster run on the cube, have been doing it fior years. No other multi plug connected. The other socket is for fridge//freezer. They are still being sold. 

Three fairly demanding appliances that could all be switched on at the same time. A light pull on any one of those cables could pull the adapter out of its socket slightly, causing sparking and all kinds of other damage, including a fire.

You've been advised not to use the cube in that way. Getting away with it for years doesn't mean you'll continue to do so. No idea what the flashing light means, maybe it's a fault indication, but that isn't really your current problem.

ThisIsWeird

cherry76 said:

Sorry for the confusion, the cube with 3 plugs and one by the side are in the kitchen. The second one with multi plug is plugged in main socket in my bedroom for computer, printer and a few others. 

Why did you show us two completely different setups, when enquiring only about one?
But, good that you have, because the max total rating of your kitchen adaptor is 13A, and you seemingly have three, high-powered appliances plugged in, each typically drawing around 8 to 12A.
Are you aware of this? Do you consciously only use one of these kitchen appliances at a time, switching the others off? Even if so, this is not good practice.