need an expert opinion on this connection

[Kamikase]

Hi All,

I am trying to understand what is going on with my under the cupboard led lights. This connection was already like this when I bought the house where for some reason one light is working fine where but the other 2 lights have the same 4 leds working fine (the other 15 lit up but not as bright)
forgive my lack of drawing skills but it is the best I can do (no space on the top of the cupboard to take a full picture)

Thanks

 

[Wilko]

Hi - that looks like the individual LEDs are starting to fail.
So sorry to say you are probably going to need some new lamps.

 

[DefyG]

Replace the transformer with a LED driver at the same time as the lamps as may cause premature failure of the LED Chips!

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Yes it looks like they have connected LEDs to an electronic transformer designed for halogen lamps, which is not guaranteed to work correctly and might have damaged them. It would probably be worth testing the LEDs using the other driver that is working before going to the trouble of replacing them.

 

[stewartrossinv]

@DefyG and @Lucien Nunes both pointed out the use of the electronic Halogen transformer in place of a proper LED driver, and @Wilko, DefyG and Lucien have all mentioned the possibility of damage to the LEDs.

The original installer has perhaps used what was to hand at the time, but it was a very strange choice - the output listed on the info plate for the halogen transformer in your photo is 11.5 V AC instead of DC. LEDs are not designed to work directly from an AC source, as they can fail under reverse bias conditions at relatively low voltages (though this would normally be a no-go failure - i.e. the LED simply won't light up). As Lucien has suggested, test the two under-cupboard clusters that are currently connected to the halogen transformer on the correct LED driver first. If the clusters remain poorly lit you'll need to replace them, fitting the correct LED driver before you do so!

 

[Kamikase]

it seems something simple to do. can I connect one or both poor lit LEDs straight into the LED Driver SEC output? - I am asking this as they are currently connected to the terminal block (hope it is the correct name ) and I dont see how to connect it to the split box coming out of the driver

 

[stewartrossinv]

can I connect one or both poor lit LEDs straight into the LED Driver SEC output?

Yes, though it may be best to do so one at a time just in case one or other is indeed faulty. Make sure you get the polarity correct - that is, that you wire each of them to the output the same way as the one that works at present (plus to plus and minus to minus).

-Stewart

 

[Kamikase]

connected the 2 poor lit leds to the LED driver and they worked fine, all leds fully bright. went and bought a second led driver swapped it with the transformer and it is working like a treat.

Thank you everyone for the input into my question

my question now is, the led driver on the picture is only connected to 1 light (same a previously I know) but would the power output from it damage the LED? should I swap it for a lower power one or it is fine as it is?

 

[stewartrossinv]

It's fine as it is. According to a web search, each of your 19-LED clusters is rated at about 1.4W. The driver you have is rated at 5W, so the load is well within its rating. It's the correct voltage driver for the cluster, so there is no danger of overdriving the LEDs.

Makes me wonder again about why the halogen transformer was used - the LED driver could have coped with the load of all three lamp clusters (4.2W in total) but at least you have some redundancy in using two drivers split across 1 and 2 clusters each.

-Stewart

 

[Garethley]

Hi, i would test each lamp individually using the LED driver then check if all is working 100%. Then connecting one lamp at a time and check its operation, if its all good connect the second and third accordingly. As stated above driver has capacity to run all 3, just ensure polarity is correct.

 

[Kamikase]

It's fine as it is. According to a web search, each of your 19-LED clusters is rated at about 1.4W. The driver you have is rated at 5W, so the load is well within its rating. It's the correct voltage driver for the cluster, so there is no danger of overdriving the LEDs.

Makes me wonder again about why the halogen transformer was used - the LED driver could have coped with the load of all three lamp clusters (4.2W in total) but at least you have some redundancy in using two drivers split across 1 and 2 clusters each.

-Stewart

To be honest everything else in the house seems to be connected correctly (says me that knows how to change a bulb not much else). I did some reading about the halogen and I am still wondering that also. it is possible that the previous owner did his own dyi I guess. I dont see the electrician that installed the switch and the lights making that mistake; but then again, there are cowboys out there.

 

[Kamikase]

Hi, i would test each lamp individually using the LED driver then check if all is working 100%. Then connecting one lamp at a time and check its operation, if its all good connect the second and third accordingly. As stated above driver has capacity to run all 3, just ensure polarity is correct.

Hi Garethly, I actually did that using the driver that is on the picture. the one that lit up properly alone, then switched to each of them at a time before adding the new led driver into the mix. Thank you though