Community question of the week: Flickering Philips Hue outdoor lamps

This issue is not entirely new and has been with us for several years. However, as the gardening season gets underway, I would like to draw your attention to the issue once again – and maybe the manufacturer will do something about it at some point. What exactly is it about? I have two comments for you as examples.

Some time ago, Max contacted me by e-mail with the following problem:

For a few days now, I’ve been unable to keep all the Hue Lily lights on at maximum brightness at the same time. Three of the nine Lily lights start flashing as soon as they are switched on or don’t come on at all. It’s always the same three.

I came across another post on Reddit where the user even took the outdoor power supply apart while troubleshooting:

My Hue outdoor power supply is slowly giving up causing lights to randomly die. The lights stay online, you can control but you get no light until you power the supply off and back on again.

Corroding contacts are often the cause

I also have my own problems with a Hue Calla, it is shown as unavailable in the app but can still be controlled. All these problems often have the same cause: water ingress at the connectors.

Even though Philips Hue claims IP67 certification (dustproof and protection against temporary immersion) for its outdoor cables, the connections between the cable and lamp are the weak point in the system in the vast majority of cases. Over a period of months, more and more liquid can penetrate, causing the contacts to corrode.

If you have any strange problems with your Philips Hue outdoor lighting, the first thing you should do is check all the plug connections. Affected contacts are easy to recognize. With a bit of luck, you can still clean them and continue to use them. In the long term, however, only a hardware update from Philips Hue will help…